Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Independent retailers came together at the OXO Tower in London earlier this month to celebrate the partnership of national online selling platform Down Your High Street (DYHS) and the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira).
With workshop sessions from DYHS supporter Mark Hayes, stylist on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’ (a weekday morning, lifestyle and entertainment show, presented by Lorraine Kelly) and a motivational talk from Sian Gabbidon (winner of the last series of BBC1’s ‘The Apprentice’), the aim of the event was to encourage networking and find out more about DYHS, which now has 600 independent retailers trading on it.
Bira national membership manager Julie Holden said: “DYHS is an ideal platform for our members and we’re proud to work in partnership with DYHS to provide an opportunity for bricks-and-mortar retailers to embrace online sales in a simple and affordable way.
“The fact that all traders on the platform must have a physical shop is very important to us. We want to support the high street whilst recognising the convenience factor for consumers and the need for retailers to respond to changes in the way people are shopping.”
DYHS ceo Dan Whytock added: “As the co-founder of DYHS (and a former market trader), the relationship we have formed with Bira brings me great excitement, as we are able to work with Bira’s 100-plus years of experience to make sure our independents are looked after and supported in the best way possible. In the current retail climate, this is more important than ever before.
“Our relationship started with a common interest in driving awareness to the UK high street and we can proudly say that together we have now achieved that with our first joint success story. Fashion boutique Artichoke in Swaffham signed up to DYHS through Bira and went on to sell hundreds of products and gain TV exposure, producing a brand new revenue stream to help keep the shop open on the high street. We look forward to a long-term relationship with Bira, supporting retailers all over the country.”
Sarah Simmonds, owner of Artichoke, attended the event. She said: “I received an email from Bira which brought my attention to DYHS and its promotional offer for Bira members. I signed up and in my first month on the platform, our shop was featured on national TV and we achieved almost 350 online sales. My contact at DYHS has been very helpful and understands the entrepreneurship of owning a shop, so it allows us to creatively work together for on and offline sales.”
Members of Bira can get a special offer of 5% commission, instead of the usual 15%, when signing up to the DYHS portal. The 5% commission is available for Bira members that are new to DYHS only. The 5% commission will be charged for the first 12 months after joining, after which commission will return to the standard 15%.
For more information visit https://bira.co.uk/services/dyhs/ or call 0800 028 0245.
