– Stephanie Rabiner is a contributor to FindLaw’s Free Enterprise blog. FindLaw is a Thomson Reuters publication. This article originally appeared here. –
Despite hard times and shrinking profits, Americans still shop at locally owned, independent retailers.
A new small business survey from American Express polled 1,000 consumers aged 18 and older. Ninety-three percent of respondents believe that it’s important to support local small businesses. And on average, they spend about one third of their monthly discretionary income at these stores.
How can you capitalize on this information?
Survey respondents primarily shop at small businesses because of friendly employees and product knowledge.
Additionally, 87 percent of respondents share favorable opinions about a business, while only 69 percent share negative feedback. The majority use word of mouth and social media. Only 13 percent use sites like Yelp! and Citysearch.
