Virtual High Streets launching across Winchester district
Winchester City Council is continuing its support of independent shops and businesses across the district by creating an online shopping and ordering platform with ShopAppy.com.
Ahead of the official launch across the district at the beginning of October, Winchester residents were given an early taster of the service on Saturday 11 September. ShopAppy was at Winchester Market where you could find out more about the virtual high streets in Winchester city centre, Alresford, Bishop’s Waltham and Wickham.
Behind the scenes, businesses have been busy signing up and getting their virtual shops stocked, and are now ready to launch to local customers to use the service from the comfort of their own home, or while out and about, using the mobile-friendly website.
The platform, funded through the Government’s Reopening High Street Safely and Welcome Back Fund European Regional Development Fund programme, allows customers to browse virtual shop windows 24/7. As well as order products from local stores using a home delivery, including the Zedify electric cargo delivery service in Winchester city centre or ‘click and collect’ service from either the store or a dedicated collection point.
Over 100 businesses from a variety of different sectors across the district have already signed up, including Toscanaccio in Winchester city centre, Julia’s Kitchen in Bishop’s Waltham, The Naked Grape in Alresford and Bay Tree Gifts in Wickham. As Winchester City Council and ShopAppy continue to work with more businesses, the number of local options for this online service is expected to grow.
In celebration of the launch, there is a competition to win one of four £25 vouchers to shop on our virtual high streets! To enter, simply sign up to the ShopAppy website: https://shopappy.com/customer/account/login/ and you will be entered automatically into the prize draw. The winners will be chosen at random after 30 September 2021.
Councillor Martin Tod said:
“The ShopAppy platform comes at a crucial time – and is part of the city council’s plan to help local businesses recover and thrive after the lockdown. The high streets in our city and market towns haven’t just faced the challenge of COVID-19, but also the challenge of national online shopping taking business away from local shops. Making it easier to shop locally online alongside visiting our high streets is invaluable. I’m particularly excited that, as part of the programme, many local businesses will be able to offer zero carbon delivery as well. And it’s not just better for the planet. The launch competition means local residents can shop locally, cut carbon and win a £25 voucher as well.”
Visit: https://www.winchester.gov.uk/business/covid-19-support for local business support and https://shopappy.com/ to register your business with the platform.