A Space to Share – As our shopping habits continue to change, online businesses have adapted quickly allowing us to purchase items from anywhere in the world, to be delivered straight to our door. Supermarkets not only offer online shopping and home delivery, they are now moving quickly into click and collect services. In the past few months pick up points have opened up at all major supermarkets, where you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your car, as someone will bring your order out to you.
This is all great for the consumer, allowing them greater flexibility and convenience however, will this prove to be the final death knell of our local high streets? The answer to that is a resounding YES! Unless our local shops start thinking collectively, and working together to offer similar services to the big businesses. Fast!
A Space To Share founder Lynzi Leroy
Allan Shedlock Photography
A Space to Share believe it’s not too late to save our local high streets and help our local businesses gain a foothold in the community once again. They offer small businesses a hub to offer space they may be able to share with other small businesses, to keep their overheads down. They want to help support local businesses and encourage them to work together with their neighbours offering online and delivery services that will rival the big supermarket and retail chains.
What they know for sure is that people are turning away from shopping at the mega stores that have been built all over our cities and there is a marked trend in people starting to go back to shopping 2-3 times per week, in smaller stores. The big supermarkets are well aware of this trend and they are already changing their marketing strategies to reflect this. Tesco is closing many large superstores, and others will follow suit.
It is time that small businesses also started to take notice of this buck in trend and use it to their advantage, before the big guys monopolise the market once again. As statistics show people are becoming less and less loyal to one particular supermarket, and with consumers becoming more savvy and willing to shop around, Aldi and Lidl have become more popular and a definite threat to the top three. However, there is now room for the local trader to adapt to this change if they act quickly, and prevent the supermarkets taking all of the local trade.
A Space To Share propose that traders join together to offer shoppers the ability to order from them online, along with other businesses in their area. This would enable the consumer to do a local weekly online shop, without having to visit 3-4 separate stores. For instance, they would be able to order from the local butcher, baker, grocer, florist, toy shop all from one online website. All their items would then either be delivered to a local hub, where they can be picked up at a convenient time or, delivered to your home in the evening if that was a preferred option.
© aspacetoshare.com
They are at the very early stages of their business, aspacetoshare.com which will launch at the end of this month. A Space To Share are a Social Enterprise with the aim of investing their profits to help regenerate our local high streets and shops, and to help small businesses thrive and create sustainable jobs in our communities.
If you have a small business in Edinburgh, and would like to discuss the possibility of sharing your space, they would be delighted to hear from you. You can email info@aspacetoshare.com or contact her directly on 07702 274 033. facebook.com/Aspacetoshare @ASpaceToShare
