Nearly three-quarters of people believe that supporting their local economy and businesses will be key to recovering from the current crisis, a survey has found.

Some 73% of those surveyed across the UK said this will have an important role to play in emerging from the crisis, according to PayPal.

More than half (57%) said they had realised they wanted to buy more local and regional products to support businesses in their area in the future.

Many shopping habits formed during the lockdown will continue – with 85% of people saying they will still shop online with small and medium retailers either as often as they do now or even more frequently.

Nine in 10 (90%) plan to keep buying items at local stores they have discovered, the survey of 2,000 people found.

PayPal’s own data suggests that sales of items including home hair cutting and colouring products, nail polishes and garden accessories spiked in the early weeks of the lockdown.

Vincent Belloc, managing director at PayPal UK, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown has forced us all to make significant changes in our lives, including how we spend our money and where.

“The daily number of transactions on PayPal globally accelerated throughout April, and on May 1 we saw a record number of transactions from around the world that surpassed even last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“Whilst times remain uncertain and the future for many businesses is unclear, there is a glimmer of hope in how we as a nation want to come together to support each other and our local communities.

“At a time of economic uncertainty, it is more important than ever to support small businesses – not only does money spent directly help owners and their families, but it contributes to the benefit small businesses as a whole have on the UK economy.”