’Tis the season to shop local
Local, independent businesses are the heartbeat of every community. And right now, in many parts of the country, they’ve never had to struggle so hard just to survive.
At a time when the streets should be packed with shoppers eager to spend holiday cash at neighbourhood stores, COVID-19 is forcing us indoors. In the hardest-hit places, including Toronto, second lockdowns have forced most retailers to shut their doors at the worst possible time.
That’s why it’s never been more important to make a special effort this season to shop local and help smaller neighbourhood stores get through the pandemic.
If they don’t (and a recent survey suggests that one in seven are on the brink of closing for good), our neighbourhoods will lose the vibrancy and variety that make them special. No one wants to emerge from the pandemic only to find local shopping streets lined with empty storefronts.
The good news is that it’s now easier than ever to support local retailers despite the restrictions on in-person shopping imposed by COVID.
Many are offering safer options like curbside pickup, and others suggest buying gift certificates now to be used once pandemic restrictions ease up.
Many others have entered the eCommerce market in an effort to survive
COVID. In fact, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business
(CFIB), small businesses have gone online in record numbers since March —
152,000 more across the country. A third of businesses now offer online sales, it says.
So on Cyber Monday and throughout the lead-up to Christmas, online shopping doesn’t have to mean taking the path of least resistance and ordering once again through the dominant players like Amazon and national retail chains.
That’s the easiest route. But there’s a better chance than ever this year that your favourite local outlets are offering a robust online presence. Rather than send your dollars to the usual online giants, why not make sure they go directly to neighbourhood stores?
In fact, there are efforts across the country to make that as simple as possible. In Winnipeg, for example, a web platform called Goodlocal.ca makes it possible to order easily from more than 200 local businesses, with more clamouring to join.
Its founder, restaurant operator Ibrahim Khan, tells CBC News that “people always want to shop local if you make it easy for them.” His new site started with 18 orders on its first day and is now processing more than 700 a day. Every order represents money going to a smaller local business instead of Amazon and the like.
There’s a similar group retail platform in Toronto, Torontomarketco.com. And Ontario has its own government-sponsored site, “Ontario Made,” which promotes products manufactured in the province.
At the same time, platforms like Shopify have made it easier than ever for neighbourhood retailers to offer an online presence. One example out of thousands: Toronto’s famed St. Lawrence Market has Shoplocalmarkets.ca, which allows customers to order from its specialized outlets and have their purchases delivered to their home.
This is always the crucial time of year for retailers. From Black Friday through the end of December, these are the weeks when they traditionally rack up 30 to 40 per cent of annual sales and make whatever profit they’re going to earn.
But 2020, says the CFIB, is the “toughest year ever for business, emotionally and financially.” If ever there was a year to make a special effort to support local retailers, this is it.
That will help to keep them alive and support the people who work there. Just as important, it will help to make sure we have good, lively neighbourhoods to come back to once COVID-19 passes into history.
Small businesses have gone online in record numbers since March