Whether you choose to believe it or not… Amazon Prime is not a crucial component of a thriving community. Although you can browse through thousands of independent retailers and support smaller businesses, from a sustainability angle – you’ll still be contributing to the masses of pollution that surrounds us. Do you ever wonder, how many of your parcels are from factories overseas? or have to be driven hundreds of miles to get to you? And although Amazon is aiming to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, the independent businesses on your doorstep can achieve that much sooner and with very little effort!
Now we know that Amazon Prime exists based on the power of convenience, for the times you run out of shampoo and can get a new bottle delivered to you by 10pm the same day, but there’s a new way to quickly find what you’re looking for (without the emissions, packaging, waste or pollution)… and it’s known as Local Life. You can explore your local area without having to move an inch!
Local Life put the independent business that are right on your doorstep, at your fingertips. Small businesses are built on passion and ambition, and they rely on their local community (that’s you btw) to support them, and by showing your support to local businesses you can actually have an impact on your own daily life and not even know it!
Let’s see why it’s better to shop locally…
Community
We think that you’ll agree with us when we say that small businesses offer the most life and creativity within their communities. Independent businesses really are the heart of local, farmers’ and makers’ markets and events because they give more back to their community than most ‘big’ businesses. Without independent, ‘small’ businesses, communities wouldn’t have the colour or character they do!
Job Creation
Believe it or not, small businesses create around 13 million jobs per year in the UK! meaning there are plenty of job opportunities within small businesses and even more with your support! It’s with the independent businesses where you’ll often find unique and fun job opportunities within their need for people who can adapt to the needs of their one-of-a-kind, cool creation!
Quality Customer Experiences
Small businesses often offer better quality products and services as they’re made with love, skill and attention. Every little detail is thought out with customers in mind and the customer experience is often more attentive and involved because of this! Customer service is usually excellent as business owners take real pride in what they’re passionate about and they know just how important and valuable the opinions of their customers are, which is why they focus on making the customer experience a positive and memorable one in hopes that you’ll go on to recommend them to others!
Environmental Sustainability
Local Life is all about saving the environment, it’s why we exist, and shopping from small businesses has so many environmental benefits – while this doesn’t apply to all small businesses, the products and services often have a smaller carbon footprint. So why wouldn’t you buy a few quality items from an independent business rather than lots of cheaper, less eco-friendly, fast fashion pieces with who knows how many miles under their wrapping ribbon in their efforts to make it to your doorstep? And let’s not forget the packaging…. oh the packaging! I’m sure we’ve all received a box the size of a house for our order of a hairpin – independent businesses generally have less waste than bigger companies as they deal with a smaller quantity of orders and package their products with care and consideration, rather than clumsily.
Local Economy
Money that’s made from small businesses is usually invested back into that business. As so many independent businesses source and sell locally, this helps to keep money circulating within its local area – your local area! It also provides a fantastic, sustainable local economic situation creating more jobs locally meaning more money in the pockets of local residents. The independent found that for every £1 spent with a local business there is an extra 56p of economic activity. This further increases when all the staff live locally to an extra £1.64 of extra-economic activity! When local businesses buy from other local businesses the extra economic activity increases to £2.64. So for every £1 spent locally, there is the possibility of a further £2.64 for the local economy meaning shopping locally and supporting local businesses can have a dramatic effect on your area and even your own job prospects!
Supporting small businesses really can have a great impact on your community and the actual business owners as well as their staff too (you probably know somebody who owns or works in a local business). So do yourself a favour and if you want to make a difference it’s easy (and free) to sign up to Local Life today – it’s perhaps the best deal you’ll find this Amazon Prime Day!
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It’s so simple to list your business on Local Life.
Just answer some questions, add some pictures and we’ll do the rest!
