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Shop Local or Shop Small?
How to Do Both
By Terri Hayes, CEO Tri Lakes Chamber & EDC
Did you know there are hundreds of searches each month on how to shop small or shop local? That means there are people who want to do it, but don’t know how or the best way to support local businesses. Let’s learn the difference and how you can help your community spend money for local needs.
When it comes to supporting local or shopping small, some people mistakenly believe it is more difficult, more expensive, or more limiting than simply going to a large chain store. But these are misconceptions – let us show you how to make it as easy as possible.
WHAT IS SHOP LOCAL?
The Shop Local movement endorses shopping with locally-owned businesses in your area, whether you purchase online or in person. One factor often dismissed is that shopping local includes shopping local franchisees because, while they may be part of a larger organization, franchises more often than not are owned and operated by local community members and thus are considered part of the shop local movement. With most franchises, the owners buy into an organization but still have some degree of independence to do things like local marketing offers and sponsorships to support community endeavors. This makes them more like a local business than a corporate-owned chain store. The details of these arrangements depend on the franchise, but they’re still considered in the realm of shopping local.
You can expand the shop local campaigns in your area to include supporting local nonprofits, local artisans, and consignment stores – groups that are often forgotten in a traditional shop local campaign.
WHAT IS SHOP SMALL?
Shop small is often used interchangeably with shop local, however there are differences between the two. While many factors are considered when calling a business small, typically a small business employs up to 1,500 people, with annual receipts below $7.5 million; it can be an online business or a brick-and-mortar store. While these are the standards according to the Small Business Association, most individuals would not consider businesses employing anywhere near 1,500 people to be small.
Encouraging someone to shop small does not necessarily mean shop local. That could mean supporting a small business hundreds of miles away from you directly from their website or through a mega retailer. It is important to recognize that many local business owners rely on the big guys to get their product out, like Etsy or Amazon. Without a distribution path, they would not have an efficient way to sell to more than just family and friends or those who see their Facebook ads. Don’t always discount someone just because they sell online – research where they are selling from – because they could be your neighbor.
In review, shopping local is a marketing campaign used to persuade consumers to support businesses within their area. To split hairs, that doesn’t need to be a small business. On the other hand, when you support shop small, that means buying from a business that employs fewer employees but doesn’t have to be in your geographic area. That’s why these programs are often combined to support small AND local businesses.
This may seem like nitpicking – and it may be – except that 57% of U.S. consumers say their main reason for shopping small is to keep money local. Since that’s the case, consider shopping at your local small businesses. Towns and cities depend on sales taxes, sometimes the largest contribution to their budgets.
