Cybertill partners with NearSt

NearSt’s software brings customers into bricks and mortar stores by showing the products stocked in local shops to people searching online nearby – making it more convenient to buy items locally than online.

The software is now integrated into Cybertill’s RetailStore EPoS platform, which means that shops can connect their entire inventory to Google search in real-time and switch it on and off at the touch of a button.

The integration with Cybertill will automatically show in-store products in places like Google’s MyBusiness Page, Google Shopping, and in Google Maps. Therefore, consumers will be able to see if a product they are searching for is close by and will direct them to their local high street.

Ian Tomlinson, chief executive of Cybertill, said: “Offering NearSt to the Cybertill network comes from a shared belief that there is a lot to win for physical stores in the quickly changing world of retail. Allowing shops to show their products to locals in Google is the perfect way to tap into the rapidly growing trend among shoppers of using Google to look for products in nearby stores.”

Nick Brackenbury, chief executive and co-founder NearSt, added: “We saw a seven-fold jump in local product searches in places like Google last year, with 2021 settling on four times the volume of pre-pandemic levels. Google also reported an 8,000% increase in searches for “who has ___ in stock” last year.

“This emerging consumer behaviour of searching and discovering products online to buy in nearby physical stores presents an exciting new opportunity for small and large retailers alike. And thanks to Cybertill it makes it even simpler now. Everything works using the barcodes, stock levels, and pricing already stored in your existing EPoS system – so you literally set it and forget it.”

In January and February a Southampton-based Co-op Welcome convenience store began running NearSt’s technology. Products were seen in local search results 380,000 times, and more than 4,000 shoppers went on to seek out further information by clicking on the product, calling the shop, or getting directions to the store.

Brackenbury said: “This has driven over 550 customers in-store during January, February, and March alone.”