Independents’ Day UK – an initiative that emphasises driving footfall to independent shops on 4 July each year – has confirmed that for the first time, it will culminate in a full weekend of celebrations. The campaign will highlight Britain’s indie retailers across both Saturday 3 July and Sunday 4 July. Organisers are asking consumers to “pledge a few pounds” to independent retailers by spending at indies across the weekend.
The campaign team estimates that last year, over 8,500 small shops across the UK engaged with the campaign. The hope is that figure will reach at least 20,000 this year. Around 100 different town management teams, business improvement districts (BIDs), chambers of commerce, and local business groups across the country participated in initiatives to promote the day.
Commenting is Howard Robinson, a spokesperson for Independents’ Day UK.
“The British independent retail sector has shown real resilience in the face of the Covid crisis across the last year; operating through extreme uncertainty and putting on a brave face for their customers and wider communities. We are asking the public to show their thanks by simply heading out across the weekend of July 3rd and 4th and spending a few pounds at independent or locally-owned retailers.”
Independents’ Day UK is supported by and works closely with, among others, the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira); the Independent Retail Consortium (IRC) and also the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM).
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, says; “Independents Day will soon be with us again – this time better and over a whole weekend. This year is probably the most important year for indie retail, as businesses look to rebuild following the pandemic. The money spent in local, independent shops makes a real difference to business owners and the local economy. It would be great if the general public could support this campaign and spend at independents.”
Local Rewards, a high street guides service launched by social media specialists Maybe* Tech, is sponsoring this year’s initiative.
The programme allows retailers to communicate with and reward shoppers now they have returned to the high street. The intention is to ‘level the playing field’ between local retailers and giants such as Amazon. Participating retailers are also able to cross-promote and support their high street neighbours; creating an online network of connected traders.
Furthermore, Local Rewards allows shoppers to see businesses near them and view their social media content as they are shopping the town or city. The aim is to provide every shopper with a prompt after each high street purchase revealing somewhere else nearby that they may like to discover. All of the content is sourced from social media via Google Maps and connected to High Street payments from Visa, Mastercard and Amex.
For further information, please visit the campaign’s website.
