In 2012, OHS ran a successful short term pilot in Hereford, the main market town in Herefordshire near the Welsh border. Supported by funding from the TSB (Technology Strategy Board) and fully backed by Hereford City Council, a selection of distinctive Herefordshire food and drink retailers located within a 10 mile radius of the town centre listed a complete range of their products on www.openhighstreet.com. Customers in Herefordshire were able to place orders online from any or all of the retailers and select a convenient delivery time; goods were aggregated and delivered in secure containers; and online card payments were securely made in one single sum at the time of order.

Visit the pilot site

A consumer and retailer feedback and findings report on the trial has been produced by Pi3, the global design and branding company and one of OHS’s consortium partners. Please see [create link]. Highlights are:

E-commerce:

• Over 2000 individual site visits registered
• Average of 4 pages viewed per visit
• Typical duration of visit: 3.41minutes with very low bounce rates
• Traffic driven by Google (34%), press (33%) and direct search (29%)

Consumers:

• Consumers placed orders with all retailers (buying a selection from 70% of retailers on average per order)
• Consumers delighted with the service, particularly the delivery
• Consumers felt it important to support local stores in the face of competition from larger online branded retail chain operators
• Average order size is around £ 43

Retailers:

• All retailers experience an uplift in turnover
• Retailers able to sell online with no start-up, update or upkeep costs
• All retailers trust the OHS service and strongly support the project
• Retailers want to offer e-commerce to bring in extra revenue

Growth Potential:

• Opportunities for add-ons (eg local loyalty cards, collection facilities, webcams and reduced packaging) as well as future marketing are positively identified
• OHS website both creates and maintains consumer and retailer interest
• Significant uplifts in traffic occur following local and national press coverage