Findings from a survey presented at the annual Charity Retail Association conference reveal that customers in charity shops are almost entirely female – and that the men who steer clear “don’t know” why they shun them.

Avril Maddrell, of the University of West England, presented findings from the institution’s survey of shoppers’ attitudes to charity shops, with samples from Liverpool, Glasgow, Oxford and the Isle of Man.

“It may not surprise you to learn that quite a high proportion of those who do not use charity shops are men,” Maddrell, who is also the co-author of the book Charity Shops: Retailing, Consumption and Society, told the audience. “But why not? This is crucial information about why people don’t go into charity shops.

“The more common reason, accounting for a third of responses, was ‘don’t know, never thought about it.’ That tells us something about getting people over the threshold. Many say ‘I don’t but my wife/partner does’ – again, a gender imbalance.”

The survey comprised 58 interviews with charity shop managers, 278 responses from charity shop volunteers and 382 from consumers on the high street, rather than shoppers who were actually inside a charity shop, in order to get a wide demographic that could include respondents who may not use them.  

Donating to recylce

Maddrell went on to discuss motivations for shopping in a specific charity shop. The charity’s mission was the highest reason chosen, with proximity and being able to find bargains coming next. But this trend did not continue when people were asked about the reverse process of putting stock into shops.

“Surprisingly, supporting the charitable cause was identified in third place,” Maddrell revealed. “Recycling came through on top, with 51 per cent of people saying that they’re motivated to donate their goods to charity shops for this reason.  

“To me, this really marks a significant change within attitudes of the last ten years, and also reflects the work of the sector, including your recent campaign ‘Donate, Don’t Dump’.”

Maddrell also revealed that the survey showed many people were still forgoing donations to charity shops in favour of other platforms such as car boot sales and online selling, most respondents citing ‘the current economic climate’ for the need to bring money in for their unwanted items.