Online shopping is taking a big bite out of the bottom line of local businesses.
Consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping to avoid crowds and get items delivered right to their door.
Research from Dig360 and Leger show that 46 per cent of Canadian consumers browsed and bought exclusively online on Black Friday. Those numbers trump the 33 per cent who searched and shopped in-store only.
With more consumers turning online, local businesses are suffering as a result.
“It’s hard for our local businesses at any level to compete with online,” president and CEO of the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce Jennifer McCurdy said. “If people are continuing shopping online those [local] stores aren’t going to be there anymore.”
McCurdy said bookstores were hit first by online shopping when Amazon, the first big online retail giant, launched in 1995 selling books exclusively over the Internet. The store had no traditional costs associated with a brick and mortar store and had no limitations to the amount of titles they could stock in their online store.
The Bookstore on Perron has seen the Amazon effect first hand. Slumping sales forced the shop to expand their products beyond books and they started carrying other gift items to supplement lost income to online shopping.
“They have grown their niche and expanded their reach,” McCurdy said. “They have real character and they can custom order for you.”
Angela Chatwin, 12-year salesperson at the shop says that their own online bookstore is not able to compete with bigger online stores like Amazon and Chapters. They have been running the online section of their store for five years, but it hasn’t helped them expand their reach.
“It’s not a tool that we use a lot,” Chatwin said.
The way the shop stays competitive is through special book orders and expanding into unique gift items, but the number of full-time sales staff has dwindled down to just one employee.
“We used to have lots of full time staff but we just don’t have the need for it anymore,” Chatwin said.
McCurdy said that local shops are vital to the economy of the community. Of every $100 spent at a locally owned store, about $68 stays in the community. Of the $100 dollars spent at a national chain or big box store in the community, around $43 stays in the community. Money spent online brings virtually no money back to the community.
“The only money coming back is if a truck stops at the local restaurant on a break or fills up on gas as they come through and do their deliveries,” McCurdy said.
Along with money being poured back into the community from shopping locally, businesses will hire locally and support the overall health of the community.
“People have to recognize that local businesses, whether it’s the local independent or national stores, they are spending money and supporting the community,” McCurdy said. “They are paying taxes here and they are hiring in the community. They are hiring us, our spouses and our kids and their employees shop locally too.”
McCurdy said that it’s possible to get everything you need from the community of St. Albert. Five years ago, she spent an entire year only shopping in the community. She said it is possible to do and she always consciously shops locally to support local businesses.
“It has to be a conscious decision by the people purchasing that they are going to support their neighbours and their community and their town to make sure they stay vibrant,” McCurdy said.
