If you’ve left your Christmas shopping to the eleventh hour and are scrambling to buy that perfect gift, the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce still wants you to shop local.

President Tyson Andrykew says he knows online shopping at Amazon and other big box stores is convenient because there are some people who don’t want to leave their house because of COVID-19.

However, he says there are local options.

“Figure out what sort of businesses are in the area, give them a call,” he said. “A lot of them are offering some sort of delivery service and this is the time to put in a little bit extra effort into your Christmas shopping and see if we can’t support our local businesses.”

“Call those local stores that you would normally shop at or maybe you haven’t shopped at, give them a call, look at their website, a lot of them do have some sort of a e-commerce setup.”

Andrykew adds there are local delivery companies in Kamloops as well, noting it shows people can still shop online and support local during a difficult time for businesses. He says while businesses are supporting each other, they need the support of fellow Kamloopsians to make it though a difficult time.