Over recent years, the emergence of start-ups have rocketed with many individuals making their side-hustle a full time reality. Keeping with societal trends, the natural beginning for these new businesses sat online. With the high street and in-person shopping now back open for business and shoppers as keen as ever to get out and about, could now be the right time for your new business to take that next step and open up in one of our busy retail spaces?
To help you weigh up whether or not this is the right choice for you, we’ve pulled together a handy guide to the benefits of setting up shop in your local area.
Footfall
Whilst many have familiarised themselves with the world of online shopping over the past few years, there is still huge necessity and demand from shoppers to try before they buy. The real benefit to opening a store in one of our busy retail environments in Swindon, Hull or Derby is the opportunity that this allows you to put your business out into the community and attract new customers from all demographics. Our North Point Shopping Centre in Hull outperforms the average Yorkshire high street shopping destination*, making it the perfect place to gain new businesses.
Part of the Community
Achieving a truly dedicated community of shoppers online can prove to be very tricky, with trust and visibility becoming a large consideration for buyers when purchasing online. If you’re a small business with steady online sales, a physical store could be the steppingstone you need in order to elevate your business and drive sales both on and offline.
The Brunel Shopping Centre, Swindon
Many SMEs find that their online sales remain strong alongside retail spaces; a sense of security is created when consumers can look their favourite stores in the eye and build trust in the product. This means that, surprisingly, online sales can also increase when done in tandem with a physical store.
Added Extras
At FIREM we can offer new businesses a variety of different retail spaces to suit every need, from large units in busy shopping districts, small retails kiosks and stores for independent retailers to more casual market stalls within established commercial spaces. You will be offered a bespoke experience to help you make the space your own and be welcomed by our experienced team, who are always on hand to help you with anything, from introducing you to fellow tenants to providing retail insight.
*According to data gathered by Springboard.