Interested in setting up an online store for free?
We want to support local commerce in Farsund municipality and help shops with a new leg to stand on. We want to offer an e-commerce solution to local shops, giving them a new sales channel, new opening hours and a much larger market. We help with content and publishing for the first 10 products. In other words, you get a ready-made online store, almost without lifting a finger. Who could say no to such an opportunity that's also free*?
* The solution looks like it could be free for shops in Farsund, but we need more shops to register their interest.
SHOPIN Farsund is a concept we want to develop for the municipality of Farsund, but which could be suitable for all municipalities in Norway. The concept is based on creating a digital shopping street for local shops. It will be like going to the local shopping centre, only you can sit at home and shop - all in one place.
Yes, I want to set up an online store for free
What are the benefits of this solution?
First and foremost, the benefits of SHOPIN are that we create a common shopping basket so that we get synergy effects from all the stores in the shopping street. If one store brings in customers, the customer is more likely to check out other stores on the high street. This means that the marketing that the stores do for their own store on the shopping street will have a ripple effect and mean that other stores also get more business.
Another advantage is that the stores have a system that can generate additional sales and is a good supplement to running a physical store. They are always open. People can buy their products outside working hours and, for example, Sunday, when the physical store is closed, can be the big shopping day. Market research from Klarna, for example, shows that online shopping is most often done on Sunday evening. So on Monday morning, the shop owner can open the inbox and start packing goods. They are picked up by a local delivery service, which is convenient for both the store and the buyer. Of course, it should also be possible for customers to collect goods themselves from the store they have ordered from to save on shipping costs.
Shops can save money on websites and other services they already have. In principle, you get your own website in SHOPIN. This means that you can save costs you already have on websites. If you already have an online store, there is even more to save. Through fixed costs per month, you will get a fully-fledged online store that can replace what you already have and save money on payment systems and shipping agreements.
What about payment?
The online solution has a common shopping basket for all the stores in the shopping street. This means that the system handles payments across the stores and distributes the respective amounts to each store. In this way, you can shop in multiple locations - making it easier to shop and easier to sell.
How local is SHOPIN?
SHOPIN is first and foremost a service to save local shops and thus also the local community. We want all shops to join the programme. However, in order to preserve local trade, it is desirable that we create several shopping streets so that we do not cover a large area in each shopping street. This is because we want short-distance services and products and do not want to encourage trade leakage to other areas. In other words, if there is interest, it will be possible to have several shopping streets in the same county so that you can get most things locally. It should of course be possible to buy products in neighbouring shopping streets, but these products will not be available in your local shopping street.
Who is the solution suitable for?
Anyone who sells products and services can join SHOPIN. The shopping street will consist of locally sourced products, food, clothing, accommodation, services, hairdresser and driving school bookings, etc. You may or may not already have an online store. We primarily target stores that are independent of chains. You don't need to have a lot of knowledge about online shopping. We are experts and can help you get started. We provide training and advice and can also help you with digital marketing that is customised to your store so that you sell more.
How can you join?
Anyone who wants to can register their interest. We have started on the technical solution, but need to get more stores to join the scheme. We're starting in our own home municipality of Farsund. Here we have spoken to the municipality, which has shown great interest in our solution. They have indicated that they want to support the stores with funds for the establishment of the shopping street and the first year of operation. In other words, as a shop owner, you will get a free *online store for a year!
We therefore need to know if you are interested! In Farsund, we have sent out a request to all shops in the trade association and want to get an overview of who is involved as soon as possible so that the municipality can make a decision.
Feel free to register your interest below, whether you run a shop in Farsund or elsewhere. All areas are interesting to us, and as soon as we have a solution up and running, we will be able to expand to other areas where there is interest in such a digital shopping street.
* Free online store only applies to stores in Farsund municipality and if Farsund municipality adopts such a scheme - which it appears to have done.
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