Americans want to shop local, but 65% can’t do it as often as they’d like: survey

As long as small businesses have existed, Americans have been encouraged to shop at them—and they continue to want to.

• According to a new survey by LendingTree, more than 9 in 10 Americans shop local at least once a month, while 90% said shopping locally has a positive community impact.

But despite the evident desire to support local businesses, 65% said they weren’t able to do so more often because of cost (57%), convenience (42%), and product selection (39%), with 75% wishing they could afford to shop locally more.

Of course, in the absence of a local shop, consumers turn to…Amazon. About 71% of those surveyed said they looked at Amazon or other e-comm retailers at least once a month, though 31% harbored some guilt about it or felt conflicted—primarily Gen Z (45%).

• In fact, 29% shoppers said they were “morally opposed” to shopping at Amazon, but 85% ended up purchasing something there anyway.

And although inflation has made it harder for people to do so, 50% of consumers said they would pay more to support local businesses.

• The most frequented local businesses include grocery stores and farmers markets (78%), restaurants and cafes (60%), and clothing stores (48%), while 70% make a conscious effort to source food locally.