By: Pulse of America
Last quarter we participated in the Pulse of America consumer shopping survey. Small business is extremely important to our local economy. Most new local jobs will be created by new or expanding small businesses. The survey results are both interesting and important indicators of future small business growth in our local area.
Here is some good news for our local economy: 34% of you state their household spending will increase over the next 12 months, only 18% say it will go down.
The survey results are a welcome opportunity for our local small businesses, 28% of you say that you plan to spend more at locally owned businesses rather than the Internet or out of town in the next 12 months while 62% state your local spending will be the same.
The survey covered hundreds of small business types. Here are some positive facts for local businesses of where your household intends to shop in the next 12 months: 11% used car dealer, 10% new car dealer (which is up over previous quarters), 10% of you plan to use a landscaping service, 16% of you will shop at a furniture store, 15% will shop at a jewelry store and 10% will use a legal firm.
There were some interesting facts in the survey: 23% of you plan to go to a bowling alley, compared to 16% who plan to use a golf course, 21% plan to change auto insurance providers compared to 23% who plan to change or get a new dentist and 13% of you plan to change cellular phone provider.
There are some important trends in the survey: 14% plan to buy a tablet next 12 months; 20% already own a tablet. More than twice as many of you use Facebook at least weekly, 68% compared to 33% who use YouTube, only 11% of you use Twitter at least weekly
The survey shopping results are available to any local small business, just give us a call and we will be pleased to share the results with you.
Please participate in the current Pulse of America survey. Just go to www.pulsepoll.com and share your thoughts and shopping plans. As a thank you, for participating in the Pulse of America, you will be entered in a drawing for a Visa card, pre-loaded with $4,000 that you can spend whenever and wherever you want.