How do you actually Shop Local?
We often hear people need to Shop Local. It’s part of Greenvile’s mantra for almost two decades – ever since rapid growth really started hitting here.
We are asked to shop local, but never hear why we should. Here’s why.
Big Box Brands and Internet Retail are destroying local economies. How is this possible?
It’s based on the 75-35-1 rule. That is, for every dollar spent with local businesses, 75 cents stays local. Whereas, only 35 cents spent through big Box Brands stays in the local economy and only 1 cent spent on Internet retail is returned to the community.
Did you know that local businesses invest more in local labor, pay more in local taxes, raise more for local charities and spend more time on community and local government events and programs.
Local stores and businesses help sustain vibrant, engaged, walkable downtown areas that create a fun and enjoyable atmosphere for all local residents and attract tourists to the market. Think about downtown Greenville. There is a reason it is filled with locally owned businesses. City leaders saw that need and pursued them. They didn’t want a cookie cutter downtown.
Local businesses must have a way to compete against National and Big Box Brands large advertising and marketing budgets. Locally Epic offers a way for local businesses to connect to local consumers thru a mobile app that allows them to effectively and more efficiently reach their local customers with real time messaging and promotional offers. Locally Epic provides a measurable ROI on their marketing dollars, something that traditional media cannot.
So if local consumers download the Locally Epic App to learn about and discover new businesses the local economy will grow. Remember, two to three times more money stays in the local community stays here if you buy from a locally owned business.
Together we can energize and grow the local economy.
All it takes is for us to take $20 a week that you are already spending – Pivot that money away from a big box brand or the Internet to a locally owned business for the next 52 weeks…If all of us who live in the Upstate would do that we would increase the Local economy by $300 million dollars a year.
Just put your money where your home and heart is. Support your friends, family neighbors and yourself. Invest in our community. Help create a stronger and healthier Upstate by keeping your hard earned money local.
Locally Epic is also working to create ways for small business to get noticed. You’ve probably downloaded an app or two that promise local bargains, but these usually provide pre-selected “deals” that rarely coincide with your needs. In the long run, a lot of people wind up deleting these apps from their phones, which impacts the small, local businesses that don’t have the resources to keep investing in new apps to meet market needs. Now local companies can share one app, and by creating value for consumers and businesses alike, that app is more likely to get used – not purged.
And “value” takes us back to those concepts of quality of life, being fortunate enough to live in the Upstate, and that buck that I hope is still burning a hole in your pocket. It’s your buck, and it’s your choice, but before you spend it, I do hope you’ll consider that every dollar you spend represents your opportunity to have a positive economic impact on our region and the Greenville lifestyle we’ve come to enjoy and, yes — value.