Surge in support for local businesses following campaigns

Research on behalf of the Local Enterprise Offices as part of their ‘Look for Local’ campaign has revealed 83% of Dublin City consumers were now more likely to buy local either online or in-store.

Many respondents cited recent campaigns to highlight local businesses as informing their decisions.

Of those surveyed 8 out of 10 said that they were aware of campaigns, including that of the LEOs, encouraging individuals and businesses to look locally when buying goods or services.

83% of respondents in Dublin said they were more likely to shop locally online this year.

In addition, 76% of Dublin City respondents said they would look to support local in-store.

Nationally, 85% of those surveyed felt there were more local businesses trading online than in 2019, while 83% plan to support more local businesses in 2021.

The LEOs have approved over 11,000 Trading Online Vouchers this year, an increase of over 800% from 2019.

The Voucher enables small businesses to get established online or improve an existing online presence.

The ‘Look for Local’ campaign is being activated by each of the 31 LEOs nationwide, and the hub on LocalEnterprise.ie/LookforLocal now has over 4,400 businesses listed, including 223 from Dublin City, from a range of sectors that enables consumers and businesses to search for goods and services within their area.

Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, said;

“It has been a year like no other for many small local businesses who employ over one million people in Ireland.

“The Look for Local campaign has provided a significant boost to many companies across the country and builds on the upsurge of support by consumers for local businesses when looking to buy goods or services.

“It’s great to see that people across the country are supporting local businesses at the heart of our communities by shopping locally and safely in store, by phone or online; for home delivery or collection.

“Small businesses have risen to the challenge of trading during Covid. Many changed their business models, created new products and gone above and beyond to maintain links with their customers.

“This is a testament to their resilience and now their local customers are backing them.”

Greg Swift Head of Enterprise & Economic Development for Local Enterprise Office Dublin City, said: “This research has borne out the huge groundswell of support of local businesses we have seen this year and particularly now coming up to Christmas.

“With so many campaigns ongoing to try and support local businesses, the impact has been significant and the response from businesses has been outstanding.

“Many have had to completely change the way they do business this year and it’s great to see people across communities supporting them.

“Local Enterprise Offices Nationally have helped over 11,000 businesses this year with Trading Online Vouchers and they can now trade 24 hours a day as opposed to just 9-6pm.

“Those who Look for Local can be assured that if they are buying locally they will get a premium product that can be delivered at short notice and with that they are supporting their local economy.  Hopefully this continues long into 2021 and beyond.

“Dublin City Council is delighted to throw its support behind ‘Look for Local’ Day.

“As Christmas draws closer and we enter one of the busiest shopping periods in the year, it’s important to encourage everyone in our counties to back small businesses and retailers in their communities.

“Dublin City Council is doing everything it can to support businesses, and we know from research from the Local Enterprise Office Network that there is a strong desire among the public to shop locally this year.

“We would urge consumers across the country to Look for Local when they shop, and invest in local jobs and enterprise in the weeks and months ahead.”

The campaign will run for several weeks on traditional and online media and profiling of businesses will continue until the end of the year to help spotlight local businesses across the country and encourage people to ‘Look for Local’.

For more information on the campaign go to www.LocalEnterprise.ie/LookforLocal  Agencies, businesses and consumers are encouraged to use #LookforLocal on social media to help support the campaign.