Supporting Small Businesses During the Festive Season - Meta

During the vigor of the pandemic, hard stories astir tiny businesses experiencing mislaid income and closures were beforehand and centre. Yet contempt the challenging circumstances, galore of these tiny businesses remained optimistic that brighter days would come.

Unfortunately, this optimism and resilience is being tested. Meta’s latest “Global State of Small Business Report”, which surveyed implicit 20,000 tiny businesses astir the satellite successful July 2022, including much than 9,000 successful Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), revealed that times stay tough, with tiny businesses present besides facing proviso concatenation disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, ostentation arsenic good arsenic vigor and accumulation outgo hikes.

Almost 20% of tiny and mean businesses (SMBs) globally reported being closed successful July 2022, mostly arsenic a effect to COVID and further concern challenges. Over fractional each SMBs (60%) reported that they person had to enactment their merchandise and work prices up successful the past 6 months. 

The festive play is captious for tiny businesses. In fact, the survey showed that 25% of SMB owners expect to marque much than fractional of their yearly gross successful the last months of the year.

Showcasing Small Business Gifts that #DeserveToBeFound

As this important festive income play gets underway, we are introducing the latest variation of our “Good Ideas Deserve to beryllium Found” run – to observe unsocial gifting ideas from tiny businesses crossed EMEA and promote vacation shoppers to enactment section SMBs.

As we each know, uncovering the cleanable acquisition for your loved ones tin beryllium challenging. In fact, astir fractional of EMEA vacation shoppers find it hard to determine what acquisition to get for others (Meta Seasonal Holidays Study by YouGov, Dec 2021). 

As a result, radical are looking for unexpected acquisition ideas during this festive play – peculiarly those that alteration them to enactment tiny businesses. Some 57% of EMEA vacation shoppers bask discovering applicable items they weren’t actively looking for, and 90% are apt to effort a caller marque during the vacation season. Additionally, implicit fractional of EMEA vacation shoppers reported making a peculiar effort to acquisition from a local, tiny business. 

That’s wherefore this vacation season, we are erstwhile again connected a ngo to showcase extraordinary, one-of-a-kind gifts from immoderate of the astir originative and innovative tiny businesses crossed the EMEA region.

SMBs are a treasure trove of inspiring products and services guaranteed to astonishment and delight. From matching, handmade knitwear for you and oregon your canine from Irish Dog Designs to accepted wicker decor from household concern Siostry Plotą successful Poland, galore tiny businesses connection artisanal products from adept craftspeople that you won’t find anyplace else.

If you’re connected the hunt for a genuinely personalised gift, tiny concern owners tin adjacent assistance you make memorable, unsocial pieces. For example, Nos Chers Enfants successful France gives you the accidental to grounds a children’s audiobook successful your ain voice. KEKSZauber successful Germany allows you to explicit your champion wishes with customised vacation cookies, and acknowledgment to Coverlab successful Italy, you tin physique bespoke, quirky telephone covers that are definite to beryllium a deed nether the tree. 

As galore countries hole for their archetypal Christmas escaped from Covid, shoppers are besides turning to the gifts of experiences and clip together. Over 1 5th of festive shoppers successful EMEA reported buying for experiences, unrecorded events oregon question categories. So on with bonzer products from tiny businesses, we’re shining a spotlight connected unsocial activities to acquisition household oregon friends, including abseiling, kayaking oregon paintballing with BraveHearts Expeditions successful Ghana oregon an forgettable circuit of Paris successful a vintage side-car.  

Digital Tools Power Small Business Growth

Small businesses are adapting their concern models and pivoting online successful bid to crook their fortunes astir and boost growth. According to a 2022 Small Business Study from Ipsos, SMBs crossed EMEA reported that they person shifted each oregon astir of their concern operations from in-person to online since the COVID-19 pandemic began (for example, 61% successful Egypt, 50% successful Nigeria, 35% successful Israel and 30% successful Germany). 46% of SMBs successful Sweden adjacent reported that astir of their income are made online, with 39% successful the Netherlands and 38% successful the UK and Norway reporting the same. 

Furthermore, the findings amusement that Meta apps are important to tiny concern success. Of SMBs successful the European Union presently utilizing Meta apps, 75% reported that Meta apps helped their concern grow, 53% said they person helped summation entree to caller customers, and 60% noted that Meta apps person adjacent helped make jobs successful the section community.

Digital tools are peculiarly important during the captious festive trading period. Research conducted by YouGov reveals that 68% of EMEA vacation shoppers discovered ideas oregon browsed online for inspiration during the 2021 vacation season. The survey shows that Meta apps are apical for online find astatine this time, overtaking some e-commerce and search. Moreover, erstwhile festive buying online, 26% of EMEA vacation shoppers recovered a section concern they did not cognize astir successful the archetypal place. 

In the look of caller economical headwinds, getting discovered and connecting with customers online during the holidays is not lone important for the bottommost line, but cardinal for immoderate tiny concern wanting to thrive and link with its customers successful the months and years to come.

Meta is successful the concern of tiny business. More than 200 cardinal businesses usage our apps each period to scope customers and grow. We person much than 10 cardinal progressive advertisers crossed our services, the bulk of whom are tiny and medium-sized businesses. This latest run is simply a continuation of our efforts to assistance SMBs unlock economical opportunities and guarantee that their bully ideas tin beryllium found, successful EMEA and beyond.