Top 9 ways we can all be supporting local businesses

Small and local businesses are having to work harder than ever to keep themselves on track for now and for the future. From putting measures in place to give people confidence to shop and eat on the high street, to finding out how to start selling online and diversifying product ranges.

As a business owner, the ongoing and accelerated trend to selling online is something you might have experienced first-hand. As a customer, you may be shopping online more than ever before – out of necessity, preference, or both.

To help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) keep going and achieve their ambitions, we’ve been making sure that taking payments is the easier part of adapting their businesses for the current and ever-changing situation.

4 ways we’re supporting local businesses

1. Helping businesses start selling online, like Paradise Indian Restaurant and Fish, Wings & Tings, who have partnered with fellow Barclaycard Business customer Crowdify Global for web design and build. Crowdify Global are then plugging in our online payment gateway systems so these small businesses can take payments online. 
   
   
2. Giving practical support – help with things like switching card terminals back on and troubleshooting after lockdown. 
   
   
3. Finding cash flow solutions, like for DPM Design & Build Ltd, who were on the verge of going out of business just a couple of weeks after registering with Companies House.
   
   
4. Shining a light on small and local businesses like Bad Brownie and Upside Down House via our Customer Spotlights social campaign. If you’re a Barclaycard Business customer and you’d like to be featured, DM us on Instagram.

Our research shows that SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are proactively planning their recovery too. Nearly all the SMEs we spoke to (80%) plan to invest in their business over the next 12 months, with new equipment and technology (32%) and marketing (28%) being the areas of focus.¹ And there are things we can all do to support local businesses.

5 ways everybody can help in supporting local businesses

1. Leave positive online reviews – according to research, 91% of people read online reviews and 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. But even more importantly, the average customer is willing to spend 31% more on a retailer that has excellent online reviews.²  So, your positive review could have a measurable impact on a small business. 
   
   
2. Engage with your favourite small, independent, local businesses on social media – social media algorithms (basically the way they decide what content to show you and in what order) can mean that even if you’re following a local business, the content they share might not be very visible to you (or anyone) if not enough people actively engage with it. That means it’s really important to like, share, comment and save posts from businesses you really care about.
   
   
3. Buy gift cards/vouchers – this is particularly important for small businesses that don’t have the option of trading online (like hairdressers and cafes). With so much uncertainty about whether or not customers will feel confident to leave their homes and spend their money, if you can buy gift cards or vouchers, you’re adding a little bit of security back into the mix.
   
   
4. Buy your essentials locally and independently if you can – sometimes you can only get what you need from a large retail chain, but if you can shop locally for everyday essentials, it’ll really help in supporting local businesses. 
   
   
5. Buy as gifts – if you can’t justify buying something for yourself, but you want to support a local business, buy for colleagues, family, and friends who you perhaps can’t connect with in person at the moment.

¹ https://www.home.barclaycard/media-centre/press-releases/UK-SMEs-outperform-Q2-expectations.html

² https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/online-reviews/#who-is-reading-online-reviews (all stats in this paragraph)