Member Article

Warwickshire independents urged to use 'Lockdown 2' to grow online presence

Independent retailers in Warwickshire are being urged to use ‘Lockdown 2’ to grow their online presence and make themselves more visible on social media.

The latest rules mean all leisure, hospitality and non-essential retail outlets have been forced to close until December 2, although restaurants and cafes can still offer takeaways. The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce is encouraging independents across the region to attend an online workshop to find out how they can use social media and other digital tools to drive traffic to their website.

The workshop, on November 18, is being delivered by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and Stories Marketing, on behalf of Warwickshire County Council through the Warwickshire Towns Network Programme.

Keely Hancox, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We saw during the first lockdown how many businesses started to enhance their digital presence and it helped them through that extremely difficult period.

“This is not about replacing a physical shop with online sales – in many cases it’s about building a presence and an online following. That could be to drive sales during lockdown but it could, equally, be ensuring you are in people’s thoughts when they head out shopping once the lockdown is lifted.

“Through the workshop, independent businesses will get some handy tips in how to do that and also the opportunity to tap into further help.

“Generally, we’d encourage all businesses to get in touch with the Chamber at this time to see what support is available. If they are newly established, and have been trading less than 12 months, they may be eligible for some of our start-up help.

“Aside from that, it may just be speaking to the team to ensure they are tapping into all of the Covid-19 support available to them and supporting them through this extremely challenging period.”

The workshop is being offered as part of a £5million package of support from Warwickshire County Council to boost the immediate economic recovery of the county.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .