In recent years there has been a huge trend back towards shopping via small businesses, local and independent. Christmas shopping is a perfect opportunity to put this into practice. There are a multitude of reasons to tick off your gift list from small, local, independent retailers this festive season.
It’s so important to support our local high streets. If we don’t buy from brick and mortar shops they simply won’t exist in the future. That’s not to say that you can’t enjoy the convenience of shopping online. Many local, independent businesses have a website and some even offer free or reduced cost local deliveries.
Support Local Artisans & Creatives
Shopping locally supports local artisans and creatives. It helps creates jobs in our local areas. It keeps people in work and keeps businesses running. Local businesses are more likely to hire people local to the area. Every pound spent within the local economy tends to circulate longer within the area for longer, often going back to those who live there. No one wants to live in a village, town or city with boarded up shops and nothing on offer. Vibrant high streets are at the heart of strong communities. But if we don’t use them, we will lose them.
It’s not about being puritanical. There’s a time and a place for large chain stores. And they do some things fantastically well. But I don’t think many of us truly want to live in a world where we only have the big names to choose from.
Advantages To Shopping Small Business
Another advantage to shopping small and local is that often you can get a much better service than from a chain. The trouble with the big, bland chains is that often the service is lacklustre. Sadly employees aren’t paid well enough, or treated well enough to genuinely care about the service they’re providing. Compare that to a family run, local business who instinctively just take more pride in what they’re doing. In a big chain, employees are probably working to make shareholders more profits, but in a small, local company your purchase could literally be putting food on the table of the owner’s family, it’s buying their younger children dance lessons or putting older offspring through university. Quite simply your purchases mean more to the person putting them through the till.
Many of the local businesses I know pride themselves on getting to know their customers and that leads to results in friendlier, more personalised service. We’ve all been caught in that awful cycle of clunky computerised ‘customer service’ systems where you just go round and round pressing 1 for this and 2 for that, when all you really need to do is speak to a human being who ‘gets it’ and sorts out the problem for you.
Shop Exceptional Quality
When I think of the local businesses I know and love, what they all have in common is the exceptionally good quality of the products they sell. Whether that’s a local farm shop and the delicious foodie treats or the skilled potter producing little works of joy, often the quality is simply better in local shops and independent retailers. This is particularly important when gift buying. When trying to find the perfect present for loved ones, local, independent businesses are a great first call. Often what’s on offer is cooler, quirkier, more stylish or just more unique. All of which might just make for the perfect present. For instance, shopping at a local bookshop probably means access to smaller publishing houses and local authors.
Gifting handmade clothing or accessories avoids that fashion faux pas of wearing the same item as someone else at the party. Buying handmade wooden toys guarantees that your gift isn’t a replica of something the child already ones (or worse still, receives several of the same Christmas! Surely Santa wouldn’t make such a mistake?!)
Lots of small businesses sell handmade items which can make lovely gifts. Handcrafted, bespoke items are often a particularly good choice. Personalised items are also great gift ideas. Who doesn’t love a mug with their name on?! Very handy for the office kitchen…
The Environment
Shopping locally is often more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Buying locally grown and made products is usually better for the environment. Most of the small businesses I know are passionate about using sustainable resources, reducing single use plastic and ensuring that materials are recyclable.
A particularly eco-friendly option is to gift an experience rather than a ‘thing’ (which ultimately may well end up in landfill). Why not gift a voucher for a spa day (or treatment), an afternoon tea or just coffee and a cake. There are gift vouchers available at every budget. The very best independents may well sell you a bespoke experience that is totally unique. And what could be more thoughtful than that?
All of these reasons add up to shopping small and local being a more ethical use of our purchasing power. It feels really good to support independent businesses. And hopefully your loved ones will love their Christmas gifts!
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