The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is launching an online marketplace for small retailers, promising “significantly lower sales commission than its competitors”.
The website – called Neartoo – will launch next month and assist independents to adopt a “hybrid model of retailing” Bira said.
Hundreds of Bira members, including health food stores, pet stores and cafés, have already signed up to the platform before it goes live to customers.
Shop owners are able to either synchronise their existing online sales platform, or create their own through the platform if they don’t already have an online presence.
The platform was developed in response to the damaging impact of the Covid pandemic on independent retail, with at least one in five independents closing for good. Neartoo will be a nationally advertised platform and “offer indies the chance to rebuild and grow their business on an easy-to-use platform designed for them” Bira said.
On the platform retailers can share individual profiles, enabling the consumer to know who they are buying from. The site capitalises on “consumers’ growing thirst to shop locally and independently, guaranteeing that money spent within a community remains there”.
For Bira members, use of the platform is free for 12 months, and non-Bira members get five months free.
“The pandemic has accelerated shopping behaviours, with more use of the internet and people also shopping more locally. This platform, owned by independents, addresses both of those societal changes, and will allow these retailers to open up new ways of selling to customers, and more profitably,” said Bira CEO Andrew Goodacre.
“If there is another lockdown it will mean stores can still sell through click & collect and not lose business to other multinational online trading stores such as Amazon. There is such a huge gap between indies not having an online presence and we believe they have been left behind for far too long with big tech companies taking over,” he added.
The site features include one-click product uploads, and built-in Google Maps to show a store’s location and help shoppers opting for click & collect to plan their route.
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