OUT THE BOX

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA…SHOPAPPY

SHOPAPPY: YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY ONLINE

SHOPAPPY IS PROPOSED AS AN EFFECTIVE WAY FOR LOCAL INDEPENDENT RETAILERS OF ALL KINDSTO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE ONLINE GIANTS BY CREATING TOWN-BASED VIRTUAL MARKETPLACES.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

A town-based virtual marketplaces platform that allows shoppers to shop local. It allows local independent retailers of all kinds to sell to those shoppers via an online social enterprise platform called ShopAppy, backed by the might of Visa and Natwest. Set up by Jackie Mulligan in 2016, the solution has thrived under lockdown as it helps smaller retailers fight back against the might of online retail giants like Amazon.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

ShopAppy member retailers list their range on the website and shoppers can buy products from any member stores, all from the same website. Stores then pick the orders and customers can collect their entire order from a single store, even if the order included products from several stores. Or they can have the order delivered to their homes.

AND LOCAL IS WHERE IT’S AT THESE DAYS?

Indeed. Analysis of spending habits by the Centre for Retail Research suggests smaller neighbourhood shopping areas fared better than large cities and shopping centres last year. In Visa and Cebr research, over half of Brits said they would be willing to spend more than half of their money with local businesses. There has been a significant shift in positive sentiment towards local and, as more people worked from home in 2020, more money was spent locally and more people rediscovered their local independent stores and made new neighbourhood friends.

HOW MANY TOWNS ARE SHOPAPPY?

There are now more than 150 UK towns on ShopAppy, inspiring customers to shop local without leaving home.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST RETAILERS?

Nothing. Many ShopAppy.com sites are currently funded by local enterprise partnerships, councils, or business improvement districts meaning the platform continues to cost nothing for businesses to join.

WHAT’S SHOPAPPY SAYING?

Founder Jackie Mulligan says: “We are very excited to see Shopappy.com really taking off across the UK. None of us want to see our High Streets disappearing, but the effects of lockdown and Covid mean many people are now shopping online with huge, global retail giants, rather than supporting our muchloved local shops.

ShopAppy.com provides a fabulous local alternative and allows people to support their own communities more easily. It’s great news for member shops in lockdown who can still trade, and it’s also fantastic to know that local communities are rallying around to bring that vital spending closer to home.”

WHERE DO I FIND OUT MORE?

To find out more information or sign up for ShopAppy.com, retailers should visit: www.ShopAppy.com