Here's How Amazon Makes It Easy to Support Small Businesses

It's worth giving more of your money to smaller establishments.

Doing your shopping at big-box stores, whether for everyday items or holiday gifts, will often result in a lower credit card tab than shopping at a local business instead. But it still pays to give small businesses at least some of your money.

For one thing, small businesses tend to do great things for their respective communities. They often create jobs and partner with other businesses to keep neighborhoods thriving.

Also, the quality you get with a small business purchase might well exceed that of what you'd get if you bought something at a major retailer. And so while you might spend more, the items you buy might last a lot longer.

Now you may like the idea of supporting small businesses -- but what if there aren't many in your area? What if you live in a rural part of the country where there aren't any local stores? Or what if you simply live in a suburban area that doesn't have a town center?

The good news is that you can still support small businesses without physically stepping into a store. All you need to do is focus on small businesses while shopping on Amazon.

An easy way to support local businesses

Many people like shopping on Amazon because you can find a wide range of products without having to bounce around to different stores. Plus, it's convenient to click a button and have items shipped to your door.

The good news is that Amazon actually makes it pretty easy to buy products from small businesses. First of all, in the course of your general shopping, you might come across the small business icon Amazon attaches to different listings. The icon looks like a picture of a small store. That's your first clue that you're about to support a local establishment.

But also, Amazon specifically lets you search for items being sold by small operations. You just have to know how to find them.

To that end, all you need to do is go to Amazon's home page and click on the "Programs & Features" section. If you scroll down from there, you'll have the option to select items such as Subscribe & Save, Whole Foods Market, and more.

One of the options you'll see on that menu is Small & Medium Businesses. That will bring you to a new page where you can search for different products, only your choices will be limited to those associated with small and mid-sized businesses only.

So, let's say you're looking to purchase a new jacket for your toddler. Once you get to Amazon's search page for small and medium businesses, you'd simply put "toddler jacket" into the search bar and see what comes up. It's that simple.

Help keep small businesses running

Small businesses are said to be the backbone of our economy. So it's in everyone's best interest to give them financial support. And now, you can do so in the course of your everyday Amazon shopping, so it really doesn't get easier than that.