Why Cider Monday Matters

Celebrate Cider Monday to bring attention to the effects of online sales on our community.

You love the idea of buying local, but the next thing you know … click, you bought that blender online from a business based far from our community.  It’s so easy!  And your one purchase won’t really make a difference… or will it?

The Multiplier Effect

Monadnock Region independent retailers return, on average, $62 of every $100 spent at their business back to our local economy.  This money recirculates through our community, boosting job growth, charitable giving and civic engagement.  While national chain stores return $14 of every $100 spent, for Amazon the money returned to the local economy (called the multiplier effect) is close to zero.

Unfulfilled Report

Civic Economics and American Booksellers Association released a report, Unfulfilled, in November focusing on bookselling. Their findings: Approximately 29% of all revenue at independent bookstores immediately recirculates in the local economy. This translates to a local impact advantage of 109% [over] that of chain competitor Barnes & Noble, and a massive 405% local impact advantage over Amazon."

Job Growth

To get more specific about jobs, Amazon sales resulted in a loss of 1.7 million retail jobs nationally in 2021. Read more: Unfulfilled.

Subsidies

In 2012, Amazon received $8.5 million in subsidies to build a new warehouse in Delaware and $2 million in tax credits to expand its presence in Indiana.  Subsidies Awarded to Amazon: over $6.7 Billion and Counting!

Land Use

The rise of online shopping, undercutting Main Street retailers, also changes land use patterns.  Amazon warehouses aren't placed downtown, but in remote industrial parks.  Civic Economics Prime Numbers Report concludes that demand for Main Street storefronts will decline, along with city and town government’s tax revenue base.

“Amazon provides a valuable convenience, one that tens of millions of households (ours included) are willing to pay $99 a year to maximize,” said Matt Cunningham from Civic Economics.  “We do not believe, though, that Americans yet comprehend the nature of the tradeoffs to come. They may be asked to accept an increase of hundreds of dollars in annual household tax burden to pick up the slack from the stores they visit less often. They may be required to fund redevelopment efforts around struggling commercial districts and failed shopping centers, or to live with the boarded up storefronts.”

"This unprecedented study makes abundantly clear the deleterious effects on the American economy resulting from Amazon's strategy of retail dominance," said Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association. "It's our hope that the facts included in this report will help policymakers and the public better understand the need for more diversity in the marketplace, and recognize the potential long‐term costs of the loss of healthy local economies."

How can The Local Crowd Monadnock inspire you to shop with your values in mind? Are there opportunities for independent businesses to adapt to the pressure of online shopping?  Let us know what you think by emailing us at jen@thelocalcrowd.com. 

Remember, every purchase -- and click -- counts.  Please think before you click!

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