Is the high street the future for online retailers?
As an online retailer, how do you know how your product is going to sell in the 'offline' market?
With 60% of new businesses now started at home, this is a question being asked more and more frequently. PopUp Britain reckons it has an answer.
The private sector funded scheme offers start-ups a chance to put
their products to the test on the high street. The campaign’s first
shop, a former estate agent premises in Richmond, Surrey, which had been
standing empty for a year, played host to more than 60 start-ups in its
first five months.
The not-for-profit campaign intends to make use of the growing number
of empty shops on the high street in order to encourage small start-ups
to grow by providing an affordable opportunity to test the waters with a
'real' shop.
The scheme’s latest project is based on the iconic King’s Road. The
shop is a former electronics showroom which has been empty for three
months. It has the capacity to house twelve start-ups at a time, and
each will pay £240 for a two week stint to cover costs.
The latest shop, which opens on 9th May, is designed give
fledgling businesses from around the country a low cost opportunity to
test their products in an area that has famously played a key role in
supporting independent British brands for decades.
As retail start-ups begin to realise that in order to build a solid
brand they need to be in bricks and mortar, interacting with their
customers face-to-face, PopUp Britain could provide just the opportunity
they need. It neatly helps them keep all the advantages of online
retailers like Amazon, whilst having a low cost route to the high
street.
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