Why Everyone Says They Support Local (But Doesn't). What the Research Is Actually Telling Us

This time of year, everyone loves to talk about shopping local. Small Business Saturday is right around the corner. Your Instagram feed will fill with "support small businesses" graphics. Brands will tout their local roots and community connections.

But here's what nobody's talking about: the reason most people don't shop local has nothing to do with not caring enough.

We surveyed 2,200+ consumers to find out what actually stops them from supporting local businesses. Turns out, 30% cite limited product variety as their primary barrier, and 27% cite limited availability.

Translation? People want to support local. They just can't find what they need when they need it.

This isn't a story about consumer values or holiday marketing campaigns. It's about infrastructure—and the brands that are quietly solving this problem are winning customers away from national chains without anyone noticing.

Does Shopping Local Really Matter?

Here's the thing about shopping local: it's not a fringe value. It's mainstream.

24% of all U.S. residents say supporting local businesses matters when they make purchasing decisions. Not just Core Conscious Consumers or sustainability advocates—everyone. And that number holds remarkably steady across segments:

• Core Conscious Consumers: 55%

• Likely Conscious Consumers: 31%

• Aspirational Conscious Consumers: 18%

• Unlikely Conscious Consumers: 12%

• Not Conscious Consumers: 13%

Even people who don't typically buy based on values still think supporting local matters. This is as American as apple pie.

So if everyone believes in shopping local, why are big-box stores and national brands still crushing it during the holiday shopping season? Why do Small Business Saturday feel-good campaigns rarely translate to sustained behavior change?

Because belief and behavior are two different things. And the gap between them isn't about caring less—it's about facing real barriers that make choosing local harder than it should be.

The Real Reason Your Holiday Shopping Cart Is Full of Amazon

When we asked consumers who say they want to support local businesses what's actually stopping them, here's what we heard:

Top barriers to supporting local/small businesses (Aspirational segment):

• Limited Product Variety: 30%

• Limited Availability: 27%

• Higher Costs: 16%

• Time/Effort Required: 9%

• Competing Priorities: 7%

Do the math: 57% of barriers are purely logistical. It's not about preferring Target over your neighborhood shop or choosing Heinz over a regional hot sauce brand. It's about needing something on a Tuesday night when the local store is closed, looking for a specific product the retailer doesn't carry, or not even knowing a local option exists.

And here's the kicker: this pattern showed up everywhere. Among Unlikely Conscious Consumers—the people least motivated by values—35% who wanted to support local businesses said limited product variety was the main problem. Even the skeptics aren't opposed to shopping local. They just can't find what they need.

When Black Friday and Cyber Monday roll around with infinite selection and 24/7 availability, local brands and businesses aren't competing against better marketing. They're competing against infrastructure most of them can't match.

What "Limited Availability" Actually Means

When 27% of consumers say limited availability stops them from shopping local, they're not making excuses. They're describing reality.

Maybe the local bookstore doesn't have weekend hours that work with their schedule. Maybe the regional pasta brand isn't stocked at their usual grocery store. Maybe the craft brewery they heard about isn't available outside a 30-mile radius. Maybe they don't even know there's a local alternative to what they usually buy because nobody's telling them.

Put that together with the 30% who can't find the product variety they need, and you've got over half of consumers blocked by structural issues before price even enters the conversation. Only 16% of Aspirational consumers cited higher costs as their main barrier.

Think about that. The entire "shop local" conversation has focused on convincing people to pay premium prices to support their community. But most people stuck in the Amazon checkout aren't doing cost-benefit analysis. They're just trying to find what they need, and local options aren't making it easy enough.

During the holiday shopping rush, this gets even worse. When you need to knock out your gift list in the three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, convenience isn't a luxury—it's everything. Local brands and businesses lose not because shoppers don't care, but because shoppers are stressed, time-crunched, and defaulting to what's easy.

Breaking Down the Barriers

Let's get specific about what's actually stopping people, because the details matter.

For Aspirational Conscious Consumers—that's 37% of U.S. residents, the biggest segment—the barrier breakdown looks like this:

30% say they can't find what they need locally. Not "don't have enough options," just straight-up can't find the thing they're looking for. For retail, that means limited inventory. For CPG brands, that means distribution gaps—your product isn't on the shelf at the stores where these consumers already shop.

27% say local options aren't accessible or convenient. They're too far away, have limited hours, don't offer online ordering, or the consumer doesn't even know they exist. For CPG brands, this is the "I'd buy it if I could find it" problem. Your store locator doesn't work, your retail partnerships are too limited, or your brand awareness is too low for consumers to know to look for you.

