It’s one thing to expound upon the virtues of shopping local. It’s another to have an ongoing campaign enticing shoppers to do so. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s worth it to launch a shop local campaign, the answer is a resounding yes.
What Shop Local Campaigns Mean for Small Business
According to the 2015 Independent Business Survey (a survey of 3,000 locally-owned businesses), business in an area with a local first program in place grew on average 9.3%, which is almost double of what businesses in areas without a shop local campaign did. These merchants also reported higher average sales gains of 5.7% over the 4.2% of those without programs.
A shop local program also makes an impression on how local businesses feel about your community. A strong shop local community is more of an incentive to open a new business in your town. After all, 69% of business owners in a town with a buy local campaign felt the program’s impact on his/her business.
Here are some of the ways these businesses felt the impact:
- A higher than average number of new customers
- Increased local media coverage of the business
- Increased loyalty of existing customer base
- Increased support of city officials and community organizers
- Greater feel of collaboration on projects and community success programs
The last one is perhaps the most interesting. As the feel of community has dissipated over the years, it’s nice to know that the shop local campaigns are doing something to bring this back. They play up helping your neighbor, doing business with people you know, and restoring pride in products made in your hometown.
If you’re considering creating a shop local, or buy local first campaign, make an investment of man hours in the project. One Saturday a year won’t help local businesses that struggle against Internet retailers. Look to create something that occurs more than once and the buzz you generate will help you sustain the program.
Image via Pixabay by RyanMcGuire
