You’ve probably heard of flash mobs — groups of people who use social media to plan to appear in person
Another iteration of this meet up is of much more interest to entrepreneurs. It is the cash mob — a group of shoppers who agree to patronize a local business at a particular time and spend at least $20 apiece to support their hometown merchants.
Cash mobbers are usually advocates of the buy-local movement who don’t like how big chains have emptied some downtowns. So they’re voting with their dollars, mostly for small businesses.
Although these communal shopping events are oftentimes organized by individuals, cash mobs have been convened by companies looking to give back to their community. An example is candle company Scentsy, which celebrated its fifth anniversary by giving $100 to each of its 1,000 headquarters-based employees to spend in local shops in their home town of Meridian, Ohio.