KATE CARNELL AO SPEAKER SERIES: KATE CARNELL AO
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO SHOP LOCAL AND BUY AUSTRALIAN Meet Kate Carnell AO, the independent advocate for Australian small business owners. Kate’s office works to bring together the many voices within the small business community to promote growth in an absolutely vital sector of our industry. There’s never been a better time to shop local and buy Australian. Small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic and those swept up in Victoria’s second wave are under enormous pressure right now. Amid all of the bad news though, there is a glimmer of hope – particularly for retailers. That is, more Australians are wanting to buy local. Visits to the Australian Made website have soared in recent months. Facebook likes for the campaign have skyrocketed and Instagram and Twitter followers have grown exponentially. A recently released survey of more than 1000 Australians conducted on behalf of NBN Co, revealed close to half (49%) of respondents had increased their online shopping during the pandemic shutdown period and 70% have been consciously supporting local businesses online. But more than two thirds of those surveyed, said even though they would like to support more local businesses, they were restricted by the limited digital presence.
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KATE CARNELL AO It’s clear that small retailers can no longer rely on outdated business models and bricks-and-mortar stores. Digitisation is now essential for small businesses to be truly competitive. This includes having a social media strategy that effectively targets the customer base. The recent Buy from the Bush campaign is an excellent example – in just four months the 275 regional businesses profiled saw an average revenue increase of 300%. The campaign delivered $5 million to those featured small businesses – all of which had an online presence.
