Small and medium-sized businesses in Spalding must get online to boost the town’s economic fortunes, according to a local businesswoman.
Christine Grocock of Drive By Websites in Spalding is putting forward a plan to bring shoppers into the town by allowing local traders to sell their products and services on a new website so they can compete with the major high street chains.
Mrs Grocock said traders should turn their businesses into “collection points” where shoppers can pick up their orders and bring more people into Spalding town centre.
“There’s a need to provide an effective way of generating interest in the business community here and also to increase the number of people using the town centre, but at an affordable cost,” she said.
“We want to come up with an online solution for Spalding businesses where they can list their products on a website, keeping up with most people’s buying habits which are more focused towards shopping online than in stores.”
The proposed website called www.spaldingmarketplace.co.uk is a response to ideas being finalised by Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce on how to use a £100,000 cash pot from South Holland District Council to benefit the town.
Its main focus is to create a new post of town centre manager to co-ordinate projects such as a new, five-day craft market.
But Mrs Grocock said: “The Chamber’s ideas are based on an old way of looking at things rather than a modern way because to promote local businesses, you need an online presence.”