Research suggests coronavirus is encouraging shoppers to think small and support local
As COVID-19 lockdown measures continue throughout the UK and many businesses remain temporarily closed, research by takepayments Ltd has found that hashtags such as #supportlocal and #shopsmall skyrocketed in March.
According to the merchant services provider’s findings, the hashtag #supportlocal saw an unprecedented rise and was used 61 times more often than at the same point last year.
In March 2019, #supportlocal and similar phrases appeared 1.76 million times on online posts and articles. In December, the number jumped to 11.4 million in the run-up to Christmas and in March 2020, that number surged to an extraordinary 108 million appearances.
The biggest day of support for small and local businesses came on the 21st March when coronavirus uncertainty was at its peak as the government announced the closure of bars, pubs, restaurants and hospitality venues.
With small businesses concerned about the impact of the closures and government support packages not readily available at the time, a tremendous 57.9 million online posts and articles were shared using phrases encouraging people to support local and small businesses.
In one day, this was more than four times the amount of online support seen than the entire month of December 2019.
Between the 1st and 23rd March 2020, the top five trending hashtags used in relation to small business support were #supportlocal (19.2m), #shoplocal (19.2m), #shopsmall (6.5m), #supportsmallbusiness (5.27m) and #smallbusiness (4.68m).
With many of the mobility, access and independent living retail sector consisting of often-independent and family-owned SMEs, the research indicates that many businesses in the sector should emphasise their importance to their local community whilst lockdown continues.
Takepayments Ltd notes that social media can be a powerful tool for engaging with customers, building an digital community and garnering online support.
Reviewing the top of three social media platforms for small and local business support, Instagram topped the list with 61.4 million online posts and articles using the hashtags. Facebook came second with 31.7 million online posts and articles whilst Twitter came third with 11.6 million online posts and articles.
Earlier in the year, five mobility retail experts discussed their thoughts and shared advice on using social media in the mobility retail sector to reach audiences online.
