Social media pitches from small business retailers calling for people to shop local tend to be tiresome clichés, serving the needs of those who post rather than those they want to reach.
Too often you can see a business calling for people to shop local not shopping local themselves.
For me, the shop local issue comes down to the adage of actions speak louder than words.
In these early months of 2020, on the back of an awful bushfire season, sustained rounds, now, floods, and the coronavirus, shop local management is important and timely. I say management because that has to be our focus.
- Wherever possible, source products made locally where locally can mean in the local community, within the state or territory or at least within Australia. This is hard but rewarding work.
- Source the services your business uses locally, at least within Australia. Just because a company has a local rep it does not mean they are local. Ask.
- Focus any giving locally.
- Systemise your local engagement. On receipts, show locally made items. Have tis information shared with shoppers automatically.
- In store, indicate Australian made and locally made with curated displays that pitch this.
- On social media, talk about your support for local groups and why. Don’t be oh look at how good we are. Rather, be grateful about finding local products and appreciating customer support for them.
- Use your loyalty program to support local charities where shoppers have the opportunity of donating the loyalty reward they have earned to a local charity you partner with. In my own Tower Systems POS software this is easy. I have used it my own businesses with success.
- Use local music play lists.
- Leverage local talent for music out the front of your store in physically appropriate.
This is all about being patriotic without being a show off, without being a hollow bell. You strengthening your local engagement strengthens the local economy and all businesses (and people) in the local economy benefit from that.
Where this all starts is with your next buying decision of products or services. Ask the question. Be sure of where the dollar you spend goes. This is more valuable and useful than posting lazily on social media calling for people to shop local.
Asking people to shop with you is not enough of itself. You need to demonstrate that you are living and acting locally.
