Pre-COVID-19, many Toronto small businesses relied on customers coming into the store for the majority, if not all of their sales. Drive down any street in the city these days with a retail store, entertainment venue, or restaurant/bar, and the sheer amount of shuttered businesses shows the effects of the pandemic on small, independent businesses – a big part of what makes Toronto unique.
Shopping on Amazon is convenient and they have an incredible amount of product options, but when the general public is directing their purchases there it diverts revenue & support for local businesses. As the pandemic continues, we’re only going to see more & more businesses close down, as not everyone has the capacity and/or knowledge to make the transition to delivery or e-commerce.
Torontonian Ali Haberstroh has created the site Not-Amazon.ca, a website that lets people find local businesses to shop from. Patrons can sort through stores by location and by category in order to find the best place for them — then head through to that store’s website and continue shopping. “My goal is to make it almost impossible to use the excuse that shopping with Amazon is more convenient,” Haberstroh tells Narcity.
Although she created the site in 1 day in her spare time, the reaction has been extremely positive. Hundreds of businesses have been reaching out, and site visitors jumped to 50k in a few days in early December. Not meant to be an elaborate site, it’s simple and user-friendly, and Haberstroh is not taking any cut of sales.
Moving forward for Not-Amazon, the site will be expanding to more cities. Halifax and Calgary are already up and running, with Hamilton and Ottawa on deck. At the bottom of the site, there’s also a donation button for a featured charity of the week: this week’s being The Native Women’s Resource Centre.
Visit: Not-Amazon.ca
