SHOPPING LOCAL VS ONLINE

News

February 6, 2022

We’re still ‘Sharing the Local Love’ and with that we wanted to share some insights on shopping local versus online. Sure, it’s convenient to shop online, but we’d love to offer you some reasons why it is worth it to shop local instead. Yes, even enough to change out of your jammies!

You get in-person advice
Not sure of sizing, color, or other options? Maybe you want to buy something but don’t know what else you need to make that purchase complete. An in-person shopping experience can help you straighten out the choices. Small business owners can offer detailed information and suggestions and you can ask questions as you need.

You can be sure of what you’re buying
Have you ever ordered something online only to be disappointed when it arrives? Online images can be hard to discern. Even when you do read the description, some items are sized differently or have unexpected variations.

Shopping local is also an experience
When you shop in-person, you can invite friends, family, or just make a pleasurable outing for yourself by adding in a dining excursion. When you shop in-person, you meet and interact with people. We have spent a lot of time apart lately, so there is something to be said for those chance encounters that occur when walking about town. From the warm smile of the business owner to a suggestion, or compliment you receive from a fellow shopper, there are many times when these sorts of introductions make your day.

No need to be worried about deliveries
Between weather events and supply chain issues, there’s a lot of potential delivery delays with online shopping. If you shop in-person, you won’t need to worry about your package going missing or when it will arrive.

Easier returns
Sometimes you need to return your purchase. When you do, it’s easier to do it locally than to send something back to an online store. Between paying for shipping to going to the post office and insuring it, bringing it back to a local business is generally easier than online returns.

Window shopping
When you shop in-person you’re treated to beautiful window displays. These could inspire your home décor or help you figure out something for your hard-to-buy-for family member. You will likely find an expected treasures by browsing this way.

Community support
Locally owned businesses are much more likely to keep the money you spent with them local as well. How does this work? Well, owners often live and provide jobs in your community and therefore they provide more support for local events, sports teams and charities. Statistics show that for every $100 spent with a BC local business, $63 is re-circulated back into the BC economy versus $14 for multi-national corporations.

We’re not saying never shop online again, lets face it there are times when the convenience just can’t be beat. But before you shop online, please consider that it actually only takes a 10% increase in shopping local to make a big difference in the local economy. Visit us at Tourism Langley to learn more!