GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Amazon Prime Day is over and while it's easy to find practically anything you want on Amazon you might prefer to shop small.
Local businesses are staying competitive in a market dominated by online sales by offering great deals both online and in-store.
About 64% of the businesses in the U.S. are small businesses.
In the last two years most, small businesses have gone online in some shape or form, mostly out of necessity because of the pandemic.
In fact, many small businesses rely on online sales to reach new customers all over the country.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce says that local businesses are the lifeblood of our community.
"These people are your neighbors, they have kids that go to school with your kids. And so what you're doing when you're supporting a local business, you're not just supporting the local business, you're supporting your local economy," Richard App, Retail Retention & Attraction Specialist for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, said.:
West Michigan-based Gazelle Sports is a run specialty and active lifestyle store.
Ethan Treber, the e-commerce manager of Gazelle Sports, says about 60% of its online sales come from people who will never step foot inside the store.
In order to compete with the billion-dollar retail giant, they matched prime day deals on top-selling shoes.
They say the difference between Amazon and a local shop is the level of service.
"We utilize the knowledge and the expertise of people local in the stores. And then we also utilize a lot of technology to help us do that. So right now, we're offering free shipping on orders over 100. And we can do that because of investments we've made as far as distribution and from our website technology," Treber said, "And then, you know, in the future, we'll be offering free return shipping. So again, a bunch of things that we can do to really bring that experience level up to what you'd expect for Amazon. But from a local retailer, and a small business."
Prime Day may be over but Gazelle's shop local, save big sale is being extended an extra day.
If you want to support small businesses it's recommended that you follow your favorite shops on social media where they often post special deals on items that you can only find locally.
To learn more about Gazelle's current and upcoming sales click here.
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