Article: Clicks & Mortar – Amazon trials pop-ups on UK high street

First published 10/06/2019 www.whiteroom.agency Amazon has launched their latest initiative to champion small to medium businesses and push a little life back in to the British high street. The Click & Mortar initiative involves opening 10 pop-ups all over the UK that will help over 100 small/medium businesses trade on the high street for the first time and meet and interact with their customers in real life. “UK shoppers like to shop both online and in high street stores, and our intention is to help small businesses succeed by combining the best elements of online and high street retail,” said Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, which supports more than 90,000 of the UK’s small businesses. “This new concept will provide small businesses with the space, technology and support to experience physical retail for the first time, while enabling customers to discover new brands on their local high streets.” The year-long programme has started by opening it's doors in Manchester and will take up space in Wales, Scotland, the Midlands, Yorkshire and the South East over the coming months. The importance of today’s retail landscape is knowing there’s no set channel to reaching your consumer and that even though certain customer segments favour certain channels, life is a mixture of both on and offline experiences. With the only guarantee of success lying largely in “unique customer experiences” it’s no wonder that companies such as Amazon are choosing to bring surprise and delight outside of their traditional online channels, and vice versa brands that have traditionally stayed true to the high street retail experience.