New website brings Bridgnorth shops together in one place
Shopkeepers in Bridgnorth are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new online platform that will help future-proof the high street and help residents and visitors to shop locally.
Bridgnorth will be the first town in the whole county to have shops on the website, called ShopAppy, which so far covers around 100 towns up and down the UK.
Sally Themans of Love Bridgnorth said: "We have been given a Shropshire Council economic recovery grant of £16,000 which is being used for joining the ShopAppy platform.
"It is an online shopping platform where you can have all the retailers from one town in one place," Sally explained.
"You can go from shop to shop, and then do one checkout at the end. All goods are then sent to one central pick-up point in Bridgnorth. We are also looking at delivery."
The plan is to future-proof the town against any possible Covid-19 spike in the coming months, where previously people who were staying at home had to turn to global online retailers.
Sally added: "If there is another spike and people are concerned about going into town, they can still support local businesses this way."
The setting up of this new venture is going well, as some businesses had already adapted to online retail during the last lockdown.
"Some of the shop owners who are a dab-hand at this stuff are keen to join it, and we have others who aren't so confident with the internet who are joining too," Sue said.
So far 40 shopkeepers are set to be on the Bridgnorth ShopAppy website when it goes live, and this total is set to rise as more come on board.
Sue added: "One of the reasons some haven't joined it yet is because they are actually too busy at the moment. I contact some of them to ask if they are still keen to come in and they just tell me they are but they haven't had five minutes, which is a good thing.
"Bridgnorth is obviously an attractive tourist destination and it has had a very busy summer."
As things settle down in the coming weeks though, more businesses are expected to come on board. The new venture will also provide a way for visitors to the town to have a food shop ready and waiting when they arrive for a staycation break.
Sally added: "What we are also hoping is that visitors to Bridgnorth will shop ahead instead of having to bring a load of stuff with them.
"We have a lot of AirBnBs here, and if people can use ShopAppy they can plan ahead and their shopping could be here when they arrive for their break."
