The State of Black Business: New Survey Finds Progress, Challenges
July 30 2021 - 11:57AM
Business Wire
- Groupon and National Black Chamber of Commerce survey for
National Black Business Month found nearly 80% of Black
business owners say their businesses are better off than last
year
- Nearly three of four Black business owners say
investment in Black-owned businesses still trails white-owned
businesses
- Groupon is helping consumers discover and patronize local,
Black-owned businesses
Groupon, the go-to destination for local experiences, and the
National Black Chamber of Commerce released their second annual
survey of Black small business owners in recognition of August’s
National Black Business Month. Groupon and the chamber spoke with
500 Black-owned small businesses and 1,500 consumers
to gain a better understanding of how consumers' shopping habits
have forever changed since the racial reawakening that began in the
United States last summer. According to the results, consumers
are largely keeping their promises to spend a greater share of
their wallet at Black-owned businesses, but challenges
remain.
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Groupon and the National Black Chamber of
Commerce spoke with 500 Black-owned small businesses and 1,500
consumers to gain a better understanding of how consumers' shopping
habits have forever changed since the racial reawakening that began
in the United States last summer. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Nearly 80% of Black business owners said their businesses
were better off than they were last year at this time and nearly
60% said their business is as good or better than it was
prior to the pandemic. Seven out of 10 consumers said that
they actively sought out opportunities to shop at Black-owned
businesses and an equal number plan to continue to do so long term.
Nearly 70% of consumers also said they find it helpful when
a business identifies as Black-owned and approximately 60%
said they would be willing to pay more if they knew a small
business was Black-owned.
More than half of all Black business owners said that
while there’s more attention on the concerns and needs of
businesses owned by people of color, the overall environment is
still quite challenging. Roughly three out of four Black
business owners said capital investment still lags in comparison to
their white counterparts. In fact, gaining access to capital
investment was the number one concern among the businesses
surveyed. Their ability to tap into government resources, recover
from the pandemic, build a support network and hire enough staff,
were the other top concerns cited. Ultimately, black business
owners indicated that the system that sets them up for success or
failure still has a long way to go and more than 75% of
those surveyed feel as though they’re held to a different standard,
which makes launching and growing a business as an entrepreneur
even harder.
“Groupon recognizes the importance of being a brand that lives
by its values, taking a stand for what’s right and leveraging our
influence to drive positive change within our communities,” said
Aaron Cooper, Interim CEO, Groupon. “Every merchant has worked hard
to build a business that they can be proud of, and it’s important
for us to understand the systemic barriers and biases that exist
for marginalized communities. As a company, we’re committed to
highlighting and championing Black-owned businesses and connecting
them to our diverse customer base. While we’re making progress, we
recognize that we have more work to do.”
Groupon is taking action in August and throughout the year to
translate its support for Black-owned businesses into meaningful
action:
- The company has curated a collection of hundreds of Black-owned
businesses across the United States and will be featuring these
merchants across Groupon’s mobile, online and social channels
throughout the month of August. In 2020, Groupon saw searches for
“Black-owned” increase nearly 400% for the full-year vs.
2019. During Groupon’s 2020 Black Business Month campaign, units
sold for businesses that identified as Black-owned and participated
in the month-long event increased 44% compared to the
previous month. To find Black-owned businesses that you can
support in your community, please visit gr.pn/celebrate.
- In addition, the company has partnered with Kiva.org––a
renowned crowdfunding platform––to raise funds from consumers to
support a Black-owned business fund that will help create
opportunity and unlock investment capital for Black merchants
across the U.S.
- Groupon is also working with the National Black Chamber of
Commerce to offer an online marketing and technology education
session at the Illinois Chamber’s annual convention in September.
The Groupon and chamber survey of Black-owned businesses
identified social media, lack of a digital/online presence,
consumer awareness, upfront costs and foot traffic as their biggest
marketing challenges. Experts from Groupon will consult with
business owners who are attending the convention.
- On Aug. 22, Groupon is partnering with The Black Women’s
Expo - BWE Next to feature 10 Groupon merchants as exhibitors.
Each Black-owned business will have their own booth in the expo’s
marketplace and Groupon will help promote and advertise their
presence. Groupon will also have its own booth at the expo to help
the company recruit diverse applicants from the estimated 30,000
attendees.
- Finally, to help bring more attention to the disparities Black
entrepreneurs face and resources available to help their businesses
succeed, Groupon is joining forces with the Illinois Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to host a virtual panel
discussion: Building Back Better: Charting Economic Recovery for
the Black Business Community & Crafting the Roadmap for Access
to Capital for Black Entrepreneurs. The discussion will take place
on Aug. 25, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. CDT and will bring together a
national audience of business, government and community leaders.
For more information about the Groupon and Illinois Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity virtual panels, please visit
gr.pn/webinar.
“Over the past year we’ve made progress drawing attention to the
needs and concerns of Black-owned businesses, but we know that we
must do even better,” said Larry Ivory, chairman of the National
Black Chamber of Commerce and president and CEO of the Illinois
State Black Chamber of Commerce. “We’re grateful to companies like
Groupon that are willing to listen to the concerns of our community
and heed their responsibility to do more. By working together, we
can help level the playing field for small Black-owned businesses,
and we’re excited for Groupon to provide actionable and useful
insights to our members.”
About the National Black Chamber of Commerce The National
Black Chamber of Commerce® was incorporated in Washington, DC in
March 1993. The NBCC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian
organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African
American communities. In essence, the NBCC is on the leading edge
of educating and training Black communities on the need to
participate vigorously in this great capitalistic society known as
America. The NBCC reaches 100,000 Black owned businesses. There are
2.6 million Black-owned businesses in the United States. Black
businesses account for over $138 billion in revenue each year
according to the US Bureau of Census. The National Black Chamber of
Commerce® is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining
African American communities through entrepreneurship and
capitalistic activity within the United States.
About Groupon Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is an experiences
marketplace where consumers discover fun things to do and local
businesses thrive. For our customers, this means giving them an
amazing selection of experiences at great values. For our
merchants, this means making it easy for them to partner with
Groupon and reach millions of consumers around the world.
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Groupon Nick Halliwell nhalliwell@groupon.com
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