Nishi Patel’s Londis sees "crazy" search traffic and “brilliant” footfall thanks to NearSt
As a third generation shopkeeper, Nishi Patel has experienced first hand the ever-changing local retail scene. The 2021 Convenience Conference Rising Star of the Year finalist, Nishi and his family have owned bricks and mortar shops for over 40 years.
A leading voice in the modern convenience space, Nishi has a keen interest in how data-driven insights can enhance the in-store customer experience and also help drive online shoppers directly into the local community.
Google searches for ‘who has’ and ‘in stock’ have grown by 8000% year on year since 2019. Currently, over 90% of global shoppers who visited a store in the last week said that they used an online search prior to going in-store. Tapping into this ever-increasing way of searching is essential to driving in-store footfall in 2021, something that Nishi knew he needed to do at Londis Bexley Park.
“We have been looking at Google for a long time but didn’t really know how to enhance our business on it. We already get footfall and good traffic through Google but when NearSt came up, it was just a no-brainer to do.” - Nishi, Londis Bexley Park
With regular 5-star reviews and up to date photos, Londis Bexley Park already “had a strong Google presence” before joining NearSt. However, without a live in-stock product feed, Nishi was repeatedly missing out on nearby searches. With over 5000 products in store, it was essential to Nishi to get his inventory showing across Google’s surface to as many people as possible affordably and efficiently.
"Do you know what, I like everything about NearSt: the fact that it’s off my hands, you guys are really helpful, the fact that you have live updates of my product files - it’s just mind-blowing how crazy that is.” - Nishi, Londis Bexley Park
In just a few clicks, NearSt were able to connect with Londis Bexley Park's point-of sale system and show Nishi's entire in-stock catalogue across Google Surfaces with no extra effort to himself or the team. In September 2021, the number of people who viewed Nishi's business listing in Google increased by 157.7% compared with the same period in 2020 before Nishi joined NearSt.
As well as his See What’s In Store, NearSt also set up Local Inventory Ads for Nishi to not only reach more customers but also to surface extensive, in-depth data on consumer trends in his local area and across the UK.
“The information [NearSt] gives us from the traffic going through Google is next to nothing - you can’t get that anywhere. It’s crazy seeing what people have been searching for and coming in. The footfall we had through NearSt was brilliant.” - Nishi, Londis Bexley Park
Over the course of four-weeks, Nishi’s products were viewed over 46,000 times on Google with over 60 estimated customers coming in thanks to NearSt! With daily updates highlighting live search terms, recently clicked products and Clicks to Sales, Nishi has benefited from analysing and engaging with exclusive consumer data that has never been available to him before.
After only 6 weeks of being with NearSt, Nishi could already see what revolutionary technology NearSt were bringing to his store and has actively been promoting the benefits of the platform to other retailers.
“I was a panelist at The Convenience Conference and on the panel, I brought up NearSt to say how [they] are giving us more of a presence on Google and all the other great things [they] are doing for us.” - Nishi, Londis Bexley Park
Nishi has been able to see first-hand how using innovative online technology can drive in-store footfall to local retail and is delighted to be a part of the NearSt community of stores driving customers back into the high street.
If you’d like to see how NearSt could help you connect your products to customers for no extra work, register your interest here, drop us a note on hello@near.st or give us a ring on 0333 050 9658.
