As per the title, I am creating a new app to help small shops & businesses on high streets and in town centres of the UK. I have worked with small businesses for over 20 years now, and the same hurdles come up time and time again.
- Cost of websites
- Cost of ongoing marketing
- Difficulty competing with big players
- Public reluctance to visit town centres & high streets
- And more….
And as a small business owner myself, I can fully empathise with this. Its so hard to stand out, be found and be chosen over and above the likes of Amazon or other similar platforms.
Why are the high streets and town centres failing?
Well, in my personal opinion, people aren’t avoiding high streets and town centres because they dont want to visit them – there are genuine roadblocks in place that are making people choose online purchasing over in-person shopping, such as;
- Parking costs
- Uncertainty of stock
- Uncertainty of price
- And more….
Additionally, after working with a few town centre authorities and BID’s around the UK, there are other things like high business rates and rents, BID Levies etc causing people to close shops and set up online stores instead.
Is there any hope?
Yes, I believe there is. Due to various reasons, for example the rise of the dropshipper – a lot of the current platforms we buy from are littered with rebranded crap that makes it hard to know what is actually going to be a good product.
For example, I was looking for ceiling fans the other day and searched on Amazon;
Not a single known brand name and in fact some of them look like someone just mashed a keyboard when they were thinking of a brand name.
I mean, Seyxicnor? How do you even say that?
And this is not something I have simply observed myself,
A lot of the posts are old too, so this has been brewing for a while. And if you look into it further, the same can be said for a lot of online retailers now. Even ebuyer, the once famous no1 source for computer stuff – doesn’t even sell desktop computers anymore, and what they do sell can be found on every single other marketplace or online store selling electronic equipment.
I think its safe to say peoples love of the current platforms is waning, and its time to do it all a bit differently!
Can the high streets and town centres really be saved?
I honestly think they can. My solution is focused on driving sales to small shops and businesses that have a bricks and mortar presence.
- We will not accept “online only” sellers.
- During the startup phase and until we have a degree of national coverage, we won’t be allowing large retailers to sign up.
And there is a lot of news and info coming out about how the younger generations are starting to venture out in the real world to do some of their shopping once again;
So there has never been a better time to produce a solution to bring the antiquated high streets and town centers of the UK, into the modern day era of convenience and technology.
So what is my app to help small shops?
You’re gonna have to wait and find out…. 🙂
If you are a shop or business owner local to me, then please get in touch as I would love to get you onboard as a totally free trial.
Oh yeah, its gonna be totally free for everyone, always.
TTFN