Rural retailing in 2020 has certainly brought with it some challenges, the doors have been closed on thousands of small independent businesses that rely on passing trade to keep the cogs turning.
Learning to adapt to the new normal can seem somewhat daunting. We have all found ourselves in an unpredictable situation that can seem hard to navigate and working out which way to turn can seem an impossible task.
The Countryside retail sector has always had a strong and welcoming presence on the high street and seasonal country show circuit, there is nothing quite like the hustle and bustle of visiting one of the UK’s countryside events or perhaps dropping into to visit your local shooting, tackle or tack shop.
The question we seem to keep hearing is “how do we trade when the consumers aren’t on the high street or the shows are not running?” well our answer is by taking your products to them!
Online shopping has grown in popularity over recent years and there seems to be no sign of this slowing down, it is important to move with the times and perhaps dipping your toe into the world of e-commerce might not be such a bad thing?.
E-commerce can prove an incredibly effective way of boosting sales and reaching an audience that would otherwise never come across your business or products, there are however pitfall with online shops that can be easy to forget.
The first is creating an online shop, there are thousands of website developers all offering the earth but building the website can often be the easy bit. Once your online shop has been created you are often left to it, it is now your responsibility to manage the shop and get it onto search engines to compete against the tens of thousands of other online shopping platforms out there. This can prove incredibly expensive, time consuming and at times almost impossible to understand.
This can be the point that all your time, money and hard work seems wasted and you quickly realise your new online shop is on page 30 of Google.
This is where The Countryside Store could help.
You can develop your own online shop within the platform from as little as 0.12p per day, you have full control over your orders, products, descriptions, images and many other useful functions.
The Countryside Store has been created by country folk for country folk, not as an alternative to shows and high street shopping but as and additional tool to drive sales and ensure your business is in the spotlight.
Since we launched our community-led platform just weeks ago it has gained incredible traction as people have been quick to understand and embrace the potential of selling their crafts, products, holidays and businesses through the UK’s first countryside marketplace.
So if you have considered creating an online shop then perhaps visit The Countryside Store. An affordable alternative to selling and marketing your countryside products online.
If you have an interesting story or would like to feature on The Countryside Store blog please get in touch.
sales@thecountrysidestore.co.uk
www.thecountrysidestore.co.uk
Written by
Nick Palmer
