Canadians spent more at big box stores, less at small businesses during the pandemic: It’s time to change that

#SmallBusinessEveryDay contest is back with 6X more prizes to encourage shopping local this summer

Toronto, June 28, 2021 – COVID-19 has made it difficult to shop small—a majority of consumers (60 per cent) say they have been spending less at small businesses during the pandemic, and more at big box stores and online giants (59 per cent), according to a new public opinion poll conducted by Maru/Matchbox on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Despite this, almost nine in 10 Canadians (87 per cent) say they wish they could do more to support small businesses in their community.

“With reopening finally a reality in most parts of the country, we now have a big opportunity to show small business the love and support they desperately need,” said Laura Jones, Executive Vice-President at CFIB. 

The latest data on CFIB’s Small Business Recovery Dashboard shows that:

• 73 per cent are fully open (compared to 58 per cent two weeks ago)
• 50 per cent are fully staffed (compared to 42 per cent two weeks ago)
• 39 per cent are making normal sales (compared to 34 per cent two weeks ago)

“Small businesses are relieved that the worst of the COVID storm seems to be behind us, but for many of them the clean-up, including dealing with piles of debt, is daunting and exhausting in a new way.  That’s why we are excited to give everyone an opportunity to benefit from showing their favourite businesses some love,” said Jones.

The #SmallBusinessEveryDay contest 
To encourage Canadians to support small business, CFIB is bringing back its #SmallBusinessEveryDay contest from last year, with six times the prize money (almost $300,000) for consumers and business owners. 

To enter, consumers can go to SmallBusinessEveryDay.ca and send a thank you message to a small business. The message gets relayed to the business and the consumer is entered to win a cash prize of $2,000 plus gift cards from Scotiabank, eBay, Mastercard and Dairy Queen. The business nominated by the winning consumer will receive $10,000, plus the gift cards. In addition to the weekly big cash prize of $10,000, Microban 24 is also offering bonus cash prizes to help small businesses reopen safely; 100 bonus prizes of $2,400 from Microban 24 will be drawn among all nominated businesses at the end of the contest.

“This contest gives consumers an easy way to say thank you and support small businesses with the added bonus of possibly winning some money to shop local. It’s a win-win and last year businesses were so moved by the nominations of their customers,” concluded Jones.

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca 

Source for public opinion data
The survey was conducted by Mary/Matchbox from June 7 to 8, 2021 based on a sample of n=1,507. The margin of error on a probability sample this size is +/- 3% at a 95% confidence level.

Source for CFIB data
Preliminary results for Your Voice – June 2021 survey, conducted from June 17 - June 22 and based on a sample of 1,504 respondents. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of +/-2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

About #SmallBusinessEveryDay
The #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign, created by CFIB, encourages local shopping, promotes initiatives to support small business and provides posters and other tools for businesses to use. All business cash prizes are provided by Microban 24 to help small business reopen safely. The contest is sponsored by Scotiabank and eBay. Small business everyday is also supported by Intuit Canada, Chase Merchant Services, Star Metroland Media and Maru/Matchbox. 

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 95,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.

About MARU/Matchbox
Maru is a world leading CX and Insights Software & Advisory Services company. Maru was founded to disrupt the data and insight delivery industry with a combination of Software & Advisory Services delivering data in real-time via a unique service model. Maru helps its clients make informed decisions in near real-time by combining proprietorial software, deep industry experience and access to the best minds in research. Maru’s flexible service model means our clients can choose to self-serve our Software directly to create, launch and analyze projects; or choose to utilize our Software with knowledgeable support from insights experts. Maru successfully delivers major national and international CX and CEM programs for Enterprise organizations.