It’s starting to look a lot like Amazon!

While I am sure you have all seen by now many posts about “Shopping local this Christmas” the message is soooo important that I could not pass this opportunity to give you my opinion.

According to digitalcommerce360, Amazon has reported it’s most profitable quarter this year increasing sales by 32.8% globally.

Now we are talking about a company here that was already making BILLIONS before the pandemic, well now, thanks to us all, they have a record revenue of 96.15 BILLION.

You are welcome Jeff!!!

Meanwhile back in the ranch, our local shops are suffering one of the hardest years of their history.

How many times have you passed by a place that has closed down and though “Oh that was a lovely shop, I wonder why it's closed” When was the last time you actually went in and spent money there?

Don’t get me wrong I am not preaching, I can admit that has happened to me too and then I’ve realised I contributed to their closure by not buying their products.

But one thing I will never do is buy from Amazon or one of the large online corporations.

I admit it is tempting.

If you google something you need, whether it is a new PC or a nail varnish, Amazon is going to come up top of the page. These days, you can buy ANYTHING on Amazon. The website is user friendly and the service is normally good, so it becomes sort of a commodity to be able to use the exact same process every time you need to buy something. And we all LOVE when things are made easy for us.

But if we all continue condoning this behaviour within a few years, maybe sooner than you think, our main and high streets will be void of any retail businesses, coffee shops ANYTHING! And we will all remember with fondness the times when we could go browsing in our local shops.

I know some of you are thinking: “We are in lockdown, the shops are closed!”

Granted they are. But many local shops are making mammoth efforts to bring themselves online, spending money they possibly don’t have so they can still serve their customers in this strange era of COVID we are living in.

When it comes to your Christmas shopping this year, do not panic yet and buy all your presents from Amazon. Shops will more than likely open even if it is for a few weeks for the Christmas rush. If you do not feel confident about shopping, do check online, but seek Irish businesses, or whatever “local” means to you wherever you are.

If you are on social media, look for Irish companies that might have Facebook or Instagram pages, more often than not, they have a system for buying online. I for example follow a Facebook group called Shop in Ireland;

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3030547663723659/?multi_permalinks=3122087804569644%2C3116429778468780%2C3111197002325391&notif_id=1604581908409653&notif_t=group_activity&ref=notif 

Many Irish businesses are promoting their products there and will engage with you on the buying process.

Remember that for every € spent in your local economy, you generate 2 to 4 times more benefits to your community, as NEF researcher David Boyle says "Money is like blood. It needs to keep moving around to keep the economy going,"

Even if it takes you a bit longer to make your Christmas shopping, buy local and support the economy YOU live in, not the pockets of those that already have enough money.

Raquel