Do buy-local campaigns work?

Rhode Island organizations are reinvigorating buy-local campaigns for the holidays, but how much the efforts truly boost the bottom lines for businesses can be hard to measure.

The Rhode Island Foundation took over the state’s year-round “buy local” campaign and website in November 2013, launched a new website a year later and is constantly updating www.buylocalri.org, said Chris Barnett, a foundation spokesman. The foundation also promoted the kick off of the website’s holiday-season campaign.

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with city Mayor Jorge O. Elorza’s office and local businesses, also launched a #ThinkPVD campaign on Twitter and in the city itself for the holiday season, and has done so for several years, said Chamber President Laurie White. And there are other buy-local efforts during the holidays, including the national Nov. 28 Small Business Saturday.

While the foundation and Chamber don’t actively track the impact of their buy-local efforts, Barnett and White say economic research suggests spending locally has the potential to boost local economies.

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A 2014 study by Civic Economics, a Chicago and Houston-based data analytics firm, commissioned by the foundation, found that shifting 10 percent of the purchasing by Rhode Island shoppers from chains to independent businesses could add $373 million to the state’s economy.

Last month, more than 2,000 visitors spent time on the foundation’s buy-local website, which features a directory of more than 1,000 businesses across the state, Barnett said.

“It tells us people are taking the affirmative step of looking for locally owned businesses,” Barnett said.

However, when asked whether visitors shift spending after visiting the site, he said there’s no way to know, except through anecdotal feedback from businesses.

Jan Dane, owner of Stock Culinary Goods in Providence, is listed on the foundation website and says consumers are aware of the buy-local message.

“It’s amazing how much of a conversation it is at the register,” Dane said. “People say, ‘I was thinking about shopping online but decided to come into the store.’ ”

Given the heightened awareness of buy-local efforts, small businesses could appear to be in competition with one another, but storeowners insist the atmosphere is one of mutual support.

“Small businesses tend to collaborate because they don’t have the advertising or marketing clout of the big-box stores,” said Rhode Island Retail Federation Director Paul DeRoche.

The best way to measure buy-local impact may be for businesses to track purchases and patterns, White said.

“Storeowners would be well-advised to track walk-in traffic and identify the customer,” she noted. •

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