// Health and beauty was highlighted as a sector where multi-ethnic consumers find it difficult to shop on the high street, with 30% of black women’s spend going to specialist shops, according to The Black Pound Report
//Some multi-ethnic shoppers do not feel comfortable in retail stores with 13% of respondents admitting they had consciously changed the way they dressed, and 12% said they had changed the way they spoke
British businesses are losing out on £4.5 billion of sales per annum by overlooking black and Asian consumers, The Black Pound Report has found.
In health and beauty alone, consumers from multi-ethnic backgrounds spend 25% more – £230 million each month – than other consumer groups on the category with 22% of spend going to specialist shops, rising to 30% for black women.
The report, the most comprehensive research into UK multi-ethnic consumers, found that four in 10 black women shoppers still find it difficult to buy cosmetics and skin care.
One of the findings in the report was the frequency that multi-ethnic consumers felt the need to adjust and adapt their appearance or behaviour to mitigate against profiling by security staff and shop workers.
13% of respondents admitted they had consciously changed the way they dressed, while 12% said they had changed the way they spoke to be accepted in stores.
Multi-ethnic consumers who are LGBTQ+ or have a disability are 10% more likely to have adjusted their behaviour when in a store.
READ MORE: Diversity and inclusion: why there’s no ‘silver bullet’ for retail
The Black Pound Report also found that multi-ethnic consumers are around twice as likely to favour and trust brands that are representative of different communities, have considered ethnic diversity in the creation of their products and services, and have diverse staff in their stores and wider business.
93% of multi-ethnic consumers think brands have a responsibility to approach diversity and inclusion, compared to 74% of those from a white background, and diversity in advertising is three times more important to multi-ethnic consumers (24%) than white consumers (8%).
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