Americans are trying to support Small Businesses during this crisis

The various lockdown measures that have been put in place across the world due to the coronavirus pandemic have had a crippling economic impact, with almost all economic activity coming to halt. While everybody has been affected by this, the worst-affected are small businesses, since they do not have the cash reserves to be able to tide over a sustained period of time without any revenue. It would not be surprising if a large number of small businesses were forced to close due to these lockdowns, with the USA being one of the countries where the economic fallout is only just beginning to emerge. Over 30 million Americans have now filed for unemployment since the start of this pandemic, with all the jobs being created since the recession of 2008-09 being wiped out in the space of six weeks. In such trying circumstances, it is extremely important that small businesses are supported as much as possible, and many Americans are doing whatever they can to try and help their local businesses.

According to a survey of 2,000 Americans, nearly 75% of them planned on making an effort to support small businesses, as almost all 50 states are moving towards some form of relaxation of the restrictions currently in place. On average, these respondents are willing to spend up to $100 per week to support local businesses, with most people planning on increasing their purchases at such small businesses to be able to support them better. There has been a lot of solidarity with small business owners during this time, with the survey also discovering that 86% of respondents had already gone out of their way to support local business during the quarantine. Most of this support has come through online means, with 44% of people have taken at least one online class, like a workout or cooking class, while 77% of respondents had purchased some form of online experience or learning session to provide support to businesses.

Other popular forms of doing so were through booking experiences and activities around their own houses to keep kids entertained during the lockdown, with 65% of respondents having done so, and by ordering more takeout and delivery items from local restaurants, with 60% of the people polled having increased their takeout orders during the quarantine. At the same time, online games and recreational activities have also been immensely popular, with a lot of people signing up for gaming portals during this time. Many game developers have also been giving away game titles for free to give people a form of entertainment, while another way in which people have been supporting businesses is by buying games, and also spending money on real money online casinos. With physical casinos being shut across the country, many gambling operators have gone online, with online casino games being offered on websites for people to have a sliver of the actual experience that a casino brings. The best real money online casinos have had a plethora of games and slots to keep people entertained, with there being a huge surge in the usage of such websites. For example, in the month of March, online casinos were up 30%, while online poker games rose by 89%, and poker tournament revenues were up by a staggering 123%. This shows that most gambling fans went online and were able to get their needs met through these websites.

While the pandemic is showing no sign of slowing down, it is also necessary that economies are gradually opened up to allow people to start making a living again. It will be the small, local businesses that will need the most support, and so it is heartening to see how Americans are doing their best to keep them afloat as far as possible.