Shopping local is more important than ever to sustain local businesses. Independent business owners don’t usually have the cash reserves to weather months of limited revenues. In our community, residents are urging each other to shop local restaurants and shops (that have online ordering) on neighborhood sites, Facebook and Instagram to help them survive. I feel sorry for small business owners as this unforeseen tragedy has taken a toll on almost every business except grocery stores.

Three months ago few people thought twice about ordering online, even though a local shop carried the item and offered some expert advice to go with it. As a result of the lockdown, local business awareness is at an all-time high, primarily through the closure of local restaurants and the impact it had on our usual habits. Whether this awareness lasts will depend largely on the efforts of local businesses to connect with customers post-pandemic and keep the relationship alive.

In a vacuum, I do not believe the commitment to shopping local will be enough to sustain many local businesses. However, this crisis has definitely created an opportunity for local businesses to capitalize on the emotional appeal of being local. It’s now entirely up to local business owners to capitalize on that opportunity. It’s time to re-think everything about how they interact with their community, beginning of course with their websites. Websites should be places that engage the community and give like-minded customers a digital gathering place. Websites have to bring brands to life with people, activities and stories in and of the local community. Local businesses need to become visible and active parts of the actual, physical community, too. Make store staff available via email, phone and social media to answer questions and give advice about issues adjacent to assortments. Small philanthropic actions, like donating extra food or working at a food bank can create impressions that build brand equity and mindshare. Expanding delivery and pickup options – and promoting those options- is critical… Read more »

I am a board member of the Boston Main Streets Foundation and have seen first hand the devastation this pandemic has wrought. We are working to bring BOPIS and curbside pickup to the over 1,200 businesses in the city. Shopping local is vital to any community and frankly I don’t know how we would survive this disaster without them. Even after we open back up these businesses will only be allowed 50 percent of their capacity. Innovation in social media and marketing coupled with some basic e-commerce technology can allow them to survive but they need to move quickly to shift to a different model.

We have been surveying consumers every week during this crisis and one of the things we ask them is about their values and what’s important to them. Community is one of the factors that has risen strongly, most likely because people miss being connected to others. I see this as a major advantage for local and independent retailers – many of which have been doing great work to help others during this crisis. I hope that these attitudes persist once the crisis is over and that local retail undergoes a renaissance.

COVID-19 has shown a spotlight on local businesses as they are feeling some of the biggest impacts. Their struggles directly affect the community in which they live and work so they should emphasize their importance within the community. Local business owners are your neighbors and friends and your kids’ sports team’s sponsors! Shopping local has been a growing trend over the last few years, the current situation has just increased the trend’s growth and importance.

Local retailers have always been important to communities and the recent pandemic has heightened both the positive and negative impacts such a crisis can have on these businesses. It’s been tremendous to see the surge in hyperlocal shopping in my own city as stay-at-homers look to support these merchants; however, it’s equally as disheartening to see closed signs and hear tales from some owners of their inability to survive the downturn. Local retailers are an essential part of the community — the money spent there helps to pay local workers, which in turn puts money back into local neighborhoods and other local businesses. Even though I do expect the shopping local sentiment to permeate in the short-term as stay-at-home orders are lifted, most often shoppers will eventually regress to their pre-pandemic behavior. However, the benefits being seen due to supporting our communities should have a lasting and real impact and will hopefully allow as many retailers as possible to keep their doors open once this storm is weathered.

Independent businesses have always been the lifeblood of the community, they were just never deemed sexy or important enough to be discussed when compared to corporate retail. Even before the COVID-19 shut down we saw big retailers like Nordstrom trying to capture some of that shop local, shop small magic. My company works almost exclusively with indie businesses and let me tell you they are killing it with customer engagement. Big retailers are screaming SALE, while indies are busy drawing customers in with virtual shopping nights via Facebook Live, hosting one-model fashion shows, leading crafting events, providing multi-meal packages, and more. Their creativity is off the charts. Indies don’t have deep pockets or big staffs, but what they do have is the desire to work hard and a sincere, “we REALLY are all in this together” mentality that is pulling and keeping people close. Their businesses aren’t jobs, they have actual skin in the game. They need to succeed. I believe that consumers will remember that their local small businesses were there for them long… Read more »

Absolutely, there is a surge in support for local shops, restaurants, and other businesses. That sense of community has bubbled to the top of many people’s minds more than ever before. Is that enough to help these businesses survive? Time will tell, but I have seen a tremendous effort by these business owners to engage with their loyal customer community. Much more so that the large regional and national brands. While many of those retailers have focused on adding new services to keep business running (e.g. curbside pickup), local shops have focused on building loyalty by being even more personal and active on social media to maintain engagement. Even when they can’t sell, they are creating a new bond with their customers by providing product usage tips, service ideas, and a much truer sense of “we are in this together” since they all live in the same local neighborhoods. That being said, they are struggling more than their large corporate cousins. They don’t have deep pockets that allow them to sustain a prolonged lack of… Read more »

It is great to see that humanity is pulling together during these difficult times. People are looking at their surroundings and wanting to help each other. Strangely, whilst we are more isolated, people are talking more than ever either online or when they do pass others in the street — albeit at a distance. The same is true of shopping. People are looking at their local community and wanting to help local retailers. The big world outside is less important — the focus is much more local. This will help local retailers, or at least the ones that survive, but it will also depend on those local retailers thinking about what they have done to their business during this time and the innovations they’ve started like curbside collections. And they’ll need to stay innovative and adaptable to what is going to be a very different world after Covid-19. If a retailer sits back and expects that people will shop more local, they will lose. There is no given right to get customers from the local… Read more »

I think this is one of the huge positive aspects of the crazy crisis. I truly believe that local businesses will continue to enjoy increased loyalty far beyond the pandemic.