Why Buy Local?

If you were to write a pros and cons list on buying local, the results would be pretty lopsided. The fact is, the seemingly endless reasons for shopping from local businesses so far outweigh any negatives, it’s not even worth finishing the cons side of that list.

For instance, did you know that local businesses generate over three times more local economic activity per square foot than a big box retailer? Suffice it to say, when you buy local goods through LocalCart.net, you’re propelling yourself and those around you forward, and that’s a win-win for everyone involved. Except for maybe that big box store, but they’ll live.

The Multiplier Effect of Buying Local

Let's go back to that statistic for a moment and dive into the details. How is it possible that simply buying local can have that much of an impact on a local economy? Well, it comes down to something called the multiplier effect.

As you can see from the chart, local businesses recirculate nearly 50% of their revenue back into the local economy. Chain stores, however, clock in under 14%, which makes sense given the fact that many of them have investors, shareholders, and other stakeholders that all take a piece of the revenue pie.

Therefore, when you patronize small, local businesses – whether it’s a farmer, retailer, restaurant, service provider, or nearly anyone else based locally – more of your dollars stay in your community. And that’s where the multiplier effect kicks in:

• Operational costs like utilities, inventory, equipment, and employee salaries go directly back into the economy, much of it local
• Those local operational costs recirculate back into the community
• Business owners and employees spend much of their income in the local economy

And that’s our goal with LocalCart.net – to empower communities, strengthen local economies, and reduce our reliance on massive, nationwide supply chains that exclude local producers. Plus, as we’ve seen during the coronavirus pandemic, those gigantic supply chains can and do fail. It’s time for a change.

The Buy Local Movement

It’s one thing to talk about something like the multiplier effect, but quite another to see it in action. And you don’t have to look any further than Virginia’s wine industry to see just how powerful the buy local movement can be.

Right outside of LocalCart’s front door are a number of small wineries spread out across Loudoun, Fairfax, and Fauquier Counties. Like the majority of wineries in Virginia, most of them produce less than 10,000 cases a year and rely on direct-to-consumer sales through wine tasting rooms and other channels like LocalCart.net.

But don’t confuse a small business with an inconsequential one. According to recent research, the multiplier effect was alive and well in Virginia’s wine industry from 2010 to 2015, as the following statistics prove:

• Total economic impact grew 83% over the time period, from $747 million in 2010 to $1.37 billion in 2015
• Total production grew by 60%
• Industry jobs and total salaries increased from 4,753 and $156 million in 2010, to 8,218 and $291 million in 2015

That’s the power of buying local. Every dollar you spend on LocalCart.net drives those types of numbers, boosting your community and strengthening your local economy. Buying local is about pride and self-sufficiency, protecting you, your family, and everyone around you with economic stability and strength. And at LocalCart.net, we make it easy. Local Simply – that’s what we do.