Fashion
It’s totally free to give a business a shout-out on social media, leave them a kind review, or hype them up through word of mouth, and goes a long way
The pandemic has reminded us to take stock of our needs and taught us plenty about our consumption habits. With the world looking at supporting local businesses, there’s no surprise that now is the time to realign our shopping habits to a more mindful approach. A few months ago, Instagram rolled out a new ‘Support Small Business' sticker in stories to amplify the revival of small-scale companies, and we also saw big personalities like Priyanka Chopra and Rhea Kapoor use their platforms for the cause—highlight their favourite local names. As we (hopefully) come closer to a successful vaccination drive and the end of a prolonged stay-indoors lifestyle, it’s only good sense to imbibe these practices in the long run. So what more can you do to pitch in? For more effective support, keep these steps in mind that are free and worth adding to your resolutions list.
While making a purchase is the best way to directly support a company, leaving a review is the next best thing to do. When most people are looking for what to shop, most customers will look for reviews to inform their purchase. Leaving a comment or review (bonus with pictures) is great to bring your physical support online. Don’t forget to tag the businesses and consider using #supportlocalbusiness, which now has over 26 million hits on Instagram.
According to Google Trends, searches for “support local business” reached an all-time high in April 2020 in India. With platforms like Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook introducing shop and shoutout features, it’s easier to share your favourite products and past purchases with your community and give them the much-needed exposure.
Start by following them on social media, which can help increase visibility of their page for those on your followers list. Help boost their business and online presence by hitting the like button, reposting or commenting on their posts and tagging them in your lists, collections and guides.
When you shop directly from a designer or brand’s website rather than a big box retailer, the profits go directly to them and their employees, which in turn helps them making smaller labels stay afloat during challenging times. Encourage your friends and family by sharing your experiences with local operations and remember hyping them up through word of mouth.
Newsletters are a helpful tool for the organisation to share unique content with their patrons—offers, blogs, coupons, sales updates and so on—that you'd normally not see on social media. By signing up, you’re joining their community of loyalists.
The new rules for launching a fashion label during the pandemic