By Lauri Lee
Northside Economic Development Coalition
Supporting businesses in the community where you live, work or play with your shopping dollars not only makes sense; it could also help reshape the independent business landscape. The growth of Amazon has been negatively affecting independent businesses and contributing to significant upheaval of struggling malls and closure of chain stores.
In the midst of this daunting challenge by e-commerce, it is also a time of great opportunity for independent businesses. Due to their smaller size, they fill a niche and are more nimble than national chains to play up their strengths. It’s local businesses that are involved in their community, not Amazon.com. The local connection to the community beats e-commerce any day. Local businesses hire local people and often greet customers by name. People choose to go to a local business to receive customer service, especially when they don’t know what they need or even the right questions to ask. Trusted advice from someone you know instills confidence and shortens the amount of time to get your needs met.
Why buy local?
- It helps keep the money circulating where we live and work to grow a flourishing community.
- The economic base of the community is strengthened, and independent business owners can stay in business and invest in expansion.
- Small businesses offer unique and specialized products and build a special community identity that’s unique to our city for travelers, as well as quality and convenience for residents.
- Studies have found that local businesses recirculate a greater share of every dollar in the local economy, as they create locally owned supply chains. Of every $100 spent online, only 1 percent is retained locally — to pay the delivery driver. The money spent at an intown chain outlet returns 14 percent. To see your own community thrive, spend shopping dollars in your own neighborhood as 48 percent of the money spent at a locally owned independent business stays in your community.
- Independent local businesses buy locally themselves. They hire local accountants, insurance brokers, computer consultants, attorneys, advertising, website developers and more. Local jobs are created and sustained to help the local economy.
- Local retailers carry a higher percentage of locally-produced goods than chains, which means more jobs for local producers.
- Small businesses donate more than twice as much per sales dollar to local nonprofits, events and teams.
- A community’s level of social capital, civic engagement and well-being is positively related to the share of its economy held by local businesses.
- The sense of community cohesiveness that is built by shopping at local neighborhood businesses is the utmost social media.
As the business landscape continues to change, locally owned businesses will be increasingly critical to the economic future of communities everywhere.
The educational and promotional support of local independent businesses by Dane Buy Local helps nurture and close the competitive gap with large competitors and online buying. The support that members receive makes a significant difference between success and failure for many small businesses. To find ways to support locally owned independent businesses, see danebuylocal.com.
Help keep our community strong by shopping local. We all win, when you think local first.
