Meet the People Behind Local Shopping
Learn about 5 types of local shoppers—and how they make decisions about where to buy.
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Looking to better understand the range of mindsets that may influence a person’s decision to shop—or not to shop—with a local business, Facebook IQ surveyed more than 10,000 people across eight markets in North America and Europe. Through this research, we learned that a sense of community and local shopping are linked, and that mobile-first connections are driving local business. We also identified five shopper mindsets that offer a window into what motivates and inspires people to shop locally. Understanding what drives local shopping may be an invaluable asset not only to small business owners looking to attract new customers, but also to global brands crafting local marketing strategies.
These mindsets were developed by assessing people’s interest in the local area and social media affinity. Local interest indicators included the shopper's sense of community and enthusiasm for supporting local businesses. Social media affinity indicators included their activity and perception of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as attitudes toward smartphones. Read on to learn more about these local shoppers—and opportunities to connect with them.
The 5 Local Shopper Mindsets
The Local Explorer
Local Explorers want to know every corner of their neighborhood and feel deeply connected to it, so their inspiration comes from exclusive opportunities to discover new things within the community. They love shopping with local businesses, seeing this as an opportunity to be social with friends and family in person. They also enjoy acting as online influencers via recommendations on Facebook and Instagram.
Surveyed shoppers categorized as Local Explorers are on average connected to 6.7 local businesses on Facebook, which they’ve also visited in person. Compared to the average respondents, they are 1.3x more likely to say their motivation for shopping locally is to support local businesses.
Marketers can engage and inspire Local Explorers through consistent news, exclusive deals and special offers. Leaning on these influencers can also lift other types of customers, for example through incentives for bringing a friend to a local event.
I love local shopping and joyfully explore my neighborhood with friends and family, looking up or recommending local businesses on Facebook and Instagram.
The Local Traditionalist
Local Traditionalists can tell you which bakery sells the best cake in the area or which bike shop offers the best repair service. Even though they know their local community inside and out—and primarily shop locally—they don’t connect with local businesses on social media as much as other types of shoppers. Instead, they're partial to traditional print channels like newspapers, magazines or community papers to get local information. Surveyed shoppers categorized as Local Traditionalists are, on average, connected to 3.3 local businesses on Facebook, which they've also physically visited.
Marketers can capture the attention of Local Traditionalists by touting the news, events and promotions available on social media to those visiting their stores, and by connecting through a common interest in the community.
I know my local area by heart and to support my neighborhood, I mainly shop locally. I don‘t connect with local businesses on social media very much though, I prefer newspapers, magazines or community papers.
The Convenience Lover
Convenience Lovers are young, urban, well-educated aficionados of their neighborhoods. Because they both feel connected to the local area and look to optimize for ease and convenience, they use social media as a key channel to find out what’s going on locally, while generally preferring the experience of shopping online.
Surveyed shoppers categorized as Convenience Lovers are 2.1x more likely than the average respondent to say Facebook is a top channel for local discovery. On average, they’re connected to 5 local businesses on Facebook, which they’ve also physically visited.
Marketers with physical locations can win over Convenience Lovers by showing that ease and convenience can be found in-store. Tactics like online-to-offline deals, and messaging the immediacy and lack of shipping costs available by shopping offline can give this kind of shopper the efficiency and local connection they’re after.
I love to be in the know about what’s happening in my neighborhood and use social media to connect and interact with local businesses. Even though I love my home town, I still prefer online shopping just because it is simpler and more convenient.
The Mobile Enthusiast
Mobile Enthusiasts are less invested in their local areas than other types of shoppers, favoring the efficiency of online shopping over visiting local shops in person. But, because these shoppers use their smartphones to research and shop, immediate online access to core business and product or service information can be key to influencing their shopping decisions.
Surveyed shoppers categorized as Mobile Enthusiasts are, on average, connected to 3.2 local businesses on Facebook, which they’ve also visited in person.
To show up for Mobile Enthusiasts, marketers can ensure it's as easy as possible to find basic business, product or service information online—and specifically on mobile.
I’m not particularly rooted in my local area. I don’t care too much about local shopping, because online shopping is more convenient and efficient.
The Chain Store Fan
Chain Store Fans purchase just what they need and rarely eat out or go looking for entertainment. They prefer shopping at familiar chain stores, finding them convenient and less expensive. These shoppers are less likely to find value in interacting with businesses online or on social media.
Surveyed shoppers categorized as Chain Store Fans are, on average, connected to 0.7 local businesses on Facebook, which they’ve also visited in person. They are 2.2x more likely to say they don’t own a smartphone than the average person surveyed.
The best way for marketers to reach Chain Store Fans is to ensure basic business, product and service information is available to them when they need it, whether that’s online or through more traditional channels.
Social media is not really my thing and interaction with businesses is just not important to me. I’m not deeply connected to my local area and I’m not interested in exploring it using my mobile.
What it means for marketers
Understand what inspires local shopping.
87% of survey respondents say the key driver for shopping at a local business is trust and security. You can learn more about the motivations at play with local shopping, plus how mobile-first connections are driving local businesses, in our first of four pieces published in this Local Shopping series.
Take the quiz.
In addition to these local shopper mindsets, Facebook IQ identified six types of local business marketers. If you’re a small business owner or manage the Facebook Page for a small business, you can take our four-question quiz about your marketing strategy to get recommendations, plus find out which of the local business types might best reflect your marketing approach.
Find, filter and download more stats from the featured research.
With Insights to Go, you can explore the dynamics between people and business owners in the eight markets studied.
Source: “Local shopping study” by Factworks (Facebook-commissioned research study of 10,340 people (8,878 monthly Facebook users, 1,562 non-Facebook users), ages 18+, US, DE, FR, UK, IT, ES, PL and CA), Apr–May 2017.
