Virtual high street initiative shuts down

An online shopping scheme, launched to support local shops, has ceased.

Click It Local, which was launched to create a virtual high street for local retailers, said it had “exhausted all possible options” to secure the funding it needed to continue.

By providing online ordering and delivery for independent stores, the aim of Click It Local was to help retailers bounce back from the Covid pandemic. It operated in counties including Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

The East Suffolk scheme launched in December and by the end of February, there were 35 live stores and a further 23 signed up waiting to go live, BBC reported today (30).

Businesses such as Maldon, Braintree and Chelmsford in Sussex had signed up to the scheme, as had companies in Cambridge and Huntingdon. But activity ceased earlier this month, with orders being cancelled and shoppers refunded unfulfilled orders, reports said.

The scheme allowed people to buy from local independent or high street shops through one payment and get it delivered the same or next day.

“Click It Local’s mission has been to support independent retailers by innovating the high street and the way we all shop local,” said a statement on Click It Local website.

“To deliver on this mission, in what has been an increasingly challenging period, we have been working constantly over the last six months to secure the support and capital we need to continue in this effort.

“It has become apparent that we have exhausted all possible options. It is with very heavy hearts that we must sadly let you know that we will no longer be able to serve our cherished stores and customers.”

Click It Local also operated in Brighton, London and Lewes, East Sussex.