The British Independent Retail Association’s (Bira’s) Neartoo – a unique online trading site designed to support the high street – is launching today (Monday March 7). Visit www.neartoo.co.uk
Among the independent gift shop owners already signed up is Cathy Frost, owner of LoveOne in Ipswich. “I knew straightaway this was something I wanted to be a part of,” Cathy explained. “It’s really important for small indies to be able to have their profile raised, to have a platform and extra voice out there. It will bring the high street to more customers, especially if more people are working from home, as they are facing blended working from the office. We jumped at the chance.”
Bira’s ceo Andrew Goodacre explained: “The pandemic accelerated shopping behaviours, with more use of the internet and people also doing more of their shopping locally. This platform, owned by independents, addresses both of those societal changes and will allow Neartoo retailers to open up new ways of selling to customers, and more profitably. It’s a really exciting opportunity for independents throughout the UK to be able to start selling online or increase their own visibility. It will get their products out to a wider audience, and the fact so many of our members have already signed up and have seen the potential is fantastic. We can’t wait to see the site grow.”
Adds Andrew: “We want to help independent retailers achieve their ambitions and be able to trade up against other multinational online trading stores such as Amazon. This is the answer for thousands of independent stores across the UK to still maintain a bricks and mortar presence on the high street, while also allowing them to sell online but at a lower cost.”
With hundreds of independent shops on board, and dozens signing up weekly, Neartoo will also be offering shoppers rewards when they shop at independents, with ‘local rewards’ for each purchase, creating points that can be redeemed with all Neartoo sellers. Each seller has been carefully vetted by Bira to ensure only UK independent shops can use the service.
Jayne Weldon, Ecommerce manager for Neartoo enthused: “It’s so important that we support the high street especially now restrictions have been lifted as it will give local businesses the added boost they need to get back on their feet after what has been a very turbulent two years, so we are hoping to get plenty of shoppers taking a look and buying through the site.”
Visit www.neartoo.co.uk
