Delivery slot shortage gives welcome boost to High Street
Overwhelmed supermarket delivery services have given bricks and mortar retailers a boost during the UK’s Covid-19 lockdowns.
Key announcements by Boris Johnson have led to spikes in demand for services such as Ocado.
And that, according to research by retail search platform NearSt, has seen Brits looking closer to home for essentials.
Their platform, which links local shops’ inventory to an online searchable database, saw a 180 per cent increase in searches during the first lockdown back in March.
High street retailers have faced a host of headwinds over the past twelve months and are expecting the Chancellor to announce more support in the Budget on March 3.
Business rates relief is likely to be extended.
“Millions of consumers have shifted their behaviour online in the past twelve months, driving a spike in ecommerce sales,” said NearSt’s co-founder Nick Brackenbury.
But he said the need to ‘have things now’ has seen “the demand to find and confirm things are in shops locally has swelled significantly as a result.”