Why Become a Member Shop?

The Love Our Shops UK mission:  Help shoppers find independent online shops easily and inspire them to shop there.

Would you like to be part of this?  Would you like more visibility for your shop and more traffic?

Would you like to be part of a community of independent shops, all helping and supporting each other?

I started Love Our Shops UK to help independent online shops become more visible.  I know how hard an online shopkeeper works (as I ran mine for over 9 years) and how one of the hardest parts is getting consistent traffic. I also know, from a shoppers perspective, how difficult it can be to find independent online shops.

 

Joining Love Our Shops UK shopping directory

Love Our Shops is a shopping directory & blog….it is a way to market your shop, increase visibility, and be part of a growing supportive community.

 

Our doors are now open to recruit our next group of UK independent online shops.

Would you like to be one of these special shops?  This is a brand new directory which is growing every day.

*** An introductory offer for the first 30 shops***

We are currently offering standard directory membership at just £5 per month.  That is less than 17 pence per day!!!

This price is locked in for you and you can cancel at any time.  As long as you remain a member you will only ever pay £5* a month for standard directory membership, even when the price increases.  Joining fee is also greatly reduced at just £10 for this introductory offer.

Plus if you think you will not have time to setup your shop page, we can do this for you for just £25.  Normal price for this service is £75.

Full price will be £60 joining fee and £30 per month.  Which is still great value for money, but not the amazing deal of just £5 per month and £10 joining fee!!

 

The website is the hub for all the shops.  Each member shop gets their own shop page which links back to their own shop website.  It is a directory and not a marketplace.

So all shopping is done directly with each shop.

As a thriving community of shops we can help and support each other.

Together we are a bigger voice, we have a bigger presence. 

 

Why join Love Our Shops UK?

When others talk about you, people listen.

It is so difficult to talk about your own shop all the time, so let us talk about you too.  We love sharing the SHOP LOVE.

Love Our Shops UK helps independent online stores by:

• Creating awareness of independent online shops and products
  • by featuring your shop in our directory – each shop has their own shop page which has space for 12 products, about us details and a behind the scenes with the shop owner section.  Shoppers can browse then click the link direct to your website, if they want to take a further look and shop with you. See the Shop Directory to see how a shop is featured.
  • being part of the blog.  We create regular Favourite Finds posts on our blog plus we can feature you in other posts
  • My Shop and Me –  a fabulous behind the scenes feature coming to our blog this month.  Each member shop has the opportunity to feature in this behind the scenes post and gain additional visibility and promotion.
  • We also have a podcast coming soon which member shops will be a part of!!!
  • adding special offers, sales and competitions to the offers page – we then share them.
  • featuring your products on your shop page, product gallery and home page – all products link to your website .

• Being part of the Love Our Shops UK marketing which includes
  • emails
  • social media
  • PR online and in print
  • blog posts

• SEO
  • you get a direct link from your shop page to your website. This improves your link building and so improves your ranking in the search engines.
  • Every shop is given a little logo “Proud member of Love Our Shops UK” to put on their shop to link to their Love Our Shops UK shop page .  This builds all of our SEO ranking by increasing our link quality.  Which is brilliant for all of us!

• Shop guidance. There is so much you need to know when running an online shop, therefore, we like to share with you helpful tips and advice to improve your store and help with running your business.

• A supportive community of online shop owners. We tend to keep ourselves to ourselves, so wouldn’t it be great to be part of a group where you can share experiences, ask questions and divulge online retail information.

• Shop Talk blog and email written especially for independent online shop owners.

• Build trust with shoppers. Being part of Love Our Shops UK means shoppers get to know you and know you are part of a credible directory.  This helps with your KLT (know, like, trust) which is key to being an independent online store.

These are all the current benefits.

But there will be so many opportunities for all member shops when we start to become a bigger voice together.  Including PR, specialist masterclasses and collaboration.  The online and in person events we can all do together are endless.  We can all help each other in so many ways.  I can help you all in so many ways.

So many ways we can all benefit when we come together.

See what one of our member shops says:

“Love Our Shops UK is a vibrant showcase for British independent online shops and it has been great to be one of its founding members.  Barbara’s enthusiasm for championing ‘shop small’ is infectious and when talking to her, you can really tell her passion is genuine.  I am excited to be part of Love Our Shop UK’s next step and look forward to a growing community.”  Sarah Kelly, Saloukee Jewellery

 

Who can be a member?

We feature a wide range of stores from food to sports, gifts to clothing, beauty to crafting items and lots more besides.

We review each member application carefully to ensure it is right for the shoppers who visit us.

They expect quality products, good customer service, a professional user friendly site and shops with personality.  You will therefore know you will be in the directory along with other shops who are, just as wonderful as yours and the traffic that you get from this directory is the kind that want to visit your store.

As a guide your shop must fit into the following criteria:

• It is being run by the shop owner / is independently owned.
• The products being sold are inoffensive, not considered dangerous and are of good quality.
• It is in the UK.
• The product range appeals to the shoppers who use our directory.
• The shop does not belong to a chain of high street shops, one or two bricks and mortar shops is fine.
• Professional and easy to navigate e-commerce website.  With clear images, good product descriptions and full contact details.  The store should look loved and appealing.
• Products are not being extensively featured already by other shops on our directory.
• You have a good on-line reputation and good customer service i.e. you can be trusted to provide the service a customer expects
• You are using one or two social media channels which portray your shop well
• Full terms and conditions are easily found on your shop website and include everything you expect to cover both visiting the site and buying from your shop
• You are GDPR compliant
• contact details are easily found on your website and show all options available to your customers to get in touch with you

How do we become a member and how much will it cost?

Becoming a member shop is easy.

All you have to do is fill in a quick application form which asks you a couple of simple questions about you and your shop.  We will then review it, to ensure it is a fit with our visitors and is in line with the criteria detailed above.

» Apply Here

If your shop is perfect for our directory, we will be very pleased to offer you a place and we will send you all the information to help you quickly setup your shop.

You can cancel your membership at any time, you can halt your application at any time, sending your application in is no way committing you to become a member.  So you can apply without worrying that you are signing up to something because you aren’t.  We will simply review the application and get back to you.  Easy and no commitment.

Do you have any questions?

Need to know anything else?  Feel free to contact me by whatever method grabs you; email, call us, text us, message us or feel free to send us a lovely handwritten letter (that would be wonderful especially if on pretty paper!). Our Contact Us Page. 

Not ready to apply but want to know more?

Then pop along to our Shop Talk blog or sign up for our Shop Talk email.  You can also follow us on the social channels to see what we are up to.

 

 

I wish you all the best with your online store.  You are such an important part of the UK economy and an important part of all your local economies.  People don’t realise how important you are.  So lets tell them, together.

 

Barbara x

 

*we are not currently VAT registered.  This price will increase to £9 plus VAT when we are.