Grassroots “buy local” campaign reaches Australian inboxes

Australians are being urged to support their local small businesses this Christmas in a grassroots email campaign designed to give the services sector a boost.

The campaign seems to have started in the US but has been advertised in social media across Canada and the Philippines and been adapted for Australian audiences.

It comes amid new data showing that the Australian services industry remains in a weak position, particularly accommodation, cafés and restaurants, wholesale trade, and personal and recreational services.

The campaign urges consumers to eschew “monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods” from “giant Asian factories” in favour of their owner-owned services providers.

“Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?” the Australian email, entitled Australian Christmas 2011 – Birth of a New Tradition 2011, says.

“Remember, folks, this isn’t about big national chains – this is about supporting your home town with their financial lives or the line to keep their doors open.”

It concludes: “Christmas is no longer about draining Australian pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about us, encouraging our small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams.”

“When we care about other Australians, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.”

The Christmas gift suggestions are:

• A gift certificate from a local hair salon.
• A gym membership.
• A car wash or detail.
• A game at the local golf course.
• A mowed lawn or sealed driveway.
• Gift certificates from owner-own restaurants or cafes.
• Mechanical work, such an oil change at the “shop run by the Australian working guy”.
• A local cleaning lady for the day.
• A computer tune-up by “some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running”.
• Jewellery, pottery, scarves from local crafts people.
• Seeing a play or ballet in your hometown theatre.
• Watching local bands.

The email also suggests people leave the postman, garbo or babysitter a “nice big tip”.

The idea has been given the thumbs up from Peter Strong, executive council of the Council of Small Business of Australia.

“It’s a very good idea,” Strong tells SmartCompany.

“It’s addressing something that’s happening everywhere. People are shopping online, and we understand that, but particularly in regional areas, if people keep buying online, they won’t have local shops and that means local jobs.”

The Australian email comes as the Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index, released this morning, shows that sales weakened through November despite widespread discounting.

The Australian PSI fell 1.1 points to 47.7 last month, below the 50 point level which indicates a contraction in activity. The selling price index fell to its lowest level since 2009 last month, driven by deep discounting, the survey found.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout says the report is “further evidence that conditions in non-mining sectors of the economy remain flat and highly sensitive to confidence levels”.

“The fragility of the international economy is adding to the ongoing caution of consumers who continue to consolidate their financial positions,” Ridout says, calling for a rate cut this week.

Commonwealth Bank senior economist John Peters noted that sub-sectors linked to household spending – accommodation, cafés and restaurants, wholesale trade, and personal and recreational services – remained “very sluggish” and were the weakest performing sector.

It also follows the second annual Small Business Saturday, in which millions of people were asked to shop at their local stores to help fuel the US economy.

The day was supported by hundreds of organisations including Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, which said that it recognised the country’s “millions of small businesses and their importance to economic development, job creation and local communities”.