It's been a great year for the Manchester Christmas Markets... over a million people have passed by the multiple stalls dotted around 7 sites in the City Centre. A record breaking year.
Manchester Evening News are reporting that traders are now also prepared to haggle with customers over the next few days as they want to get rid of their remaining stock prior to Thursday. Fancy a bargain? Now is the time...
As us Brits aren't used to it, here are some tips on how to Haggle
In the New Year let Crowdbuy do the haggling for you.
We are getting ready to launch our new and improved site for 2012 and urge you to sign up and get ready to save on the products you want.
Buy Together and Save!
The bigger the crowd that wants a product, the more bargaining power Crowdbuy has to bring down the price. So Spread the Word!
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Hell Bent on Shopping
Aston Villa fans were outraged on Sunday after their star striker, Darren Bent, was photographed out shopping in Cambridge after picking up a thigh injury which prevented him from playing against Liverpool.
Twitter was flooded with furious fans venting their fury at Bent for not even watching the game on TV, never mind being at the Villa Park to support the team.
Bent responded via Twitter: “I can assure the Villa fans that I’m committed to the football club and I love playing for Villa... I’m fully committed to the club and there is no other agenda here and I haven’t fallen out with the manager."
Maybe Darren would be better off doing his shopping online in future to avoid such a backlash!
Twitter was flooded with furious fans venting their fury at Bent for not even watching the game on TV, never mind being at the Villa Park to support the team.
Bent responded via Twitter: “I can assure the Villa fans that I’m committed to the football club and I love playing for Villa... I’m fully committed to the club and there is no other agenda here and I haven’t fallen out with the manager."
Maybe Darren would be better off doing his shopping online in future to avoid such a backlash!
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
The Death of the High Street?
TV’s Queen of Shops, Mary Portas, has released a report labelling Britain’s high streets as “on the brink of extinction” and found that up to 20 shops a day are closing down in some parts of the country. And she feels a complete change of mindset from consumers, retailers and councils is what’s needed to change the situation. The report also claims that only 40% of retail spends will be done in high street stores by 2014.
With many consumers never setting foot in their local shops except for essentials, and simply buying groceries, leisure and luxury goods from the comfort of their living rooms, maybe the answer lies in this population of internet-savvy customers. What if they could have the option to buy their items online but go to a local, high street business to collect the item, having been given a significant discount first? This social-shopping, as it’s called, could kick-start city centre economies whilst maintaining customers’ shopping habits.
Crowdbuy is at the forefront of the social-shopping revolution. And it’s really easy to become a part of it. You simply create your profile, search for a product you want and that’s it. It might already be on the site, but if not simply add it. The more people that want your product, the cheaper it is. Crowdbuy then negotiate a discount and email you the details. You can either apply the discount online at checkout and get them delivered OR simply collect your goods from a local retailer. And it will benefit retailers too; as Crowdbuy will recommend them to their community and the retailer knows that they’ll have multiple consumers buying goods directly from them.
To become a part of the revolution, check out www.crowdbuy.com. If you’re a forward thinking retailer, contact Kris Barnes on Kris@crowdbuy.com to hear about the fantastic opportunities at Crowdbuy now.
The above is a guest blog by Nick Pagan of Nick Pagan Copywriting. If you are looking for a Copywriter who really knows how to express your Business message then contact Nick at nick@nickpagancopywriting.co.uk or visit www.nickpagancopywriting.co.uk
With many consumers never setting foot in their local shops except for essentials, and simply buying groceries, leisure and luxury goods from the comfort of their living rooms, maybe the answer lies in this population of internet-savvy customers. What if they could have the option to buy their items online but go to a local, high street business to collect the item, having been given a significant discount first? This social-shopping, as it’s called, could kick-start city centre economies whilst maintaining customers’ shopping habits.
Crowdbuy is at the forefront of the social-shopping revolution. And it’s really easy to become a part of it. You simply create your profile, search for a product you want and that’s it. It might already be on the site, but if not simply add it. The more people that want your product, the cheaper it is. Crowdbuy then negotiate a discount and email you the details. You can either apply the discount online at checkout and get them delivered OR simply collect your goods from a local retailer. And it will benefit retailers too; as Crowdbuy will recommend them to their community and the retailer knows that they’ll have multiple consumers buying goods directly from them.
To become a part of the revolution, check out www.crowdbuy.com. If you’re a forward thinking retailer, contact Kris Barnes on Kris@crowdbuy.com to hear about the fantastic opportunities at Crowdbuy now.
