We hear it periodically throughout the year and consistently at
this time of year. Shop local. Shop local, support your local
businesses and keep sales tax revenue local.
We hear it periodically throughout the year and consistently at this time of year. Shop local. Shop local, support your local businesses and keep sales tax revenue local.
And that mantra is even more vital at this time of year. While some people have completed their holiday shopping, More than 70 percent of people surveyed earlier this month by America’s Research Group planned to finish holiday shopping between Monday and Christmas Eve. Almost 35 percent, the highest number in a decade, said they won’t wrap things up until Friday.
The reasons vary. They include busy work schedules, waiting for bonuses (those lucky enough to still be getting bonuses), lack of planning and family traditions.
And with that in mind, the debate the consumer faces is the age-old dilemma: Do I pay more to support a neighbor and my community by patronizing a local merchant, or find the same product at a cheaper price out of town?
The ideal scenario would have the local merchant selling the same product at the same price, or at least at a price that would keep the consumer from leaving town.
According to our unscientific web poll, less than one in four respondents said they planned to spend more than 25 percent of their holiday shopping locally.
In 2008, the latest year with data available, each Morgan Hill citizen spent an average of $6,343 on apparel, books, personal care products, home furnishings, and other non-food, housing, health care, or transportation items. If 75 percent is spent outside of Morgan Hill, with a population of 37,995 citizens (2008), local businesses will lose $180 million. If 100 percent of that spending occurred in Morgan Hill local businesses would garner $241 million in sales. (Source: Claritas analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008. The report is on the City of Morgan Hill website.)
The numbers speak for themselves. But, local businesses need to market themselves so residents know the breadth of products available locally.
FroYo uses electronic media to text customers when they have new flavors. Authors visit BookSmart to bring in current and potential customers.
Finally, the city could use Redevelopment Agency Funds to host seminars to teach businesses how to market themselves using typical advertising methods and new marketing ideas that encompass social media.
If we all work together – with local business owners marketing themselves better and residents buying as many of our goods in town as possible – we’ll have a significant positive effect on our local economy.
