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Report: Small business owners not concerned with competing with national brands

The top concerns for merchants are competing small businesses, changing EMV requirements as well as the overall state of the economy and how it will impact business during Q4 and into 2016.

October 6, 2015

ShopKeep, a cloud-based technology and business management solution used by independent merchants, today announced the release of its Q3 2015 ShopKeep Small Business Index (SSBI). The SSBI, which draws upon insights gathered from 836 small business owners, reveals that contrary to popular belief, competing with national retail and restaurant chains is not the biggest worry this holiday season, according to a company press release. Rather, the top concerns for merchants are competing small businesses, changing EMV requirements and the overall state of the economy and how it will impact business during Q4 and into 2016.

Despite these concerns, small business owners are historically a confident group, with the SSBI revealing that 76 percent  are optimistic about the upcoming holiday season,, the release stated. This is 6 percent greater than the year-over-year comparison from Q3 2014. Sixty two percent of the merchants surveyed are retailers, and among that group only 6 percent view Wal-Mart as a competitor, 4 percent view Target as a competitor and 13 percent view Amazon.com as a competitor. Across all merchants surveyed, 71 percent consider their main competitors to be other local businesses.

The SSBI reveals that small business owners also have broader concerns ranging from the state of the economy to inclement weather, factors that have a pronounced impact on the day-to-day bottom line, the release stated. To compensate for these concerns, independent merchants are preparing for the holiday season by streamlining their operations to mitigate revenue loss. Key findings include:

• Seventy-three percent of survey respondents stated that they will not be hiring seasonal employees
• Thirty percent of small business owners will close on major holidays, including Black Friday.
• Only 27 percent of respondents plan on extending their hours of operation during the holiday season to capitalize on the potential of additional sales. Forty-eight percent of respondents would not consider seasonal hours and 25 percent were still undecided.
• Fifty percent of merchants surveyed expressed concern about inclement weather impacting sales

Despite the EMV liability shift date having already passed, the SSBI indicated that 40 percent of merchants are still not prepared to accept chip cards, the release stated. Over 25 percent of merchants surveyed noted that they either will not be EMV-compliant or unsure if they will be by the end of the year, suggesting that they are either taking a wait-and-see approach prior to investing in new technology or that further education is needed on fraud liability.

"Running a small business is not easy, making it almost impossible to count the number of concerns that keep merchants up at night," said Norm Merritt, ShopKeep president and CEO. "Despite the myriad of issues, it’s reassuring to see merchants continue to be very optimistic. At ShopKeep our goal is to help merchants run smarter businesses and ultimately make the optimism about the holiday season a reality."