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North Yorkshire cycle hub up for top tourism award

22 Mar 2024

Rob Brown, co-director of Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a not-for-profit hire scheme has been nominated for the Tourism Superstar 2024 award, run by VisitEngland.
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Independent retail bodies welcome new report aimed at tackling retail crime.

21 Mar 2024

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) and the Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) have both welcomed a new report published by the Association of Police and Crime... Read more…

Indie retailers outperformed supermarkets in sales of organic food, wellness and beauty products in 2023.

21 Mar 2024

As reported by Healthstores UK, new data contained in the 2024 Soil Association Organic Market report shows that independent retailers delivered an impressive 10% growth in 2023, with... Read more…

Cheltenham beer shop and bar wins top UK award.

21 Mar 2024

An independent bottle shop and bar in Cheltenham has been named as the UK's Independent Beer and Wine Retailer of the Year 2024 at the Drinks Retailing Awards. 
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Welsh Government Announce £20m Future Proofing Fund for Retail Businesses in Wales

21 Mar 2024

A number of organisations, including Bira (the British Independent Retailers’ Association), other trade associations, BIDs and unions have met with officials from the Welsh Government to... Read more…

High Street Faces 'Unprecedented Challenges' says Trade Association

21 Mar 2024

The British Independent Retailers’ Association (Bira) has reacted to data released by PwC and the Local Data Company exploring the state of the UK retail landscape.
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Greeting Card Association expresses concern on new evidence Royal Mail prioritising parcel deliveries over letters.

6 Mar 2024

The Greeting Card Association has reacted to a BBC Panorama programme lifting the lid on Royal Mail management prioritising parcel delivery over letters, which it says are in contradiction of... Read more…

Kate Bush named as Record Store Day ambassador.

4 Mar 2024

Pop star Kate Bush has been announced as an ambassador for this year's Record Store Day, on 20 April.
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Shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year 2024 revealed.

4 Mar 2024

The British Book Awards has announced its shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year. 
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Local Bike Shop Day 2024 confirmed for Saturday May 4th.

4 Mar 2024

The ACT is happy to confirm the date for Local Bike Shop Day 2024 as Saturday 4 May, the weekend of the early May Bank Holiday.
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Best Small Shops partner Maybe* urges retailers to get back onto social media

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Independent retailers urged to get back onto social media & re-engage with local customers, as new research shows extent of the drop-off.

 

With a month to go until entries close in the search to find Britain's Best Small Shop of 2020, in what could be a positive sign for small independent retailers on local high streets, research from social media management platform, Maybe*, which has been named as partner of this year's competition, has found that independent businesses have all but stepped away from social media since lockdown ended.

The research found that, although consumers average over three hours on social media per day, the 43% of independents that were active on social media on a daily basis pre-Covid-19 has dropped to just 5% in some towns.

"This was a really worrying finding," explains Polly Barnfield OBE, CEO of Maybe*. "Small shops really need to be on social media and engaging in the local conversations there, because that's a really effective way of reaching local customers. Use it to tell local people the story of your business. Don't get sucked into believing that social media is for the world; you can make it local if you engage with the local conversation."

Maybe* gathered 20,000 responses from across the UK to understand changing attitudes towards shopping and this included finding that people expect to be making fewer visits to large shopping centres than before lockdown. Over a third of 19-25 year olds said they expected to make fewer visits to large shopping centres moving forward, a figure that rises to 60% for the 26-34 age group, 55% for the 35 to 45 age group; 58% for the 46-55 age group; 62% of the 56-65s and half of the over 65s.

When asked what measures they felt would encourage them to shop more, home delivery and a limit on the number of customers in store at any one time scored highest. 35% of the 19-25s favoured home delivery and 38% a limit on the number of customers in store at any one time with other demographics reporting as follows:

• 26-34 age group: 35% home delivery; 37% limit on the number of customers
• 35-45 age group: 30% home delivery; 37% limit on the number of customers
• 46-55 age group: 31% home delivery; 36% limit on the number of customers
• 56-65 age group: 26% home delivery; 30% limit on the number of customers
• Over 65s: 28% home delivery; 30% limit on the number of customers

Other responses included the ability to book appointments to shop; the availability of Click & Collect, and shop staff effectively policing social distancing, face covering and hygiene regulations.

Polly Barnfield adds: "The majority of people we surveyed still feel anxious about shopping at all with 57% predicting they will shop less in either a High Street or a shopping centre compared with pre-lockdown. But there is good news and that is that retailers are largely felt to be doing a satisfactory job of implementing their safety measures, though they mustn't rest on their laurels as they risk losing 51% of their shoppers if social distancing measures aren't enforced. This should suit small, independent shops who are able to make changes quickly to the way they work to make their customers feel even safer and more comfortable."

"This research reveals that the post-lockdown reticence to shop that a lot of retailers feared is evident but that there remain opportunities for innovative small shops to offer a service that overcomes that reticence," says Mark Walmsley, Chair of the Independent Retailers' Confederation. 

"We continue to see extraordinary examples of innovation and ingenuity in being able to adapt a business to continue trading. This is unsurprising, given the agility and commitment of independent retailers to their local communities and, in this extraordinary year, it is something we will be recognising and celebrating. And we are delighted to have the support of Maybe* in helping us to do that."

The annual competition highlights the best of Britain's independent retail sector, celebrating the commitment and creativity of independent retailers and the central role they play in their local communities. Previous winners have included Bristol-based delicatessen Papadeli, the 2019 winner, and The Mainstreet Trading Company, a combined bookshop, café, deli & homeware shop based in St Boswells, in the rural Scottish Borders, which won in 2018.

For more information about the Best Small Shops competition, click here bestsmallshops.uk.

 

 

 

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