Shop Jennings First!....Don't count on it!
On 12/7 and article appeared in the Jennings Daily News
titled “Online retail sales replace shopping”.. An excerpt from the article read “ When local merchants
suffer such as during times when Jennings shoppers go out of town to make
purchases, the entire city suffers. When money doesn’t circulate locally we
all end up feeling the pinch”.
The story is in line with many past stories targeting on line sales and shopping
out of town and the impact to our local economy.
As an individual I prefer to shop locally, not because it’s good for
the economy but more simply, I am too lazy to drive too far to get the things I
need or want. I shop out of town when I can’t find what I need or I will
attempt to find it on the internet and order it.
My on-line purchasing experiences have not been favorable. Recently I needed a special fluorescent light bulb for a machine that assists my mother in law to read because of her failing eyesight. I searched several places in Jennings where you would typically find light bulbs. One place had one that was the wrong size but it was around $2.65 for it, so I knew the price range I was looking at. Nobody had the right one and nobody was interested in ordering a bulb that cost $1.98. So I went on the internet to make the purchase. You always hear stories about the great prices on the internet and I found just the place. Unfortunately the minimum order was $25.00. I began purchasing light bulbs that I thought we could use. I had to spend $28.00 to get the $1.98 bulb that I needed. I proceeded to make my order anyway so I kept buying light bulbs. I would either hit $24.00 or $28.00 order on the form. I convinced myself that it was okay to spend the $28.00 because Afterall it is for my vision impaired mother in law who considers me her favorite son in law, who doesn’t mind cooking my favorite dish. I told myself “it all comes out in the long run”. I proceeded to my check out on the website and it calculated the shipping. I had to choose the cheapest shipping option which was pretty much, “We’ll deliver it you if were ever in the neighborhood” and that rate was $18.00. I reluctantly paid $46.00 for a $1.98 light bulb. I waited almost 2 weeks and I had the bulb installed in under a minute. How does this on-line purchase affect the local economy? $46.00 was taken out of the local economy because the local merchants did not have what I needed. If one of them would have ordered the bulb for me and charged me $10.00 bucks for the special order I would have still saved money. Nobody was interested.
Supporting the local economy by shopping locally is an absolute good in theory. Unfortunately it is not a one way street where I shell out the going rate while employees and owners of the business snub their noses at me. If they don’t have what I need many do not care whether or not I get. They never refer me to local store that might.
My buying habits are triggered by how I am treated,
whether or not they employ my friends or family, and whether or not you had the
product I needed the last time I went into your store. Further down the list is
price.
As a consumer, I will pay more for a product and go wherever I have to go if I
make a decision that I will not do business with you. Customer loyalty must be
earned by the merchant. It is not a free commodity awarded because someone is
reciting a “shop locally first” mantra.
I recently had a merchant
complain to me because the service he received from the company I work for was
almost $45.00 a month. The merchant went on and on complaining and threatening
to end his business relationship with my company. It made me uncomfortable as
several people were standing around. I
personally spend around $75.00 a month with this particular merchant. My company
spends upwards of $300.00 through my choice to exclusively trade with him. He
gives us $45.00 and we give him $375.00. To me that’s not a bad business exchange for him. The
business owner could not see beyond what HE was having to pay. A year later, I’m still trading with someone else.
In another example I traded with a business owner for 25 years. I averaged
spending $8.00 a day. After 25 years that comes to $73,000.00 in business
transactions. I made a purchase and for the first time I would need it delivered
because my truck was in the shop. There was a $25.00 charge for delivery and the
merchant was adamant that it had to be paid in advance before they would even
load it. I paid the $25.00 delivery charge and counted it as a last installment
and the end of a 25 year relationship. I could understand if I had just walked
off the street but I was a 25 year loyal customer.
There were other options for the sake of the relationship. What they
didn’t know is that if they would have offered me another unit and waived the
delivery charge for both to help seal the deal I would taken them up on it.
Rather than making a $1000.00 sale off me they made a $500.00 sale, all because
of a lousy $25.00 delivery charge being demanded.
I went to Wal-Mart to purchase a specific gift. They are out of that particular item and never offered to call one of the other stores and have it shipped over to them where I could pick it up a couple days later. I had to go to Crowley to buy the item I wanted. While we were there we completed our Christmas list from Wal Mart.
Building and retaining customer loyalty and long term
trading relationships are not even on the radar scope anymore.
Many local businesses have decided not to carry certain items at all
because Wal-Mart offers that same
product for less. When Wal-Mart runs out then we have to go out of town to get
it, or we have to go online for the purchase.
The point to all this is that If local merchants are complaining about losing business to Wal Mart, to the Internet or to out of town businesses then there are some things they can do. Shopping locally is not a “gimme” that will be solved by propaganda, fancy marketing or complaining.
The first big step is for local merchants to recognize their local and loyal shoppers and recognize their value as it relates to the bottom line of their financials and treat accordingly. Recognize that if a person comes in your store everyday and spends $5.00 and you can keep him doing that then he is worth $9,125.00 over a 5 year period. Today a few look at you like they don’t need your $5.00. They’re just not doing the math.
I recognize the importance and
significance of me spending every single dollar I make inside of the community I
live. My first choice is always to go to Jennings to get what I need or want. My
impulse buys are attempted in Jennings first for no other reason other than
convenience. It is after that initial trip that causes me to alter my buying
habits. If local merchants give me
reasons to go elsewhere then that is what I will do. New customers are hard to
get. Dedicated and loyal customers are money in the bank and keep the business
economy thriving.
I’ll spend my money with local merchants even if the price is higher than
outside the parish but there are some things that I expect as a customer. If the
business relationship is based solely on prices then I go where it is the
cheapest and forego my expectations about courteous treatment and customer
service.
One of the primary motivators for my 2005 buying habits are going to be based solely on whether or not you do business with me or whether or not you employ my family or friends. In all likelihood if you cannot fit into one of those categories you probably won’t see a dime from me. Any Shop Jennings first campaign will first require that local merchants, law enforcement and politicians make some changes collectively. If there is no interest in change then Crowley is only 16 minutes from Jennings.