Planning Law Changes to Impact Small Retailers
by Startacus Admin
The government has recently announced that it is to simplify planning laws surrounding the erection of small extensions to existing buildings. That’s great news, but what exactly has it got to do with the average small retailer, you might be wondering.
Well, rather a lot as it happens, not least when it comes to the provision of click and collect services, which are largely the domain of big retailers; much to the anguish of smaller shops, who simply don't have the space to accommodate services such as these.
The relaxation of planning laws is of course a good thing, but it won't be enough by itself to make sure that all retailers are able to keep pace with changing consumer shopping habits.
It’s not our area of expertise, so we enlisted the help of our pal, Andrew Lasota, CEO of CornerDrop to explain in a little more detail the problems still facing the average small retailer when it comes to the provision of click and collect services - and of course he has a little solution of his own to share.
“Planning changes to open ‘Click and Collect’ – Really?
The government has announced that it is making it easier to erect a small building (or extend a delivery bay) to accommodate a greater capacity of Click and Collect goods. The suggestion is that it falls within Permitted Development, negating the need for complex administration etc. to create more storage areas.
This is great news, but is probably as a result of only a few locations offering the service in a large area (symptomatic of the disjointed nature of the courier Click and Collect solutions) and becoming overwhelmed by parcels at peak times. The answer – make it easier to build more storage capacity?
Just changing a planning law does not open up Click and Collect to everyone on the high street, it makes it easier for those who offer the service to build bigger storage units.
There are literally thousands of independent businesses out there who would like to offer this service to their customers. We think Click and Collect should be offered by far more locations, fairly and where customers want them! Not prescribed by courier companies or online retailers.
At CornerDrop.com we are putting forward a solution to this problem. Our service allows you to register your location online to accept parcels – and that could be anywhere, such as a coffee shop, gym, nursery etc. It can also be used from any website, regardless of who actually delivers the parcel.
We are democratising Click and Collect and championing the customer and supporting the real high street!”
Thanks for the thoughts Andrew, and best of luck with CornerDrop!
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Published on: 9th April 2015
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