2) You may rely on the local business in some situations (urgently need something), but it can't survive on this type of custom alone.
3) The profits are much more likely to be fairly taxed and then spent in the local economy, which is positive for the community.
This means paying premium everytime for a feature you "may rely on ... in some situations".
But if you're buying online, you don't need to care that much if one particular company stops stocking something, because it's almost as easy to buy it off any other company online.
> 1) It's easier to influence a local business. "I don't like that you've stopped stocking X."
Doubtful. Businesses everywhere care about making money.
> 2) You may rely on the local business in some situations (urgently need something), but it can't survive on this type of custom alone.
The local part is true, although becoming less true with Amazon et. al. providing faster and faster shipping. The small part is either irrelevant or an anti-feature. Local big businesses typically carry more stuff, and hence are more likely to carry the thing you want.
I understand that there are small specialty retailers who carry goods big retailers might not, but that seems like a pretty niche case: needing something very rare right away.
> 3) The profits are much more likely to be fairly taxed and then spent in the local economy, which is positive for the community.
Probably not. If the difference in price is greater than the total tax collected, the community is better off buying as much as it can online.
I've yet to experience a small business that can keep its prices within 10% of Amazon.
I checked Amazon first to have a price in mind (12€), I paid 13€
1€ to not have something shipped to me & convenience of getting it immediately, plus helps keep the local bike shop around in case I need a repair I felt was worth it
Amazon is great if you know exactly what you need, or what to compare a few, well-defined options (especially for something like a technical book, where the reviews often highlight subjective things rather than "quality").
For a lot of things, however, I don't know exactly what I want going in. In principle, Amazon's recommender system could work here, but in practice, it hews really closely to authors, series, and topics I've already bought, with a dose of total randomness (what on earth is a "Chinchilla Lava Ledge?"). There's none of the serendipity of looking for one thing and finding something similar but better.
Most obvious is clothes. In a store you can feel the weight of the fabric, see the color in real life, hold it to your body, or just try it on to find a shirt that really fits you.
Sure, free returns are a thing, but trying more than two or three sizes to find the one that really fits you is a major hassle if you need to send packages back and forth.
Do you happen to have mom & pop clothing stores? Can a local place - not just a local branch of a chain store but an actual local place - provide benefits over a chain?
I think the biggest benefit of small stores is specialisation. For example, we have a jeans store in our town -- they sell nothing but jeans, and they have a huge selection. Much better than any of the chains we have here. They are also the only store that stocks my size. I really like that I can buy a pair of jeans there and don't have to shorten them.
Another thing that's really nice with small stores is that they can offer services that the chains cannot. Very often when I go to a store they just don't have my size any more. If it's a chain, they can sometimes check in their inventory system and see if a different store still has it in stock. But more often then not, it's the end of the season or something, and they're out, and there's no way to order it anymore. When the same thing happened to me in a local store, I was totally surprised when the sales guy just told me he'd call the seamstress and ask her to make another one in my size. A few days later I picked up my newly made shirt.
Obviously, not all small mom-and-pop shops are like that -- but some are really great.
Also, does Mom-n-Pop trust "just more people" with the keys to their four-generations family heirloom business?
In find this true for nearly all mom & pop doing retail. At least be open a little later a couple evenings a week so those who want to support SMB's can. I mean, you can't scream "Support us" and then be closed when I get off work. It's bad enough most towns have parking meters.
The mall / strip mall is open later and there's no charge for parking.
Obviously, the internet is even better in terms of convenience.