Often the biggest obstacle to people shopping local is top-of-mind recognition. The local store simply doesn’t come to mind first, Target does. This is remedied by marketing, and lots of it, but that’s often not in a small merchant’s budget. If you’re the local chamber of commerce or merchants association (or a well-meaning shop local advocate), there are a number of things you can do to help out, most require a minimal investment outside of time.
Helping Shoppers Think Local First
The marketing slogan of Shop Local First is catching on, and more than half of people poled believe it’s better to shop local, but do your community’s sales numbers reflect that? There’s a good chance they don’t because while people support the concept, they often forget when it’s time to apply it.
Write blog posts about local shops. As often as you can spotlight your local shops, speaking specifically about what you can buy there. Do round ups of stores and categorize them in one post entitled “Great back-to-school shopping” or “Where to Get the Best Christmas Decorations.” Help your shoppers see they can have many of their needs met through local stores.
Run a “Best of” Contest. If no one else in your community does this, create a best of competition. Signify several different categories and ask that local businesses by nominated. You can even run the vote via social media, if you’re willing and able to monitor it.
Use shopper testimonials. Take a walk on Main Street and approach people with bags. Ask them about their purchases and if they’d be willing to share them with a quote and a pic on your website or encourage people to take selfies of themselves shopping local and post them with an established hashtag for the community to see. Many times seeing that someone else did a little back-to-school shopping, for instance, will make others think of doing the same.
How do you help shoppers to remember specific local stores over the chains?
