Chicago-based marketing agency Tacklebox Brand Partners has worked with a collection of small businesses in the city’s North Shore area to launch a “virtual shopping district” that allows consumers to view and buy products from a range of local merchants through one central website.
The site, NorthShoreShops.com, features a unified shopping cart and checkout experience, providing consumers with a streamlined shopper journey while giving merchants a new way to generate awareness, capture new customers and boost sales at a time when small businesses are under pressure.
Participation is free for the merchants and the technology fee is being covered by a 5% surcharge on the cost of items sold. Tacklebox Brand Partners is receiving no payment for the program.
“Many businesses — especially small retailers and restaurants — have been caught off-guard and do not have the ability on their own to overcome the increasing headwinds they’re facing,” said David Kelbaugh, Founder of NorthShoreShops.com and owner of Tacklebox Brand Partners in a statement. “Buying locally at-scale shouldn’t be so difficult. You should be able to go to one website to buy from multiple stores at once.”
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