Following the busiest online shopping day of the year, otherwise dubbed as Cyber Monday, the Dolphin shopping centre is now encouraging more shoppers to support retailers in Poole rather than finish off their shopping online ahead of the Christmas period.
The centre manager, John Grinnell, is urging people to spare a thought for the high-street shops and in particular the independent shop owners instead of heading straight to the internet.
Catherine Standen, operations manager at Lumin-Essence, said: “We have been trading for eight years and it has gone from strength to strength. It is very important that shoppers support independent traders.”
In a further attempt to attract shoppers to Poole during the festive season, many of the larger-well known stores have introduced a click and collect service which has proven to be helping high street brands fight back against the dominance of online retailers.
John Grinnell added: “The internet retail revolution of click and collect has taken a surprising turn and is proving prosperous for the town centre. Many of our retailers have introduced the service in an attempt to help make the delivery process of a parcel far easier than having to wait in for the postman or pay exceptionally high prices for delivery.
“This new service, along with the choice offered from smaller independent shops, and free car parking provides encouragement to entice people to visit Poole for their Christmas shopping this year.”
Some of the stores that are offering the click and collect service in Poole are M&S, BHS, New Look, Burton, Topshop, River Island and Wilkinsons.