It will take only a dollar or two but that could mean a significant difference to the bottom line of a large number of Wanganui's inner-city businesses.
Now a "buy local" campaign is being pulled together by Mainstreet Wanganui for a launch on May 6 and will run to the end of this year at least.
Elise Goodge, Mainstreet marketing and administration manager, said while Wanganui shops handled a large number of Eftpos transactions, the value of those transactions was among the lowest in the country.
Ms Goodge said Paymark, which tracks those electronic payments, said the average transaction was $44.
"Even if we can get that up a dollar or two it makes a significant difference," she said.
Mainstreet had looked at the impact of similar campaigns around New Zealand and overseas and generally noted a 1 to 2 per cent increase in sales.
"It doesn't sound like a lot but for Wanganui it would take the retail sector out of negative growth for the first time in four or five years," she said.
Ms Goodge said the amount of money Wanganui people were spending out of town was really worrying.
"When you look at the amount of money being turned over every week and weekend in Palmerston North, and you know some of that's coming from our place, that's scary," she said.
"We don't want to demonise anyone for going to Palmerston North but it's those little incidental things that locals buying here, especially over the winter months, that can keep our local businesses viable.
"Quite a few of them have been struggling for a number of years now and it won't take much more of a hit for them to go to the wall. The face of retail will change a lot in Wanganui in the next few years and it's up to us as a community to have an influence on whether that change is for the better or the worse," Ms Goodge said.
There are a number of parts to this campaign.
"The first part is what we call the 'feel good' factor, so we want people to feel good buying local. To do that we're putting counter and table signs around all our member businesses. The message is that by buying local the money you've spent here stays here."
Ms Goodge said the signs would have different text on them to cover all the different types of businesses among Mainstreet's membership.
The second part of the campaign will include sales tags which retailers can either put on their products or drop into the shopping bag.
"The idea is that when the buyer gets home they find the tag and react positively to their shopping experience."
The other marketing tool features what she called the "fun factor" using scratch cards. All the businesses would carry the cards and every time a customer spends more than $50 they will get one. The winning cards can be redeemed at the Mainstreet office in Ridgway St.