Why are Customers Embracing Small Businesses?

While the high street may be suffering, there has been a revolution amongst shoppers that has seen small businesses – independently owned and locally run – become more popular. The embrace of these businesses has come at a time when business trends have changed. More people are able to both buy and sell online now with the accessibility of the internet. The internet has been a huge plus point for companies across the world, even for those not predominantly selling via e-commerce. Simply finding out where local businesses are has improved their ability to be seen and attract custom.

But what are some of the reasons why customers gravitate to smaller businesses? Here are some of the things we’ve noticed about why customers shop with small businesses.

People Like Local

People, especially younger people, are more likely to try and shop local because they are more conscious about the impact their money can have. According to Blogspot, Gen Z customers have increased their spending with small businesses by 260% since January 2020. That is probably a result of the pandemic, but it also shows that habits are continuing anyway. Small, local businesses are well primed to take advantage of this habit.

Greater Awareness

Customers have more awareness of small businesses now than they ever have. There’s no way to avoid small businesses now, for better or for worse. Facebook and online advertising has allowed these businesses to pop up in your consciousness much more than any other time. And good products and quality advertising works on customers, especially for small businesses. The digital advertising market grew to £23 billion in 2021, which was an increase in over 40% from the previous year. While data is scarce in the U.K. our US counterparts spend an average of $534 a month on digital advertising. This level of awareness is what is driving small business interaction.

Rejecting the Norm

There is a feeling now that customers know where their money is going when they spend with small businesses. Larger companies are often cheaper, but quality is sometimes lacking. Smaller businesses know their reputation is everything, so will often go above and beyond to ensure their product or service is what you need. That is why people are beginning to spend with smaller businesses, and rejecting the norm or larger corporations.

The Pandemic had an Impact

The pandemic has of course had a huge impact on the way people are spending. But people are now more focussed than ever on their local areas. This is because people have seen first hand the impact that their money being taken away from small businesses can have on them. They have friends, neighbours and family running these businesses and working in them. And this set of stats from pollinate.co.uk is telling:

“The principal drivers behind consumers wanting to support local businesses include reinvesting in local economies (45%), keeping money in the community (44%), and driving job growth in the community (43%)“

These clearly show how customers want to keep their local areas thriving, and if taken advantage of, this can be a huge help to those counting on local people’s money.