When you shop online, you’re taking tax dollars away from your local community and state.  With an economy in recession and several states entering into a budget deficit, when you buy online, you’re hurting your community.

I don’t know who’s behind this ad or if it’s nation wide, but further research yielded no results.  I grew up in a small town in SD, so I understand the dependency local businesses have on their constituency…especially during non-peak months of the year.  It’s for this reason many will fight to the death to keep a Walmart out of their town.  However, to publicly argue that “shopping online” is the moral equivalent is both lazy and short-sided.

It all comes back to building a great online presence and strategy and recognizing that you may be locally based, but your customers and marketplace are GLOBAL.  People shop online because it’s quick, it’s easy, and it saves money.  Ensure your website and ecommerce are optimized for those 3 principals.  We’re to a point now where merely having a “business card” website isn’t going to cut it.  Local businesses need a web presence that’s alive, that interacts with their customers (or fans) on a daily basis, and that CLEARLY and EASILY sells products and services.  It’s what we at the Blend help businesses do every day.  The local in-store experience has become the bottom of a very large funnel – and should NOT be considered the primary means of sales and revenue.  “In-store” is now the premium experience, and not every customer is able to or even wants to participate at that level.  The key is creating alternatives online that are easy, quick and save money.

The internet is the NEW “main street” and instead of bemoaning the fact that local tax dollars are being depleted, local businesses need to build great online brands and forge new, global customer relationships.  Give these fans a reason to love your brand from afar, and long for the day when they can see you in person.

Fighting this, and having a “protectionist” attitude is what REALLY “hurts your local community.”