Survey among young people within the Districts of Commerce call. First indications: “They only buy close to home if they are in a hurry”
BELLUNO. Small shops will be saved with the new generations. Will today’s kids increasingly choose the internet to shop or shop close to home? It is also these questions that the new project launched within the Districts of Commerce call which involves the Municipalities of Belluno, Feltre and Ponte nelle Alpi tries to answer.
The project is divided into various actions, and in the one linked to communication it was decided to involve children and young people to enhance the proximity trade. Rosso Teatro and the Pro loco of Ponte nelle Alpi, which is responsible for coordinating the project, are interviewing children and young people aged 9 to 18 who attend the summer centers in the three municipalities, to understand from their words if they know the neighborhood shops , if they use them to shop and if they think they will continue to do so. A cross-section is emerging, differentiated by territories: «Children buy in local shops if they are close to their home», underlines Alessandro Rossi, of Rosso teatro.
“Younger people are directed more on the web for purchases instead.”
The small shop is chosen because it offers speed (you pay and the product is immediately in your hands) and close, it is not very interesting to establish a relationship with the shopkeeper, an element that is most liked by adults and, above all, the elderly.
The boys’ answers will end up in a documentary, which will be covered by Scuole in rete. Ikona Film Srl of Feltre, on the other hand, will take care of creating three video spots, which the three Municipalities will then promote through their respective communication channels (including social networks).
“We did not want to create the usual website to implement the action of communication,” explained the manager of the Commerce District, Daniele Terzariol. “We preferred to make the territory and its communities interact”. In particular the younger kids, because they have the keys to the success, or not, of the small shops in the years to come.
So far about fifty have been approached, the goal is to reach a target of 70-80 among children and young people aged 9 to 18. “The goal is also to make children understand the importance of neighborhood shops”, highlighted the councilor of Belluno Nadia Sala, present at the conference with the councilor Yuki d’Emilia, the councilor of Ponte nelle Alpi Andrea Pontello and the councilor of Feltre Irma Visalli, as well as the contact person for Schools in the network Franco Chemello. “It is important to immediately educate young people about the relationship with our local economy,” added Visalli.
The other trend, which cannot be ignored, however, is that of how neighborhood shops can be attractive to younger people. Ascom, partner of the project, has already started courses dedicated to this aspect. “But it is also a challenge for public administrations”, recalled Irma Visalli.
The documentary, in the intentions of the subjects who are working on it, will be ready for the month of September, together with the video spots. The three municipalities that are part of the District of Commerce diffthey will air the materials on their channels throughout the month of October.