The first eBay High Street Concept Store in the UK will be a multi-use space in Wolverhampton opening today with 40 small businesses participating in eBay’s Retail Revival programme featured in the space. A selection of their products will be showcased and consumers will have the opportunity to shop their whole product range online.
The eBay High Street Concept Store will open every day between 10am and 7pm from the 11th of May until the 6th of June and can be found at Unit 6, i10 Railway Drive, Wolverhampton WV1 1LH. During the month-long pop-up, eBay will host a series of free, interactive workshops and training seminars
eBay aims to help reinvent traditional high street retail by bringing the 40 small businesses together in one physical shop. The eBay High Street Concept Store will also act as a retail experiment for eBay and the participating businesses, using QR codes for purchases and tracking a number of sales and traffic metrics. It is designed to provide an opportunity to better understand the interaction between physical and online retail and explore the valuable role physical stores can play in driving separate, online sales
The new space has been designed with the theme ‘Home Grown by Wolverhampton’. A place where botanical garden meets first-class retail space, it stands as a physical symbol of the important role that homegrown businesses play in their communities. The space aims to celebrate eBay’s work to help Wolverhampton’s businesses evolve for the 21st Century, showing how online and offline retail can co-exist and work in harmony.
The selection of businesses featured at the eBay High Street Concept Store will change each week and will include businesses such as Tony’s Deli (a local deli selling his food hampers online), HomeSmart Blinds (a Wolverhampton based window blind supplier) and White B Gifts (a business selling illustrations inspired by local history).
One business that will be participating in the concept store is Fizzbiz founded in 2014, which sells fabrics, zips, haberdashery and embroidered items online.
“The eBay Concept Store is such an exciting opportunity to learn more about physical retail and I’ve been blown away by the opportunities the Retail Revival programme has given me. I’ve received training and mentoring on new topics and skills, and it has taught me many valuable lessons to help develop my business.
“But it’s not just about getting to take part in the Concept Store – Retail Revival has opened so many other doors for Fizzbiz, which started as a hobby. In the last six months my turnover has almost doubled, helping fulfill my dream of building a workshop in my garden to let me focus on my business.”
– Fiona Moore, founder, Fizzbiz
“The small retailers taking part in Wolverhampton’s Retail Revival have already shown that physical and online retail can survive – and thrive – together. They have achieved more than £2 million in sales as of March and many have employed more staff as a direct result of the partnership. This pop-up store aims to take that growth, and the value of this programme, to the next level. It will explore how stores of the future could combine technology with that vital human connection to powerful effect – whatever the size of the business.”
– Rob Hattrell, Vice President, eBay UK
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