Shop Local: Stop Shopping at Amazon
For years we’ve all felt guilty about shopping at Amazon, but how could you avoid it when they’re good at offering the fastest products online. With the changes in online shopping and e-commerce this year, Amazon is no longer the most convenient way to shop. Localized delivery opens up the opportunity for your local store to offer their products to be delivered to your doorstep at an instant. The retail industry has been forced to shift its online shopping focus to the same convenience that it was able to offer from physical store locations before COVID-19.
In a recent study of Amazon shoppers and users in the US, 79.8% of shoppers choose to shop there because of fast shipping. But still, if you were shopping at Amazon for the cheaper options, the necessary cost of Amazon Prime actually negates that cheaper ticket price that you might find. Finding those deals at your local store, then getting them instantly delivered to your doorstep proves to be much more convenient than the monopolizing beast of Amazon.
Local Stores
Every time you order from Amazon, you deprive yourself of the chance to invest in your local economy. This doesn't just mean shopping at small local businesses. Even your neighborhood Best Buy or Target is technically a part of your local economy, as it provides a physical store with any shopping needs that you may have. These well-known businesses give other small shops the chance to get more foot traffic at their lesser-known stores.
But that's not to say that Amazon doesn't take opportunities from those smaller local businesses, too. Paired with an excellent infographic, Olivia Lavecchia of ILSR says, "while local retailers are engines of economic activity, spending their revenue at a wide variety of other businesses in the community, Amazon merely extracts money, leaving little behind." When you purchase something locally, you're making an investment in the business that you're supporting, but also in the local economy and community that surrounds it. When you purchase something on Amazon, you're only contributing to growing a company in a complete different location that doesn't care about your local economy or community for the sake of convenience. But now, you can shop conveniently from your local stores through OneVim. With the growing changes in retail, you're offered a solution to your convenience problems through same-day, instant delivery and pickup options.
Local Community
If you're able to get that same desired convenience that you would at Amazon, but still support and invest in your local community, would that be enough for you to stop shopping there? With COVID-19, it's not necessarily safe to get out of your home and support your local stores by physically shopping there like it always has been. Community is taking on a different form, but it still exists. Supporting local is still possible and as important as ever. Download the OneVim app and schedule a pickup and delivery from your local store now. Or, if you're a local business looking for a way to reach your customers and encourage them to stop shopping at Amazon, contact us now. We'll help you by integrating with your ordering platform for an automated solution to give your customers same-hour delivery of your products from the shelves of your store.
Reliability
Since Amazon is the largest online retailer, the growing demand of products during the coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a challenge for the company. It's no surprise that their massive consumer-base turned to them for answers when leaving home wasn't an option, but the unprecedented need for certain items made the demand difficult to handle. Because of this, the reliability in their business model has taken a downturn. Consumers have needed to start looking elsewhere for items they need on demand. OneVim can help you get those items from your local stores at the instant that you need them with reliable same-hour delivery.
Additionally, if you want to rely on your local stores to be open when all this is over, stop shopping at Amazon and start shopping local: it's growing to be just as convenient and reliable. If you're a local business that needs help reaching those customers that are giving up on Amazon, let OneVim help you!
Takeaway
It's no joke that Amazon is virtually becoming the definition of online shopping. And, the pandemic seems to have only contributed to their success and growth, while making it increasingly tough for local retailers to survive. As a consumer, our decisions and behaviors have a direct impact on the market, especially now. If shopping at local stores and supporting your local community and economy can be met with the same convenience that Amazon provides, wouldn't it be a smart decision to make that shift?