Herefordshire Business News: E-commerce platform provided for independent retailers (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire Business News: E-commerce platform provided for independent retailers

10:40am Thursday 5th July 2012 in Business By Mark Bowen

A NEW business is launching itself in Hereford to provide independent retailers with an e-commerce platform.

OpenHighStreet (OHS) will provide the retailers with a platform where customers can shop at their favourite local independent shops as if they were part of one department store under a single e-commerce roof.

When they finish shopping customers can purchase all of the goods with just one payment and the system then arranges for collection or delivery of the shopping to their home at a time of their choice.

Hereford was selected ahead of London and Leeds as the ideal place to test this new concept as it is the home of the Truffle card scheme.

Richard Garnett, of OHS, said: "The opportunity to have these two innovations working together in a mixed urban and rural population was good enough to counter the strength of the other contenders."

OpenHighStreet will be rolled out over the next few weeks for groceries, fresh foods, flowers and other goods and the organisation has submitted a planning application to open a premises at Croma House, in Holme Lacy Road, at the Rotherwas Industrial Estate in Hereford.