The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is calling on independent retailers to sign up to its new online trading site to help them recover from the pandemic.
The website, which is being launched in February 2022, will provide independent retailers with a new, cost-effective way to sell online, helping them build their presence both locally and nationally, Bira maintains.
The UK-wide platform, called Neartoo, is open to all types of retail and will be owned by indies, exclusively for indies, and will operate at “significantly lower” sales commission than its competitors.
Retailers will be able to create their own individual profiles on the site, which can either be synced to their existing online sales platform, or act as their own platform if they don’t yet have an online presence.
For Bira members, use of the platform is free for 12 months, and non-Bira members can sign up and get five months free.
Bira’s CEO Andrew Goodacre said: “The pandemic has accelerated shopping behaviours, with more use of the internet and people also shopping more locally.
“This platform, owned by independents, addresses both of those societal changes, and will allow these retailers to open up new ways of selling to customers, and more profitably.”
