WJR Business Beat: Most Consumers Will Shop Locally This Holiday Season, Study Says (Episode 324)

Tune in to the Business Beat, below, to learn more about what the Uberall study says about customer loyalty:

Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE. Are you an entrepreneur with a great story to share? If so, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll feature you on an upcoming segment of the WJR Business Beat! Good morning, Guy! We’ve got good news on the Business Beat this morning for our locally owned merchants this holiday season as new data relating to shopping patterns from a just released report by Uberall finds that most shoppers, 67% to be exact, are going to trust local brands this year over Internet-only merchants during this year’s holiday shopping season and 58% say they are more loyal now to local businesses than they were prior to the pandemic. Now I know that supporting our local merchants is near and dear to your heart, Guy, as it is to those of us at StartupNation and, in particular, supporting our locally owned merchants during the holiday shopping season is just critical. Greg Sterling, VP of market insights at Uberall, had this to say about the findings of their study: “With online consumer trust declining, generally buyers are reassured by store with a local presence. That local presence leads to convenience, not only when buying, but when having to return goods as well, along with the relationships that many of us have with our favorite local merchants. And that makes for a powerful one-two punch to counter the advantages that online shopping inherently offers. “ Now let’s just say it like it is, Guy, that the convenience and efficiency of clicking a few buttons and having our purchased goods arrive on our doorsteps the following day is indeed a tough act to compete with. But let’s all just remember that there is a difference when it comes to buying and shopping. If you need to just make a quick purchase, then by all means buying online is the likely winner. However, if you’re looking to go shopping, to perhaps meet a friend for lunch and to enjoy the experience of doing your holiday shopping is just that — an experience — and there’s nothing like doing that in your own community. Not only will you be rewarded with a joyous experience, you’ll keep your hard-earned dollars hard at work, right in your own community to go towards schools, beautification, and other initiatives, and to support the proprietors who employ others and create that very sense of community that makes living where you live such a joy. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder, and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.