90% of Consumers Shop at Small Businesses at Least Once a Month
With Small Business Week kicking off April 30, AT&T recently conducted a survey* to learn more about consumers’ attitudes toward small businesses and their motivations to “shop small.” Here’s what we found.
Buying Behaviors
- Out of nearly 5,000 respondents surveyed, about 76% support a variety of small businesses.
- Restaurants had the most support (58%) followed by retail stores (40%) and medical offices, hair salons and coffee shops (each at 35%).
- 90% of all respondents shop at small businesses at least once a month with nearly half that shop at a small business every week.
Millennials Matter
- Approximately half of millennials (ages 16 – 34) are willing to pay more to support a small business compared to 38% of Gen X respondents (age 35 – 49) and 42% of boomer respondents (age 50 – 75).
- The majority of millennials (59%) have never worked for a small business, even though they are the generation most likely to spend more money to support a small business.
Location, Location, Location
- ‘Staying local’ is a big motivating factor to ‘shop small’ for all respondents, with 48% saying they want to support local employment and 47% saying they want to keep money local as top reasons to shop at a small business.
- Supporting local employment is a top motivator for millennials to shop at a small business, along with convenience.
Small Biz Sentiment
- 23% of all respondents want Wi-Fi available from a small business, while 10% want mobile payment options.
- 56% of all respondents feel more favorable about large companies that support small businesses.
To learn more about how AT&T can help your small business, visit https://www.att.com/smallbusiness/shop/index.html.
*Source: AT&T and Added Value survey of 4,737 mobile users, Jan. 4 – Feb. 1, 2017
