Do Identity-Based Shopping Lists Work?

On June 5, 2020, Courtney Ismain’s phone would not stop buzzing. Alongside her sister Khalia Ismain and Terory Briscoe-Larebo, Courtney is a cofounder of Jamii, a London-based independent marketplace and discount card that promotes Black-owned brands across the U.K. That day, Courtney’s phone was notifying her that a new discount card was being sold every few minutes. Courtney was used to working hard to meet the needs of her customers and vendors, but this rush was different. It was larger than she had seen before and came at a time of great uncertainty—the start of the pandemic—and at a time of great unrest, as communities reckoned with historic and contemporary anti-Black racism following the murder of George Floyd and killing of Breonna Taylor. To support Black communities around the world, newspapers, magazines, and influencers published long lists of Black-owned businesses to buy from that were shared far and wide, and right before June 5, Jamii was featured on one of them.

Lists like the one that featured Jamii have grown more common in recent years (including in this publication). They’re like a "Shop Local" window decal for the age of e-commerce. These lists direct dollars away from Amazon or Walmart and toward independent businesses with hopes of supporting a more diverse and varied retail landscape. They run the gamut of identities and celebrations, championing queer and trans designers for Pride, for instance, or businesses run by women for International Women’s Day. To business owners, these lists can be bittersweet—some entrepreneurs note that the people writing these lists rarely make purchases themselves—but their impact can be striking nonetheless. According to one report in the New York Times, a Black-owned bookstore in Chicago saw its weekly sales skyrocket from 3,000 books to 50,000 following the outpouring of interest in buying from Black-owned businesses during the summer of 2020. At Jamii, Courtney saw something similar unfold.

"June fifth was our busiest day for Jamii card sales ever," she says. While the day’s sales figures marked a passing high, Courtney notes that interest in Jamii from both consumers and commercial organizations has been longer lasting, and it’s made a material difference to the community Courtney and her cofounders aim to uplift. From the start, their goal for Jamii was to make shopping from Black-owned businesses a part of everyday life. With a Jamii card, members receive discounts and deals on everything from skincare to homeware while supporting independent Black-owned businesses and their owners. Courtney says, "It’s really about putting your money where your mouth is to make change, and I’m glad that there’s been a shift."

"We wanted to make people go off the beaten track to discover new businesses they’d never heard of before," Courtney continues. She points out that vendors from marginalized backgrounds often face a variety of hurdles to clear, including fewer funding opportunities, smaller networks, and structural disadvantages felt across everything from schooling to housing. After conducting a recent survey of Black-owned business owners, Courtney and her cofounders realized that Black-owned businesses were going to be particularly impacted by the current recession in Britain and partnered with AirBnB to distribute £20,000 to help independent Black-owned businesses stay afloat. (Their full report is scheduled to be published in February.) 

While the buzz following a feature on a high-profile shopping list might boost sales for some businesses, owners note that the boosts are short-lived. Krizia Flores, a first-generation Nicaraguan-American and the ceramist and founder behind Concrete Geometric, compares being included in Latinx Heritage Month lists to the deluge of orders before Christmas. She prepares for both celebrations the same way: She makes sure her back stock is at the ready for the rush. 

But that’s not to say these lists are bad. For Krizia, identity-themed shopping lists make her feel closer to other makers and entrepreneurs from similar backgrounds. "When I first started in 2013, it felt like a race, with everyone against one another," Krizia says. But in the time since, she’s seen a shift in how people think about independent businesses. In her experience, being featured on a list of designers who share a common experience feels less like a competition and more like a community. "Everyone is so supportive," she says. "It’s such a different culture than it was before."

"I personally like to shop using these lists," says Ninon Choplin, the French designer behind neenineen ceramics in Los Angeles. In their experience, being featured on lists of queer artists and makers for Pride often leads to requests from within the queer community, especially from people who are looking for gifts for their partners to commemorate anniversaries and special occasions. "This feels extra special," they say.