In light of the fast-approaching Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas Day, Love Wimbledon is urging consumers and businesses to shop local this festive season and help to support local businesses in Wimbledon Town Centre.

It is evident that online shopping has become increasingly popular in recent years, with buying behaviour changing rapidly too. Now more than ever, consumers are buying and returning more items online, with next-day delivery and free returns becoming the new standard. Often shoppers buy clothes online with the expectation of returning them, with recent figures suggesting that almost half of what consumers spend online, is returned.

What is often forgotten is the environmental impact of these few mouse clicks, which is becoming increasingly relevant given the current state of climate change. Despite its advantages, shopping online has a large impact on the environment. When you shop online, you can receive separate packages within multiple deliveries, typically from delivery trucks or vans. In addition to this, additional packaging which often includes single-use plastic, is used in excess to protect products in parcel deliveries. Compare this to shopping locally, where consumers tend to use their one trip to their local town centre to combine tasks, e.g. purchase Christmas presents, grab some groceries and browse through a bookstore.

When you shop local, your money also stays local. In other words, rather than adding to the profits of multi-national chains, your money goes into the pockets of your neighbours in the community. By choosing to shop local your money could be helping a family-run independent business, who’s owners are trying to fund a new bike for their child. Local businesses tend to be smaller, produce less waste than their enormous counterparts, and usually buy locally, live locally, and therefore create less air pollution and traffic.

Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon is passionate about environmental issues

“Shopping locally at our independent businesses, charity shops and our market stalls, you are helping to keep the character and diversity of our town centre alive. Shopping online also means losing out on receiving great customer service and often, local businesses offer good value and outstanding, personal service all year round, bringing a warm, welcoming personality to a town centre whilst building that all important sense of community and belonging”

– Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon.

Love Wimbledon also encourages you to go one step further this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, by resisting the urge to buy more and instead opting for recycling or reusing gifts. So shop smart and shop local this season, and help reduce the demand for new products, and their carbon footprint, whilst supporting a good cause.

Photo Credits: First Mile

Wimbledon is full of great independent stores including Fayre & Square, Fielders, Aubergine Art gallery, Health Zone, Phokas Barbers and Gina Conway’s Aveda salon. Pop down to one of our many charity stops, including the National institute for African Studies charity shop,  Cancer Research and Oxfam, where you can get pre-loved gems for a fraction of the price.

Get involved and go green this Black Friday and show your support on Small Business Saturday by supporting our independent businesses on Saturday 7th December.

And don’t forget to visit our lively Christmas Markets, which are now single-use plastic free, where you can pick up unique handmade gifts from local artisans and taste flavourful street food from our award-winning traders.

Join our vision to ensure a brighter future for Wimbledon and help to strengthen our town centre businesses.