Rochester businesses push people to shop in store

(ABC 6 News) – Every year more and more shoppers go online to buy their holiday gifts, but many say they still prefer to shop at brick-and-mortar stores.

Business owners in Rochester say the Christmas season is big for sales. That’s why they make the extra effort to get shoppers through the doors.

According to Capital One, American shoppers spent $1.04 trillion online in 2022.

“We always encourage people to actually come and come in the store, see the merchandise, ask questions, learn about it, feel the sweaters,” said Lousie Hanson, owner of The Nordic Shop at the Galleria.

The Nordic Shop added a mural outside the store to draw shoppers through the door.

“We wanted to dress up the space a little bit, so we have this great little mural, and we see people taking photographs every day coming by and also little children trying to open the door and talk to the misses inside.”

For those who do prefer to shop online, it’s important to know how to do it safely.

“Threat actors using artificial intelligence, and specifically bots to gain user credentials, steal assets and get other information that users more common than not put out on social media, various social platforms, and the threat actors use that to build a profile in order to more easily guess what those credentials may be,” said Tami Hudson, a Cybersecurity Client Officer with Wells Fargo.

Hudson encourages people to keep their security software updated, change passwords regularly and avoid saving financial information on a website.

“Make sure that that URL, which are the letters within that website address, has H-T-T-P-S instead of just H-T-T-P. The S on the end of that website indicates that it is secure,” said Hudson.

For those still hunting for the perfect holiday gifts, consider supporting the local small businesses in your area.