Canberra Business Chamber is urging shoppers to “think before you click – and buy local” as retailers around Canberra and the world ramp up for this year’s global Black Friday sales on 25 November.

“The Covid pandemic, lockdowns and supply chain disruptions over the past two years dramatically changed the way we shop,” said Chamber CEO Graham Catt.

“We saw massive shifts to online shopping, and the large global companies and national retailers ramped up their ability to transact online and get orders to customers.”

This year, the Chamber is urging shoppers looking at Black Friday sales and beyond to their Christmas shopping to “think before they click” this year and buy local.

“Many people are struggling with rising costs, and that includes our local small businesses,” Mr Catt said.

“The prices of supplies and doing business generally have spiralled this year, adding to the challenges of supply and staff shortages, and small businesspeople are facing the same cost-of-living pressures as the rest of our community. They can’t afford the same deep discounts as big business, and instead they are doing everything they can to keep prices down for customers as their own running costs soar.”

There are about 33,000 local businesses in the ACT, who currently employ over 60 per cent of working Canberrans, and 97 per cent of those are small family-owned businesses that employ fewer than 20 people.

“In inflationary times it’s a natural instinct to save a few dollars with a big online seller,” Mr Catt said. “But every one of those dollars you spend with a local business instead will not only help them stay afloat – it will support our local community, our economy, and provide local jobs.

“We’ve all appreciated the way that local businesses have looked after their customers and communities over the past few years, and they’ve had to deal with restrictions and closures that impacted their ability to trade and, in some cases, to even open. Plenty of these businesses are still doing it tough, and your support now can make all the difference.”

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