16% point to higher costs. Yes, price matters. But it's the third problem, not the first.

Only 9% say shopping local takes too much time and effort. And just 7% say they have competing priorities that trump local business support.

The pattern holds even for Unlikely Conscious Consumers—the skeptics. 35% cited limited product variety. 28% cited limited availability. These aren't people philosophically opposed to local businesses. They're just trying to find a coffee maker or a jar of locally-made jam, and they can't locate it easily enough.

What Most Brands Get Wrong

Walk through any holiday market or Small Business Saturday event and you'll see the same messaging everywhere: "We're local. We're authentic. Support us, not the big guys."

It's a values play. And according to our data, it's solving the wrong problem.

Among all consumers who say they want to support local businesses:

• Only 7% cite "competing priorities" as their main barrier

• Only 4% cite "peer/culture pressure"

• Only 10% cite "lack of information"

People aren't walking past local shops or choosing national brands because they don't value local enough. They're not making these choices out of social pressure. They're not confused about whether local matters.

They just need to find what they're looking for, and local options aren't consistently delivering that. Which means the brands winning conscious consumers during holiday shopping season aren't the ones shouting loudest about values—they're the ones that show up when and where customers actually need them.

The Brand That's Quietly Winning

So who's actually breaking through with consumers who care about supporting local businesses?

Andersen Windows & Doors.

Among Aspirational Conscious Consumers who prioritize local business support, 28% selected Andersen—nearly double Wayfair's 18% and more than four times Whirlpool's 6%. Among the skeptics (Unlikely Conscious Consumers), Andersen leads at 31%.

Here's what makes this fascinating: Andersen isn't small. They operate at scale. But they've cracked the code on something most brands miss.

When we asked why people chose Andersen, 22% cited "small business feel"—the highest of any brand we measured. Andersen has figured out how to position a premium product as local-adjacent, creating an association with community-based businesses even while maintaining the distribution and availability that actually gets products to customers.

They're not winning on authenticity alone. They're winning because they've made their local connections visible and verifiable while solving the infrastructure problems that make everyone else inaccessible.

That's the playbook: you don't need to be small to capture "shop local" values. You need to make your community impact real and then actually be available when customers need you.

Five Things That Actually Work

Based on what's blocking consumers, here's what helps:

1. Fix the product variety and distribution problem.

30% of consumers who want to support local can't find what they need. This looks different depending on your business model:

If you're a retailer, expand your range strategically, partner with other local businesses for cross-referrals, or make special ordering easy. If you're a CPG brand, the problem is distribution: you need to be stocked in the stores where your target consumers already shop. Regional chains, co-ops, independent grocers, and specialty retailers are your best allies. Build those retail partnerships, and if brick-and-mortar distribution is limited, invest in DTC infrastructure that actually works.

Either way, the insight is the same: consumers want to choose local. Make sure they can actually find you.

2. Solve the accessibility gap.

27% cite availability as their barrier. For retailers, this means extending hours, offering online ordering, providing pickup and delivery options, and making it easy to find your inventory before customers make the trip. For CPG brands, this means being in stock where you say you are—nothing kills trust faster than a consumer driving to a store based on your locator, only to find you're not on the shelf.

Both need the same thing: be present where and when customers are ready to buy. That might mean better e-commerce, better retail partnerships, or just better visibility into where your products actually exist.

3. Don't lead with price—lead with access.

Only 16% say cost is their main issue. Most conscious consumers will pay fair prices to support local—they just need to find you first.

If you're a local brand or business defaulting to "but we're worth it because we're local," you're solving a problem most customers don't have. Your bigger challenge is awareness and distribution. Invest in being discoverable before you invest in justifying your price point.

4. Make your local story specific and credible.

Andersen wins 28% of local-focused consumers partly by making their community connections tangible. Specificity beats aspiration every time.

Don't just say you're local—prove it. Name the region, the suppliers, the production facility. Show your local impact: How many local jobs do you support? What percentage of ingredients or materials are sourced nearby? Which local farms, producers, or businesses do you partner with?

For CPG brands, this needs to be visible at point-of-sale. Use packaging, shelf signage, and marketing to make "local" obvious when consumers are making purchase decisions. If they can't tell you're local when they're standing in the grocery aisle, you've already lost.

For retailers, show who you employ, who supplies you, and what measurable community impact you're creating. Make it real, not aspirational.

5. Remove friction from discovery and purchase.

9% say shopping local takes too much effort. Every barrier you remove is a sale you didn't lose.

