As the UK prepares for its first holiday season free from lockdown, Meta has teamed up with Mary Portas and twenty-three small businesses from across the UK to celebrate the unique creativity of British small business - all of which can be found through The Good Ideas Shop.
With its nationwide #DeserveToBeFound campaign, Meta has transformed four vacant storefronts on high streets in Bournemouth, Nottingham, Aberdeen (West) and Newport. These beautifully designed window displays have been created to appeal to shoppers and will showcase a selection of products and services from local small businesses. The window shopping experience has been reimagined as passersby can browse, shop and support the businesses featured directly from the QR codes found in each of the Good Ideas Shops.
This festive season is critical for small businesses, and the latest insights from Meta reveal that nearly 20% of small business owners expect to make more than half their annual revenue in the last months of the year.
The campaign follows research from Facebook’s Global State of Small Business Report (September 2021) that found British small and medium businesses are growing in confidence post-lockdown, more so than the global average. 37% of the small and medium businesses Facebook surveyed in the UK said they were experiencing higher sales since April, compared to a global average of 28%.
The report also found that female-led small businesses boasted higher rates of sales than those owned by men in the post-pandemic recovery.
The campaign is a continuation of Meta’s efforts to support small businesses in the UK and empower them with economic opportunities. The company has engaged 300,000 UK small businesses in 2021 with digital skills initiatives as part of the Boost with Facebook programme.
Joining Facebook and Instagram to unveil the Good Ideas Shop in Bournemouth and meet the small businesses being featured, retail expert Mary Portas, said: “Small independent businesses and our local high streets have never been more important in our daily lives. The festive season is such an important time for them and us as shoppers. It’s been a tough few years for them, and they need our love and support. Meta’s ‘Good Ideas Shop’ is a brilliant example of big business helping small businesses through creativity and celebration of their good ideas that deserve to be found. I’m proud to be able to lend my support to this vital initiative.”
Kia Simpson, Founder of Moonie, an eco-friendly beauty and kitchen product studio, said: “I’m thrilled to take part in this exciting campaign. Like many small businesses, the last 12 months have been tough and we’ve had to adapt our business model to survive. We’ve utilised Facebook and Instagram to pivot the business from wholesale to direct to consumer. Facebook Ads has played a vital role in helping us reach a wider audience and build our own online community. I love the fact that The Good Ideas Shop is all about supporting local businesses and we urge people to check it out and discover some great new businesses.”
Faye Dewitt, Sales Consultant at R1SE, the Bournemouth based studio, coffee shop and gym, said: “We are thrilled to be one of the local businesses selected for The Good Ideas Shop in Bournemouth and as a relatively new business - getting the word out to the local community is essential to building our customer base at R1SE. As the festive season is traditionally a quieter time for the health and fitness industry, The Good Ideas Shop is a great source of awareness for customers looking to start their gym memberships in January.”
Steve Hatch, VP of Northern Europe, Meta, said: “With nearly 20% of small businesses in the UK expecting to make more than half of their annual revenues in the last months of the year, we know that getting discovered and connecting with customers this festive season is not only critical for the bottom-line, but fundamental for any small business wanting to thrive online and connect with customers in the months and years to come. Small businesses have shown impressive resilience and optimism in tackling the fallout of the pandemic over the past 18 months. As we approach Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the festive retail season, we need to keep up this momentum and empower small businesses to flex their newfound muscles from lockdown, whether physical, digital, or a hybrid of both, to connect with the communities that matter to them the most.”