Virtual High Streets to be launched across Winchester district
Winchester City Council is continuing its support of independent shops and businesses across the district by signing up to the online shopping and ordering platform, ShopAppy.com. Businesses are being invited to register to the website for free, which will provide them with further opportunities to promote their services and sell products to local customers from the comfort of their own home.
The council and ShopAppy is offering free membership to all businesses and community organisations in the district for the first 12 months, enabling them to reach a wider pool of customers and extending their online visibility. The platform allows customers to browse virtual shop windows, book appointments and events as well as order products from local stores using a delivery or ‘click and collect’ service. Funding from the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund, which was launched by the Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) last year, has enabled the council to cover the first six months membership for all independent organisations in the district and ShopAppy have matched that, extending the offer to the full 12 months.
The Visitor Information Centre, operated by the City Council along with more and more businesses are joining every day and adding their products and services to their dedicated area in preparation for a public launch. To see who has signed up so far and to register on the site businesses should visit shopappy.com and then select ‘sign up’ or contact Jane Stewart at shoplocal@shopappy.com. Once registered, businesses can quickly populate the website with goods and services on their town’s page with assistance provided by the ShopAppy.com team.
Cllr Martin Tod, Winchester City Council, Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery, said:
“More and more people want to shop locally online as well as offline – and we strongly support that. To that end, we’re offering ShopAppy free to businesses and community organisations across the district for the next 12 months. It’s just one part of the council’s plans to help local businesses recover, innovate and thrive in a post COVID-19 world.”
The founder of ShopAppy.com, Dr Jackie Mulligan, added:
“We’re very excited to be working across the whole of the Winchester District partnering with the council on the launch of ShopAppy.com. 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.”
“ShopAppy.com provides a bespoke, online shop window and ordering service for every member town and city in the UK and there are already over 150 towns signed up. The platform is supported by Visa as part of its #Whereyoushopmatters campaign.