Discover British Independent Shops Online
It is about keeping shoppers away from lining the pockets of the big boys, and instead shopping with soul and supporting the independent shops. The ones that appreciate every order, stand by their ethics and values, run their business with passion, know their products well and always (and I mean always) do a happy dance when an order comes in.
Membership application page is here.
Journalists, bloggers and influencers can also find you. Good quality independent shops all in one place.
More visibility for your shop equals more traffic.
Bringing together one big voice for independent online shops. A retail sector so often ignored or grouped with the likes of Amazon. We are NOT Amazon and should be seen as a completely different sector. Different values, different customer service, different views and definitely a different impact on our economies and the high street. We need a collective voice that stands alone and bringing everyone together will do this.
Builds your know like trust (KLT). Being part of a trusted directory, sharing your story and being alongside other trusted shops, goes a long way to reassuring the shopper you are worth shopping with. And you can wear a badge to prove it as we have special “proud member” logo’s for your website.
Love Our Shops UK is not a marketplace, it is a directory. So all shopping is done directly on the individual shops website. Definitely a plus as you build a relationship with your customer directly.
No commission. Your customers are your sales. No commission is paid to Love Our Shops UK. You just pay to be part of the directory and that is it.
Links mean improved search engine rankings and so higher up Google. With Love Our Shops UK there is a link to your shop that search engines can see. But that is not the best bit. Member shops get a proud member badge for their website which they link to their page on Love Our Shops UK. This improves all of our rankings, as the number of links increase, the quality of those links increase which in turn improves all our link building. Win win!!
You aren’t on your own. It can be quite a lonely place running an online shop. Being part of a community of other independent online shops, all supporting each other is just brilliant! When we all support each other, the possibilities are endless! Who knows where this could lead.
I do not allow any old shop to be part of Love Our Shops UK. You have to be good and fulfil my strict criteria. A shop can only be part of the directory if they are of the right calibre. So if you are a member, be very proud that you made it onto the list. You are good, the best!
Collaboration is so much easier. Working with others and networking is such an important part of growing your business. Love Our Shops UK helps so much with this. Whether it is running a joint event, helping each other with promoting, PR piece around several member shops, group training, purchasing power, group Pinterest board, running group giveaways, following each other on social media, running a giveaway for us all to share, running a giveaway for me to do FB ads around….the list goes on. Your ideas are always welcome.
Love Our Shops is about helping shoppers find you but also about inspiring people to like you. I do this via social media, email and PR. I obviously want shoppers to fall in love with my platform but I also want them to love you too and for them to become your followers and fans. I share you and inspire shoppers. That is my job. Then it is over to you to reap the rewards.
A place to share all that you do. I love sharing shops, products, offers, behind the scenes, events and more. All so that shoppers can easily see what all the lovely independents do, all in one place.
I request for your input to share you. So you can share away with me and I will share through the Love Our Shops UK channels. I love doing it!! This nicely leads on to my last (but by no means least) benefit of being a lovely member of Love Our Shops UK…
I know this is so true because I have been told so many times how I have inspired a purchase from a shop they have never heard of before, all because I shared them. It is so difficult to talk about yourself all the time, but it is so easy for me to talk about you.
One bonus benefit…I have so many ideas for the future. I have a huge list of ideas (growing daily) for developing Love Our Shops UK as more and more shops come on-board. All to benefit shops and shoppers. Joining this platform now, at such a great price, means you reap all the future benefits at a low monthly cost. The price will go up as the platform and following grows, the standard directory membership fee remains at the price you joined at. So every month of growth means better and better value.
To find out more about what you get for your membership and the current price, Why Become a Member Shop? can help.
To apply to be a member simply fill in the details on my application page and I will get back to you.
I love independent online shops.
We have so many lovely ones in the UK.
All of them deserve to be successful and they all want to be easily found.
Lets work together to create our own voice, our own community, our own retail sector, our own place for shoppers to easily find you.
I wish you so much success.
Barbara 🙂