SAN DIEGO — With the push of online holiday shopping this Cyber Monday, e-commerce small businesses based in San Diego hope shoppers will remember them this holiday season.
“This is our home office garage, here is where we keep a lot of materials,” said Ethan Alexander, co-owner of Rice Love and Taaluma.
It may not be a fancy storefront or a high-rise office, but an e-commerce business can work anywhere there is internet but many choose San Diego to call home.
“This is the definition of a home office,” Alexander said while sitting at his kitchen table, which also duels as a conference table, meeting space and everyday office.
San Diego-based online small businesses are hoping shoppers ditch the big box stores and support local.
“I am the owner of Cats and Crystals, so we handmake our products and we partner with different rescues all across San Diego,” Britney Ortiz said.
“We are Rice Love and Taaluma, we’re both mission-based companies that sell bags, backpacks and other wearables,” Jordan Winck, co-owner of Rice Love and Taaluma said.
These three companies have missions that stretch far and wide, but still call San Diego home.
“We put so much love into these products,” Ortiz said.
“Rice Love bags are handmade in India and for every bag made we donate 1 kilo of rice to a family in need,” Wenck said.
“Taaluma sources fabrics from around the world,” Wenck added. Each bag is made from fabrics in a certain country. When that bag is sold, profits go back to that country and help fund small businesses there.
All three mission-based companies are e-commerce based and hold pop-ups around San Diego, which means Cyber Monday’s online shopping push is their specialty.
“Not all of us small businesses have the ability to run storefronts, so having our online store helps provide for not only our families, but our cause,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz started the business after her mom passed away due to cancer in 2019. Her and her mom would save kittens on euthanize lists and try to find them homes. After her passing, Ortiz continued her legacy and partners with local rescues.
After my mom passed away in 2019 due to cancer, our family decided to continue her legacy by saving as many animals as we can in her honor and this is where we are today.
“We don’t have people walking by or just coming in the store, we rely a lot on social media and word of mouth,” Wenck said.
Adobe Analytics tracks holiday spending and expects Cyber Monday to be the biggest online shopping day of the year and rake in $11.6 billion in sales.
“You’re supporting something different when you shop small,” Wenck said.