From bricks to clicks: how local high street shops have turned digital during coronavirus

The coronavirus lockdown turned the lives of many high street merchants upside down overnight. For those who had little experience of online trading, or had business models that relied entirely on face-to-face sales, the challenge was sudden and daunting. But it was a challenge they knew they had to face.

Research conducted by Visa last year showed that although an online presence is viewed as paramount to the success of 87% of small high street businesses surveyed, almost 30% did not have a website. With online trade reaching record highs during the lockdown, those without an effective web presence were suddenly in a perilous position.

Before the pandemic, Georgina Black, who runs Pretty Shiny Shop, a small independent gift store in Finsbury Park, north London, did very little trade online. “I got maybe three sales a month through my website,” she says. “I didn’t regularly update it and I didn’t even list all my products. I can tell you that had to change fast when the lockdown started.”

Since March, she has been painstakingly adding all her products, taking images of them, writing descriptions and listing measurements. “It’s time-consuming because I have no team, but I am starting to see the results. From an average of three sales per month I am now getting on average four or five a day.”

After problems with couriers – one package she sent took 10 days to arrive – Black has experimented with different delivery options. She even bought an electric scooter so she could deliver local orders herself. “I’ve enjoyed zipping around the streets,” she says.

From an average of three sales per month I am now getting on average four or five a day

Once lockdown hit, owners of small businesses had to become digitally savvy – and fast. With high street stores having to turn bricks into clicks, Visa has teamed up with industry partners to offer support to them. It hopes to help small businesses across the UK find new and different ways to serve the local people and communities that rely on them.

One of Visa’s partners is Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform that powers more than 1m businesses worldwide. With the backing of Visa, Shopify has offered a 14-day free trial for all new small businesses and provided support from experts who can guide, advise, and get small businesses online.

Black, who built her website using Shopify, is very much a fan of the platform. “I love Shopify,” she says. “I find it incredibly easy to deal with at the back end. I’m not a very technical person but making changes and adding products really is a breeze.”

Visa has also joined forces with Deliveroo. The delivery service has waived the £50 sign-up fee for up to 1,000 small and medium-sized restaurants until 30 June – or on whichever date before then all 1,000 waivers have been taken up – it has also provided a cash payment of £500 to 200 existing small and medium-sized restaurant partners so they could continue operating during coronavirus.

Another company that Visa has teamed up with is ShopAppy.com, which connects customers to their local high street businesses. The online platform has joined Visa’s shop local campaign, providing small businesses with free registrations and home delivery services until 31 July. ShopAppy.com has seen a 94% increase in the number of businesses signing up to the platform since lockdown began in March and the number of transactions made through the website has rocketed by 1,300%.

More than ever, the platform is helping businesses continue to reconnect with their local communities. The social psychologist and founder of ShopAppy.com, Jackie Mulligan, says the “resilience and determination” of local businesses during the crisis has been “inspiring”.

Independent businesses are the heartbeat of our high streets and local communities, and the backbone of the UK economy. “We keep the local high street looking good and lively,” says Black. “I’ve been so impressed by how the local community has supported local shops. It’s so heartening.”

When small, local businesses succeed, everyone in the community reaps the rewards. Recent months have been enormously challenging for them, but with the right support from local customers, online platforms and Visa alike, they can survive and thrive.