The above is a guest blog by Nick Pagan of Nick Pagan Copywriting. If you are looking for a Copywriter who really knows how to express your Business message then contact Nick at nick@nickpagancopywriting.co.uk or visit www.nickpagancopywriting.co.uk
Monday, 12 December 2011
Shopping... Under The Influence
During the run-up to Christmas it’s a sure bet that we'll all have a few
drinks to celebrate – and some of us a LOT! And according to shopping comparison site
Kelkoo, it’s also a sure bet that us Brits will spend £2bn shopping online
whilst under the influence of alcohol this festive period. A sobering
thought eh?
Kelkoo reckon that 43% of us have shopped online whilst a little bit (or
a lot) tipsy. They estimate we have already spent £5.2bn and this Christmas it
could amount to an extra £2bn... That's a lot of Snowball cocktails!
Chris Simpson, Kelkoo CMO, said:
“Online shopping has become a daily part of Brits’ lives and people are taking
advantage of being able to shop at any time of the day, whether at home in bed,
on the move, or in bars and restaurants. Our research shows that while people
shopping under the influence of alcohol could spell good news for those on the
receiving end of gifts, we’d always advise shoppers to think carefully when
making purchases and remember that they are able to use retailers’ returns
policies if they realise afterwards that they’ve purchased unwanted items.”
So when you get home from that forgettable work Christmas do, a few
festive drinkies with your mates, or from a family meal having had a few too
many cherries, be careful! You may just wake up in a couple of days with a
signed photograph from Kriss Akabussi, a new boat or the complete works of
Shawaddywaddy!
Monday, 5 December 2011
Striking to the Shops?
Last Wednesday we all know that public sector workers were on strike and it was impossible to miss the column inches, news coverage and general comments across the social sphere regarding the strikes.
What was also quite noticeable in Manchester that day whilst walking through the City Centre was that it was so much busier than a normal Wednesday. The Arndale was just as packed as on a Saturday afternoon and myself and my girlfriend Dyna were surprised at this and both made tongue-in-cheek comments about people going on strike to go shopping.
But after reading the FT on Friday it seems we were right!
Across the nation Experian reported that footfall was up 38% on last year's figures based on samples taken from above 50% of the UK's shopping centres. This is quite an increase but some context is surely needed here as these figures may be misleading. There are no figures as yet on the amount spent last Wednesday - high street 'browsing' is a cheap day out; There is also a strong case that people simply brought forward the day they went shopping and as such no more money will be spent overall - its not true that these families have any more money to spend!
It was also noted this week by KPMG that UK consumers are amongst the most tech-friendly and embracing consumers in the world. We seem to be embracing technology a lot faster than most countries do. The BBC reported that "Seventy-seven per cent of British shoppers prefer to buy goods like CDs, DVDs, books and video games online - compared with 65% globally."
This is encouraging news to us at Crowdbuy as we hope you, the UK consumers, embrace YOUR online shopping community and Buy Together and Save!
Visit us at www.CrowdBuy.com and join Your Community Today! Spread the word!
Twitter: @crowdbuy
What was also quite noticeable in Manchester that day whilst walking through the City Centre was that it was so much busier than a normal Wednesday. The Arndale was just as packed as on a Saturday afternoon and myself and my girlfriend Dyna were surprised at this and both made tongue-in-cheek comments about people going on strike to go shopping.
But after reading the FT on Friday it seems we were right!
Across the nation Experian reported that footfall was up 38% on last year's figures based on samples taken from above 50% of the UK's shopping centres. This is quite an increase but some context is surely needed here as these figures may be misleading. There are no figures as yet on the amount spent last Wednesday - high street 'browsing' is a cheap day out; There is also a strong case that people simply brought forward the day they went shopping and as such no more money will be spent overall - its not true that these families have any more money to spend!
It was also noted this week by KPMG that UK consumers are amongst the most tech-friendly and embracing consumers in the world. We seem to be embracing technology a lot faster than most countries do. The BBC reported that "Seventy-seven per cent of British shoppers prefer to buy goods like CDs, DVDs, books and video games online - compared with 65% globally."
This is encouraging news to us at Crowdbuy as we hope you, the UK consumers, embrace YOUR online shopping community and Buy Together and Save!
Visit us at www.CrowdBuy.com and join Your Community Today! Spread the word!
 |
| What do we want? Retail Therapy! When do we want it? Now! Photo courtesy of thisisleicestershire.co.uk |
Twitter: @crowdbuy
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Online Retail Partnership Opportunity
We at Crowdbuy are offering anyone who runs an online shop the opportunity to expose their products to a social media savvy community of online shoppers.
If you have an online store and would like to find out more information please email kris@crowdbuy.com
Crowdbuy: Your Partner and Your Community
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