WHEN he began conceptualising the idea a year ago, he had no idea it would get this big, this exciting, this complicated…
Local resident, Matthew Watkins, had noticed a growing trend in South Africa for online shopping and combined it with his mission to develop Port Elizabeth’s economy. From this came The Corner Store, a multi-vendor-based store that provided a platform for small local businesses to have their own online store.
According to Watkins, the website went up in February and they were accepting applications for vendors when COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown tossed a spanner in the works.
“We took a step back and re-evaluated our business model to see how we could better assist local businesses during this time.
“We allowed more applications and almost halved our commission structure so that we could help more people,” Watkins explained.
“We had never planned on COVID-19 and all the hardship it would bring. However, what happened was beyond our expectations and provided an almost perfect environment for us to launch in.”
The Corner Store opened its virtual doors in the last week of April.
How it works
The platform was initially created as an alternative way for small local businesses to engage with their clients, but with COVID-19 numbers rapidly rising in Nelson Mandela Bay and businesses suffering under lockdown, The Corner Store has become a lifeline for them.
It’s also the ideal way to avoid crowded supermarkets by registering on their website, browsing through the products offered by their vendors, placing the order and having the goods delivered.
“We have set up the platform to be location-based as well. This means that if you state your location while shopping, the website will only display stores in that area,” Watkins said.
They are currently only accepting businesses in PE itself, but deliver to PE, Bluewater Bay, Amsterdam Hoek, Uitenhage and Despatch.
They also charge a small delivery fee, but the best thing about this is that customers can order from as many stores as they’d like and only pay one delivery fee.
Thus far, 19 local businesses are active on The Corner Store.
“We have a few more that have signed on but are not yet active as it may take some time to set their store up for trade. We are hoping to have close to 50 by the end of the year.
“Initially, we only wanted 20 vendors per area but we soon realised that it was far more important to open the doors to as many businesses as possible to sign up with us and so we decided very early on to not limit ourselves in that regard,” Watkins explained.
The team behind The Corner Store consists of Watkins, who started it and handles customer relations and marketing; Emlyn Thompson, one of the business partners, who handles the logistics and drivers; Gareth Winchester, another partner, who is the web developer, and Vaughn Eddie, a graphic design partner.
The journey paid off
Watkins said it has been heart-warming to see the change they had made in the lives of both vendors and consumers.
“It’s been amazing to see that with all of this negativity going around, we can still band together as a community and help those less fortunate than we are or those in our community that need support,” Watkins said.
“The local businesses have definitely come around to the idea of internet-based shopping and digital marketing.
“When we first started, I went around to see about five or six different businesses and had the door slammed in my face nearly every single time.
“Most businesses simply thought that PE was not ready for something like this or that having an online store was expensive and complicated to maintain.”
This kind of thinking had to change with lockdown, though.
The response from both the public and businesses has been so positive, they are looking to expand their reach to Centurion and East London as well.
And that’s not all…
The Corner Store has taken online shopping to a new level – including all the rewards and extras of a supermarket.
The first is their loyalty programme, called Kredz, which lets customers earn points for shopping to use towards their next purchase.
And then they introduced the Facebook shop for the sceptics.
“We realised that going on an unknown website and paying online was a bit of an ask for the average customer and we found that also having all our products on our Facebook shop has helped build trust in our brand,” Watkins said.
Now, they’re also determined to give back to the local community by introducing The Corner Store Cares initiative.
Watkins explained that they use the donations – which customers can make at checkout – to purchase goods from their vendors to donate as food parcels to local NPO, For the Love of Giving.
“We really wanted to put our money where our mouth is in terms of supporting our community,” he said.
They are also in the process of launching Munchaway, a second platform for hot food and takeaways.
“Online business is the way of the future and can have such a positive impact on the economy,” Watkins said.
Keep your eye on them
The Corner Store has partnered with BayFM, who launched a weekly slot called Mind Your Biz, during which they interview one of the vendors for a few minutes.
To learn more about them, tune in every Wednesday at around 12:30.
And keep an eye on The Corner Store SA on Facebook for regular updates and competitions.
For more info on The Corner Store go to www.thecornerstore.co.za.
