Virtual high street opens for independent businesses in Tendring
Click It Local has been launched in the area
A virtual high street supporting independent businesses in Tendring has launched today (27 April).
Click It Local, which was announced in partnership with the district council, allows residents to buy from participating stores online for same-day delivery.
People can also buy from multiple businesses for it all to be delivered together, or arrange click and collect.
The platform is live in multiple areas of Essex and was more recently launched across Colchester.
It's hoped it will give businesses, impacted by the pandemic, more of a change to compete with large retailers already serving customers online.
Founder of Click It Local, Steve Koch, said:
"They independent businesses were having to compete with large online retail pre-Covid, and post-Covid and reopening customer behaviour has definitely changed. There will be many more people that continue to shop online.
"Online purchasing and delivery is essential with those retailers moving forward to really compete and add additional revenue to their top line and allow them to maintain their high street retail premises."
According to Steve the platform has helped some businesses continue to "survive" through Covid.
He added:
"It will hopefully allow them to thrive beyond Covid with additional revenue. It really helps their existing customers but opens them up to a massive customer base beyond the customers that would usually walk through their doors."
Stores that have signed up to Click It Local Tendring include East Coast Distillery, Flowers At The Mill, Waffle on Clacton and Bumbles Grocers.