With High Street shops reopened after months of uncertainty and lockdown, the whole of North East Lincolnshire – including its towns and villages – is now fighting back.
As a further extension to the Loyal to Local campaign and the new virtual high street website, nelinkolnshire.co.uk, North East Lincolnshire Council is now enabling independent shops and businesses across the area to sell online completely free of monthly charges through the online selling platform, ShopAppy.com.
ShopAppy.com is a town-focused website that makes it easier for everyone to support their local High Street from the comfort of their sofas, browsing by the individual towns and villages in North East Lincolnshire. Users can browse, book, buy, collect, or get a convenient home delivery from numerous independent shops and businesses in their area with one simple checkout.
Most importantly the digital shop window influences people to visit towns, so now shops, cafes and services are back open, people will be able to pre-browse to plan their trip.
ShopAppy.com is not only for traditional retail businesses, it can also help services, trades, B2B businesses, chefs, pop-ups, entertainers, and market stalls with bookings, click and collect, home delivery and can even host virtual events such as fairs and markets.
ShopAppy provides NEL businesses with a digital platform to reach local consumers and for those who can provide a delivery service it allows them to service customers across the United Kingdom. Businesses who join in June 2021 will benefit from 12-months of free access to ShopAppy where the only fees taken are a 2% card processing fee on transactions.
Cllr Callum Procter, Cabinet member for economic growth, said “This last year has been incredibly difficult for many of our businesses, so I’m really pleased we have been able to put this package of support together to help not only businesses, but also consumers who want to shop and support local businesses.
“Working with our key partners, we’ve put in place the L2L Loyal to Local social media campaign, the www.NELinkolnshire.co.uk website showcasing a virtual highstreet for the area, and ShopAppy, where people can shop in our great independent stores in one place – all of which will help build that economic resilience and recovery for our local businesses.”
Gemma Winter who runs It Started with a Stitch in Grimsby, who only recently opened her business is delighted about the scheme. Gemma said “I’m excited about ShopAppy and that the council is supporting local businesses to be on the platform. It will make it easier for customers to buy from their favourite small businesses in a quick and effortless way. It is fantastic to see what we have to offer all in one place, which I hope makes people think locally before spending with the big multi-national businesses.”
Thanks to North East Lincolnshire Council, ShopAppy.com is now free for local shops and businesses to join until 30 June 2022. Once registered, businesses can quickly populate their store with goods and services on their town’s page. Businesses are being invited to register now on shopappy.com/vendor, selecting the ‘free use’ option.
The team at ShopAppy.com team are available to answer any questions and support those who need help creating their online store. An introductory webinar will be taking place solely for North East Lincolnshire businesses on Wednesday 16 June at 6.30pm. If you would like to attend, email [email protected] to register your interest. Interested businesses are also invited to join the ShopAppy Facebook group ‘ShopAppy Family’ where they can talk with other business owners and learn from others.
Rachel Harvey of The Paint Box in Cleethorpes has been supported by ShopAppy throughout lockdown, gaining hundreds of orders. She said “ShopAppy has been so easy to use, and customers love having a good browse. The site helps people see why they should make a trip in, but ensures they can get the online convenience they get from the giants, if it’s difficult to come into town in person. It is great news that North East Lincolnshire Council will be supporting the ShopAppy platform for our towns enabling small businesses to sell online free of monthly charges.”
The founder of ShopAppy.com, Dr Jackie Mulligan, says: “We very excited to be working across the whole of North East Lincolnshire and partnering with the council on the launch of ShopAppy.com here. It could not be a more critical time for businesses to work together and make it easier for locals to spend closer to home. When we spend local, our spend stays local – so whether you use ShopAppy to browse and go in person or to book something or shop online, you can easily help your area – because where you spend matters for local jobs and local businesses and for our national recovery.”
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