For CPG brands: Make your brand Googleable. Can someone searching "local [your category] [your region]" find you easily? If not, fix your SEO. Simplify the path to purchase—whether that's clearer packaging, better shelf placement, or a DTC site that doesn't require an account to check out. And meet consumers where they already shop. Aspirational consumers aren't driving across town to specialty stores—they're shopping at Whole Foods, their local co-op, or online. Be there.

For retailers: Streamline checkout, make product info accessible, and integrate with the tools people already use. Every extra click or phone call is a chance for them to default back to Amazon.

The Opportunity Nobody's Talking About

Here's the stat that should wake up every local business owner and CPG founder: only 11% of consumers who want to support local businesses say "none of these barriers apply."

That means 89% of people who already want to shop local are facing solvable friction. These aren't philosophical problems. They're operational ones.

Which means local brands and businesses that fix availability and variety aren't just competing with other local options for a small pool of conscious consumers. They're competing with Amazon and national brands for a huge pool of consumers who already want what you're selling—they just can't access it easily enough.

And the timing matters. Core Conscious Consumers—the most committed segment—cite supporting local/small businesses at 55%, more than double the general population. These aren't casual supporters. They're actively looking for local options.

Right now, during the holiday shopping season when everyone's buying gifts and stocking up, these consumers are hitting the same walls as everyone else. If you can remove those walls, you're not capturing a bigger share of the "shop local" niche. You're capturing market share from national brands that only compete on convenience—against people who are actively hoping to find an alternative.

So What Should You Actually Do?

The strategy depends on your business model, but the insight is universal: solve for access before you solve for values alignment.

If you're a local retail business:

Your advantage is authenticity. Your challenge is operations. The brands winning aren't shouting "buy local" louder—they're making local purchasing actually convenient.

Invest in online presence that works. Build partnerships with other local businesses so you can refer customers instead of losing them. Make your community story specific and real. And make sure people can find your inventory before they drive across town.

If you're a CPG brand positioning around "local":

Your advantage is scalability. Your challenge is visibility and distribution. You're not competing with Amazon on convenience—you're competing with every other product on the shelf that's easier to find, easier to recognize, and easier to buy.

Here's what conscious consumers need from you:

• Be where they already shop. DTC is valuable, but most purchasing still happens in-store. Focus on strategic retail partnerships with regional chains, co-ops, independent grocers, and specialty retailers that align with your positioning.
  
  
  

• Make your "local" claim visible and specific. Packaging, shelf signage, and in-store placement all matter. If your local story isn't obvious at point-of-sale, it doesn't exist.
  
  
  

• Build partnerships that amplify distribution. You can't be everywhere, but you can be strategic about where you are—and make sure consumers know how to find you. Invest in a store locator that actually works.
  
  
  

• Invest in awareness, not just authenticity. Consumers can't choose you if they don't know you exist. Your local credentials matter—but only if people can discover them.
  
  
  

If you're a regional or national brand with local roots:

Your advantage is distribution. Your challenge is connection. Andersen proves you can win "shop local" values at scale—but you have to make regional presence and community impact visible and provable.

Highlight local facilities, employees, and partnerships. Make your community investment specific, not generic. Create customer experiences that feel personal, not corporate. Build relationships with local suppliers that actually mean something.

For everyone:

The consumers who want to support local businesses already exist. They're 24% of the U.S. population. They're not a niche market.

The question isn't whether to go after them. The question is: are you making it easy enough for them to choose you? Because right now, most brands aren't. And the ones that fix that problem first are going to take significant market share this holiday season and beyond.

The Bottom Line

Shopping local isn't struggling because people don't care. It's struggling because most local brands and businesses can't compete with the convenience infrastructure that national chains have spent decades building.

57% of barriers to shopping local are logistical: product variety (30%) and availability (27%) beat out higher costs (16%) by a landslide.

This holiday season, when Small Business Saturday rolls around and everyone posts their annual "shop local" reminders, remember: most people who don't follow through aren't choosing against local businesses. They're just choosing what's available, accessible, and easy to find.

The brands winning this market—like Andersen Windows & Doors, which captures 28% of consumers who prioritize local business support—aren't winning with better values messaging. They're winning by making local credentials visible while actually being available when and where customers need them.

Local brands and businesses that solve availability and variety challenges won't just capture more conscious consumers. They'll take market share from national brands that only compete on convenience—against a consumer base that's already looking for alternatives.

This analysis is based on Guru's proprietary research study of 2,200+ consumers across the conscious spectrum, conducted in partnership with Portland Marketing Analytics. For more insights into conscious consumer behavior, visit weareguru.com or connect with our research team at connect@weareguru.com.