Greenville Business Magazine 2010 January issue : Page 10

››columns Live Local: Shop Global The unpleasant truth about our shopping habits behind closed doors BY MARTY FLYNN | PHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVER YU FOTOGRAPHIE and wondered all the way home, why these lovely little shops had not stood up to the big bullies who never seem to want things to remain the same. This little story probably does a poor job of describing the evolution of the shopper from customer to consumer to one “consumed” in a quest to find the best deal, going wherever the search might take her. I’m guilty, you’re guilty. We all want to keep our localness and our quaintness. We appreciate small business, and we understand at some level that it is essential and vital to our economic success. In the meantime, amidst this sentimental cheer for the little engines that chug and splutter along less travelled tracks, we scurry back to our keyboards, and tap out our request for the lowest priced supplier to emerge from cyberspace and feed the beast. While the internet has facilitated the inherent stalking nature O nce upon a time in America, there was a customer who, when needing stuff, would go to a local market and tell the shopkeeper what she wanted, and he would give it to her. And the customer was happy, but not for long. As time passed the store keeper got older, and while maintain- ing a pleasant and friendly disposition, he seemed to take longer fetching those items the customer requested. On weekends and evenings when she needed things, his store was closed. She heard about some new, bigger stores that carried a larger selection of items and whose doors were always open. She visited these stores and found all this to be true and she was happy again - but not for long. These new stores were so big and so busy – and so full of the many other customers who had discovered their value – that this made the consumer tired and sad. But word was spreading quickly about a new type of store that you could visit without ever leaving your home, and she thought yes, I will try that. She stayed at home and she shopped and she shopped, and she was happy again – but not for long. There were so many things to choose from, and so many great deals that finding the lowest price seemed like a shopping trip with no end. And the consumer was consumed. She missed the old storekeeper, and the simple shopping days, and so she decided to take a trip to town and drop in on all her favorite old stores, even though there was nothing she really needed to buy. Her excitement for this nostalgic trip was short lived however, as there was no trace of the old town to be found, much less a familiar shop. She turned back 10 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | JANUARY 2010 of the human, whether it be for a good deal or bad intent, the internet itself has emerged as the most powerful predator and threat to small business. A fractured economy had already shifted the individual customer into transactional mode – which culti- vates price and bargain based shopping – as opposed to relational mode – which favors personal shopping and superior service. Small business cannot compete on price, or speed or the conve- nience of 24 hour shopping. Small business carves out its sliver of the consumer dollar in smiles, friendliness and little extra helpings of goodwill. These are things we appreciate but don’t always value. These are things we’d like to keep around but don’t want to fight for. The locally owned business is a creature on the verge of extinction. And like any under-appreciated relationship, we miss them when they’re gone. Here in Greenville, we invest heavily to attract the outside dollar, but rarely do we spend anything to promote the impact of the dollar spent locally. We lower the cost of doing business for outside parties, and raise it for inside members of the busi- ness community, many of whom hitched their wagons to the entrepreneurial stars of sweat and prayer, and made our little towns presentable to courting prospects. It takes more than a public relations pitch to sustain the work horse of our economy. It takes an attitude that knows every local business is a great local customer. If we could truly appreciate the impact of a dollar changing from local hand to local hand,we could create fistfuls of economic power and weave America back into a country nurtured and sustained on home grown transactions. Sam Walton, in his wise assessment of the shopper, captured it best when he said, “The customer votes with his feet.” When you shop in 2010, will your fingers or your feet do the walking? ■ New columnist Marty Flynn is the head of the Greenville Tech marketing department.

>>columns - Live Local: Shop Global

Marty Flynn

The unpleasant truth about our shopping habits behind closed doors

Once upon a time in America, there was a customer who, when needing stuff, would go to a local market and tell the shopkeeper what she wanted, and he would give it to her. And the customer was happy, but not for long. As time passed the store keeper got older, and while maintaining a pleasant and friendly disposition, he seemed to take longer fetching those items the customer requested. On weekends and evenings when she needed things, his store was closed. She heard about some new, bigger stores that carried a larger selection of items and whose doors were always open. She visited these stores and found all this to be true and she was happy again - but not for long. These new stores were so big and so busy – and so full of the many other customers who had discovered their value – that this made the consumer tired and sad.

But word was spreading quickly about a new type of store that you could visit without ever leaving your home, and she thought yes, I will try that. She stayed at home and she shopped and she shopped, and she was happy again – but not for long. There were so many things to choose from, and so many great deals that finding the lowest price seemed like a shopping trip with no end. And the consumer was consumed. She missed the old storekeeper, and the simple shopping days, and so she decided to take a trip to town and drop in on all her favorite old stores, even though there was nothing she really needed to buy. Her excitement for this nostalgic trip was short lived however, as there was no trace of the old town to be found, much less a familiar shop. She turned back and wondered all the way home, why these lovely little shops had not stood up to the big bullies who never seem to want things to remain the same.

This little story probably does a poor job of describing the evolution of the shopper from customer to consumer to one “consumed” in a quest to find the best deal, going wherever the search might take her. I’m guilty, you’re guilty. We all want to keep our localness and our quaintness. We appreciate small business, and we understand at some level that it is essential and vital to our economic success. In the meantime, amidst this sentimental cheer for the little engines that chug and splutter along less travelled tracks, we scurry back to our keyboards, and tap out our request for the lowest priced supplier to emerge from cyberspace and feed the beast.

While the internet has facilitated the inherent stalking nature of the human, whether it be for a good deal or bad intent, the internet itself has emerged as the most powerful predator and threat to small business. A fractured economy had already shifted the individual customer into transactional mode – which cultivates price and bargain based shopping – as opposed to relational mode – which favors personal shopping and superior service. Small business cannot compete on price, or speed or the convenience of 24 hour shopping. Small business carves out its sliver of the consumer dollar in smiles, friendliness and little extra helpings of goodwill. These are things we appreciate but don’t always value. These are things we’d like to keep around but don’t want to fight for. The locally owned business is a creature on the verge of extinction. And like any under-appreciated relationship, we miss them when they’re gone.

Here in Greenville, we invest heavily to attract the outside dollar, but rarely do we spend anything to promote the impact of the dollar spent locally. We lower the cost of doing business for outside parties, and raise it for inside members of the business community, many of whom hitched their wagons to the entrepreneurial stars of sweat and prayer, and made our little towns presentable to courting prospects.

It takes more than a public relations pitch to sustain the work horse of our economy. It takes an attitude that knows every local business is a great local customer. If we could truly appreciate the impact of a dollar changing from local hand to local hand, we could create fistfuls of economic power and weave America back into a country nurtured and sustained on home grown transactions.

Sam Walton, in his wise assessment of the shopper, captured it best when he said, “The customer votes with his feet.” When you shop in 2010, will your fingers or your feet do the walking?

New columnist Marty Flynn is the head of the Greenville Tech marketing department.

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List