Are we buying less because we care more? With Philli Boyle and Ben Perkins

02/25/20 • 30 min

The Green Room: Questions That Matter Most In Business

Over the last few decades, businesses have struggled to keep up with our demand for more. Supermarkets provided us with a dazzling selection of affordable ready meals. Online retailers gave us a fresh look at the click of a button. We bought new phones every year, sipped lattes from plastic cups and splurged on the latest beauty products without thinking twice.

But things are beginning to change. The research shows that we’re thinking more carefully about where and how we spend our money. Thrifting is on the rise, meat consumption is down and businesses are under pressure to reduce their use of plastic. We’re more interested in experiences than products and, when we do splash out, we want to know that the products we buy are sustainable and that the companies we’re buying from align with our values.

So what does this all mean? Are we really buying less, or just spending in ways that make us feel good? Can consumerism ever truly be sustainable? Or are shopping sprees now a thing of the past?

If our consumption is finally slowing down, what does that mean for consumer business? Should they focus more on quality than convenience? How can they create the experiences we’re looking for, while remaining profitable? And have they left it too late to try?

This week we talk to Ben Perkins, Head of Consumer Business Research at Deloitte, and Philli Boyle, Co-Founder of Choose Love.

Tune in to find out:

Why people are queuing round the block to buy gifts for refugees
Why Ben thinks shell suits should make a comeback
How George’s new toilet roll could save the planet
Whether re-commerce could be the future

Hosts: George Parrett and Lizzie Elston

Guests: Ben Perkins and Philli Boyle

Technical support: Deloitte’s Creative Studio

Original music: Ali Barrett

So what does this all mean? Are we really buying less, or just spending in ways that make us feel good? Can consumerism ever truly be sustainable? Or are shopping sprees now a thing of the past?

This week we talk to Ben Perkins, Head of Consumer Business Research at Deloitte, and Philli Boyle, Co-Founder of Choose Love.

Tune in to find out:

Why people are queuing round the block to buy gifts for refugees
Why Ben thinks shell suits should make a comeback
How George’s new toilet roll could save the planet
Whether re-commerce could be the future

Hosts: George Parrett and Lizzie Elston

Guests: Ben Perkins and Philli Boyle

Technical support: Deloitte’s Creative Studio

Original music: Ali Barrett

Previous Episode

How much are we prepared to share for an easy life? With Peter Gooch and Susie Sharawi

We live in a data-driven world. And it would be pretty difficult to exist in it without sharing information about who we are and what we like. But are we trading our privacy for the convenient life data gives us? How far are we willing to go? Where is this valuable information going? And what happens when it all goes wrong?

For our first episode of season three, we’re discussing something about ourselves that we give away every day, often without realising – data.

Joining our hosts George and Ethan to dive into our latest big question are Peter Gooch, Cyber Risk Services partner and Susie Sharawi, a director in our Risk Advisory practice.

Tune in to find out:

What a cyber attack has to do with stuffed crust pizza
Why Susie think millennials are becoming more data savvy
What surprises Ethan found out about George online
Why Peter saved all of his GDPR mailing list emails

Hosts: George Parrett and Ethan Worth

Guests: Peter Gooch and Susie Sharawi

Technical support: Deloitte’s Creative Studio

Original music: Ali Barrett

Next Episode

Can we finally stop talking about Brexit? With Raoul Ruparel and Amanda Tickel

At 23:00 on January 31, three years and four months after the EU referendum, the UK officially stopped being a member of the EU. In that time, we’ve had three prime ministers and two general elections, with countless disagreements, debates and unexpected turns along the way.

Newspapers around the world kept us up to date with daily headlines. Families across the country banned the B-word from their dinner tables. Businesses scrambled to prepare for every possible eventuality. And the fate of wonky bananas sparked many a heated conversation. But is it really all over? Can we finally stop talking about it? Or are we only just getting started?

What’s actually changed and what’s still to come? What might our future trade deals look like and why do they matter? How much can we prepare in advance? And what happens if we don’t?

These aren’t easy questions to answer. But luckily for our hosts George and Ethan, we’re joined by two people who just might know where to start - Amanda Tickel, our Global Brexit Lead, and Raoul Ruparel, former special adviser to the Prime Minister on Europe, and now adviser to our Global Brexit Insights team.

Tune in to find out: