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Why bricks and mortar retailers should sell online
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From bricks and mortar to clicks and mortar
Bricks and mortar businesses have always relied on footfall for sales. Over the past two years, the pandemic has meant reduced footfall with many retailers temporarily shutting their doors following Government guidance.
With shop doors shut and a country in national lockdown, we saw a rise in online selling. We as a nation started working from home, had unexpected time on our hands, so we went straight to our mobiles and clicked ‘Buy Now’.
Through national lockdowns, Bira supported their members through campaigning for clear guidance and support from the Government as well as providing tangible advice to help retailers continue trading by getting online.
Following the retail reopening announcement in May 2021, Bira surveyed their members to see changes in retailers selling channels.
Over 60% of retailers were trading both online and in-store trading model.
In August 2021 Bira asked members what selling channels they used, which resulted in just 29% selecting in-store only, meaning that almost 70% are now using a blended trading model.
The benefits of selling online
For some time, high street retailers have seen eCommerce stores as against what the high street stand for, and instead of embracing the effectiveness of going online, many have stayed put and continued their original method of selling.
Bricks and mortar shops rely on potential customers physically coming into the shop to make a purchase. Recent world events have magnified the fact that this isn’t always reliable, with businesses affected by Government closure and lack of confidence in the safety of the high street. Retailers must make their businesses available to potential customers now more than ever.
By making their offering available online, retailer's will be able to not only reach customers who are looking for their products, they’ll also be able to reach more customers who are ready to buy. Selling online doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive and in recent years has become much more user friendly.
So how can Bira help?
Bira listened to their members to develop an independent online marketplace to help retailers start trading online.
Neartoo.co.uk, launching on 22nd November 2021, has been built to promote local independent businesses through a low transaction fee e-commerce platform.
Selling on neartoo.co.uk is easy with full integration for Shopify and Woocommerce
To start selling on Neartoo visit Neartoo.co.uk.
This article comes to you from BIRA - British Independent Retailers Association
