The London area is home to over 19,000 businesses, most of which are locally owned and operated 'independent' businesses.  These independent businesses are the backbone of our London Economy. 

We built ShopLondon.ca to support and promote these local businesses with the principle of the 'local multiplier effect' in mind.  The Local Multiplier Effect refers to the increased wealth creation that occurs when money is spent locally and re-circulates within the local economy. 

The trend for many consumers has been to shop at "Big Box" Chain Stores and there has been a growing trend toward Online Shopping as well.  Unless the Chain Store or Online Vendor is locally owned, both of these shopping choices actually hurt our local economy by taking more money out of London. 

 
The profit from "Big Box" Chain stores not only leaves town, but often leaves the country.  Traditionally, Online Shopping has also been dominated by these Corporate Chains or other Online Giants from the U.S., meaning the money online shoppers were spending was all leaving London.  Our London Economy has suffered greatly as a result.

To reverse this trend, and keep more money in our local economy, we developed a local online directory and marketplace featuring local businesses and the products and services they offer.

The site is accessible from both computers and smart phones via a mobile version.

With sophisticated consumers searching and researching more and more online for the specific products and services they want, ShopLondon.ca is the perfect place to find the information they need. 

The ShopLondon.ca community marketplace enables consumers to buy products online for in-store pick-up or delivery, find coupons and deals, read and write business reviews, purchase online gift certificates, view restaurant menus, find out when businesses are open and how the can be paid, as well as contact business owners via email.   There are also helpful links to the individual business owner’s website and social media profiles.

For Businesses

Local independent business owners, even with limited marketing budgets, can now present and promote their products and services online using our comprehensive local marketing platform that enables businesses to put their offers where consumers today are looking. 

 
Our platform helps optimize the online presence of local businesses and drive search engine traffic to their profiles on ShopLondon.ca as well as their own websites.   We give business owners access to many online features and tools to enhance their customer contact strategies and increase their exposure online. 

Now business owners can deliver consistent messaging to their website and social media platforms as well, with one stop updating on our site. 

We give local business owners the ability to compete on a more level playing field with the corporate giants, who previously dominated the online world.

As you can imagine, all of these features offer both businesses and consumers tons of value, but the real power of ShopLondon.ca is the offline community marketing campaign that involves hundreds of businesses displaying signs and stickers reminding people to “shop locally” at ShopLondon.ca.

By coming together under a common message that also drives people to a web destination where they can take action, ShopLondon.ca harnesses the collective power of the local business community to give independents a voice that's even louder than the big corporate brands that are taking money out of London.

Local independent businesses generally keep more of the money, spent with them, within the community than corporate chains (45% for independent vs. 15% for chains), therefore, shopping with local businesses leads to a much stronger local economy. 

This benefits everyone in the community as a strong local economy provides greater access to opportunities and also more funding for local initiatives like parks and recreation, services and infrastructure, health and education.

By informing local shoppers about the choices available to them, as well as the hidden benefits of shopping locally, ShopLondon.ca aims to influence residents to spend more of their money locally instead of sending their dollars outside of the community where it will benefit someone else's area instead of our own.  Also, we believe the quality of service from local independent business owners is far greater than that of the National, Corporate Chains.

What You Can Do to Help...

There are several easy steps you can take to help us build up the community and support local businesses:

1. Use ShopLondon.ca as often as possible to learn what products and services are available locally.
2. Make informed purchases and consider the total impact of your spending, not just the price you pay.  
3. Encourage great local business owners to keep going by posting reviews on their profile pages.
4. Buy our local gift certificates instead of plastic gift cards from big box stores.
5. Frequent locally-owned restaurants and shops instead of the national chains.
6. Simply Shop Locally first!

We can always use more help spreading the word, and we greatly appreciate those who help convey the message by putting up signs and stickers or linking to us online.

Click here to request free stickers or a badge for your website.

ShopLondon.ca is part of the ShopLocally.com Network, a Canadian company located in Midland, Ontario, and is based on the successful local model developed with ShopMidland.com.

The network has grown to more than 8,000 locations across North America and is leading the movement to shop locally.

We invite you to join our almost 50,000 fans on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shoplocally

The trend toward shopping “locally” is catching on, both online and offline, and we encourage you to be a part of it.  For additional reading on the subject, check out: The Small-Mart Revolution - a groundbreaking book that makes a strong case for local independent business and provides a road map for restoring our local economies.

Thank you for taking the time to read about ShopLondon.ca.  We are passionate about building up London and love to connect with like-minded individuals.  Feel free to use the comments below to let us know about things you're doing to spread the word about shopping locally or to make London a stronger, more vibrant community.

Rick Kloss

City Manager
ShopLondon.ca