OUT THE BOX

NOW THAT’S A GOOD IDEA…NEARST

REAL-TIME LOCAL PRODUCT AVAILABILITY TECH

NearSt, A GOOGLE-BACKED BRITISH RETAIL TECH BUSINESS HAS RAISED £2M IN SEED FUNDING TOFUEL GROWTH OF ITS FOOTFALL-BOOSTING REAL-TIME LOCAL PRODUCT AVAILABILITY SOLUTION, ASUSED BY LONDIS, NISA AND BUDGENS.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

A real-time local product availability tech solution from a British company called NearSt that makes products on physical store shelves visible to shoppers searching online nearby.

HOW DOES THAT WORK?

In simple terms, the solution drives footfall by letting physical retailers show live in-store inventory to people searching online nearby. NearSt is backed by Google who use the technology to show real-time local product availability directly in search results on the main search page, as well as across Shopping, Google Maps, and other Local Listings. It’s also used by Facebook as part of its drive to boost its local shopping capabilities.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?

NearSt was founded in 2015 by Max Kreijn and Nick Brackenbury, who had worked together developing digital experiences for major brands at a top global agency. Kreijn came up with the concept in a literal lightbulb moment, when a bulb went in his flat and he searched online to see where he could buy a replacement. He says: “I was shown lots of places where I could order it online, but I couldn’t find out which local shops had one for me to pop out and buy.” The pair started out by spending two months cycling around London on Boris Bikes visiting hundreds of shops to understand why no one had solved this, before starting work on the first NearSt prototype.

IS IT BEING USED IN CONVENIENCE?

Yes, it’s already used by Nisa, Londis and Budgens as well as in other nonfood stores including luxury boutiques Creed, Christopher Kane and Hirsh.

HOW DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK?

Retailers install a small piece of software that automatically connects to any type of Epos or inventory management system. The entire in-store inventory then starts to appear in local search results, sending nearby shoppers in-store who might otherwise have ordered online. Steve Tonks of Lincolnshirebased DIY shop Tonwood Home Hardware said: “It took us a year to upload 500 products on our website, compared to using NearSt which uploaded 29,000 online instantly.”

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Retailers pay a one-time connection fee of £399 and then NearSt’s core search product is free, with the option of purchasing weekly add-ons to drive additional local visibility. In addition to listing a shop’s products in Google, NearSt also provides detailed insights to the retailer about what’s popular with customers searching nearby.

WHY IS IT IN THE NEWS?

It has just completed a £2m funding round including funding from Grosvenor Group, one of the world’s largest privately-owned international property companies. In 2020, demand for the solution tripled as shoppers flooded online in unprecedented numbers to find out what’s in stock in nearby shops during the pandemic. The latest funding takes the total raised to £5m – following an earlier £2m raise in February 2020.

WHY ARE SHOPPERS USING IT?

NearSt says the tech is helping shoppers realise that buying local is often faster and easier than ordering on Amazon and providing a welcome boost for convenience stores. The company has seen a three-fold increase in local product search demand throughout 2020, and will use the cash injection to accelerate uptake by retailers in the UK with a wave of new hires. With almost a third of all Google searches relating to location and over 80% of all retail spending still taking place in physical shops, NearSt believes there is a lot to win in the high street’s fight against the online giants.

The tech is helping shoppers realise that buying local is often faster and easier than ordering on Amazon.

KEY PANDEMIC LEARNINGS

1. UNCERTAINTY DRIVES PEOPLE TO CHECK BEFORE THEY TRAVEL

This has been clear from the very firstlockdown and has been demonstratedeffectively again by the Novemberlockdown

2. CUSTOMERS ARE ESTABLISHING A NEW EXPECTATION OF CONVENIENCE

While life returned to a comparativelevel of normality over the summer, thesustained increase in shoppers lookingfor products locally suggests that oncecustomers realise they can easily checklocal stock, they continue doing so.

3. SHOPPING LOCAL, ONLINE, IS HERE TO STAY

The sustained nature of the pandemiccombined with retailers adopting techthat helps them serve local shoppersonline better, is powerfully habit forming.Once shoppers realise they can shoplocally in a much easier way, and retailersare used to offering this, we are unlikelyto decommission these new services.

WHAT ARE NEARST SAYING?

“NearSt’s funding comes at a time of seismic shifts in how we shop and what it means to be a retailer,” said co-founder Nick Brackenbury. “We all know that the pandemic has driven shopping behaviours online; what’s often overlooked are the millions of people now going online to search for things locally on the high street.

“We’ve witnessed extraordinary growth in ‘local-availability’ searches throughout 2020. In the first lockdown customers searching for products nearby surged 620% compared to February levels, before levelling off at a 270% increase between July and September. While this most recent lockdown has driven another 500% surge, what’s clear is that shoppers are getting used to going online to find things in the local businesses they prefer to buy from.

“Online shopping is often positioned as the death knell for the high street – we think it’s far from this, and will rather be the foundation of a vibrant and healthy future for brick-and-mortar shops.”

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?

Visit www.near.st to learn more about signing up. And if you’re quick, you might be among the 100 retailers who get the solution free to celebrate the new round of funding.

LOCAL SEARCH AND RETAIL IN STATS:

Searches for “shopping near me” have grown 200% in the past two years (Google Data, March 2018)

46% of global shoppers confirm inventory online before going to store (Google Data, 2019)

83% of online shoppers are willing to go in-store if they can confirm a product’s availability beforehand (Frederic Clement, Increase Footfall In Your Store With Google Local Inventory Ads)

85% of UK consumers still prefer to physically purchase products in-store, and 78% like to see and feel products in person before buying online (marketingsignals.com)

More than half of UK consumers (55%) prefer to buy local brands (IRI European Shopper Insights Survey, 2020)

90% of Global Shoppers who visited a store in the last week said they used online search prior to going in-store (Google Data, 2019)

80% of customer go into stores to buy when they need something immediately (Google Data, 2019)