As experts at search engine marketing in Surrey, we know just how many people search on Google for quick, local information. In fact, statistics from 2018 showed that 72% of consumers, who search for businesses online, will end up visiting a physical store within five miles. With Christmas just around the corner, now is the ideal time for local businesses to make sure their customers know what’s available in store! Read on to find out how Google Search is helping your local high street!
The BBC reported last week that Google had partnered up with startup company, NearSt, to help consumers see what’s available in their local high street, via the Internet. This attempt at encouraging more UK shoppers to use their local high streets comes after chain stores New Look, House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer were all forced to close some of their high street stores in 2018.
But just how will the app help local businesses? Well, the search results will tell users the distance to the shop, the price of the goods for sale, and the live inventory system should help make it “as easy to shop locally as it is online”, says Google. NearSt was created three years ago after one of its founders had a literal “lightbulb moment” when one of the lightbulbs in his flat stopped working, and he searched online for a replacement. The app will connect to a retailers point of sale system, and will show what they stock and the price – all in real time! Nick Brackenbury, co-founder of NearSt, said “it seemed crazy that it was easier to get a lightbulb shipped from a warehouse than from a shop 100 metres from his house”.
This type of technology will help smaller, local businesses to compete against major retailers, who have been integrating technology into their businesses for many years. With fears about the current state of the British high street, it could not have come at a better time!