Frequently Asked Questions

Local because people in and around your town are the shoppers who can support your business all year round.
Immediately because our unique mix of technology gets your message in front of those local consumers within minutes

We achieve this marketing breakthrough by using the communications tools that today’s connected shoppers like best.

These are ‘social networking’ sites on the Internet (Facebook and Twitter) ... plus a local page on the Shopinsky shopping website ... and even short messages on local shoppers’ mobile phones.

What is Social Networking?

Services like Facebook and Twitter are known as ‘social networking’ sites. They consist of personal pages where people can share news and views with their friends, family and others who have the same interests.

Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular social networking services on the Internet.

We use Facebook as a way for consumers to spread the word about the local offers from businesses like yours.
We use Twitter to distribute your business news to local consumers on their personal computers and on their mobile phones.

How do consumers see my message on their PC?

There are literally hundreds of millions of people worldwide using Twitter. In fact more messages are sent via social networking than by normal email.

You’ll probably find that about 90% of your customers under the age of 35 use social networking. Even schools use Facebook to distribute news about school events as most students nowadays use a social networking service.

Shopinsky actively broadcasts your promotional messages to our Twitter pages, to a local blog, and through the local Shopinksy shopper’s directory. Now you can take advantage of our expertise in social networking for a fraction of the cost of doing your own online marketing.

How do consumers see my message on their mobile phone?

Consumers can also see our active broadcasts on their mobile phone. There are three ways they can see your message:

They have subscribed to the Twitter mobile service, so they receive Twitter messages (known as Tweets) as SMS messages.
They use their mobile phone to browse websites, so they can look at the local Shopinsky page, and our Twitter pages and blog pages.
They have an RSS news feed service on their mobile phone. RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’ and it is how companies like the BBC and newspapers send short news stories to their readers.

How does Shopinsky work?

Quite simply, businesses send their short sales message to us ... and we format and re-broadcast the message to consumers. Specifically, we send your message to our local Shopinsky consumer website, to our local Twitter and blog service and to our local RSS news feed.

When we broadcast your message, we automatically add a link to your personal Shopinsky business page. When consumers click on the link, they go straight to your page to find out more about you. There’s more information about your business web page in a minute.

How do I get my sales message to Shopinsky?

There are two ways to get your sales message to Shopinsky: from a personal computer (PC-messages) or from a mobile phone (mobile-messages).

To create your message on a PC, you simply ‘log-in’ to your secure Shopinsky web service and type your message into a simple form. It’s just like sending an email.
To send messages by mobile phone, you simply create a normal text message and send it to Shopinsky. We add a link to your business web page ... and then re-broadcast your message to our local consumer page, blog, Twitter and the RSS news channel.

The mobile-message option is very useful for businesses such as retailers or restaurants who don’t have a PC in their establishment, but want to be able to create sales messages at the last minute. For example, a fashion shop could text a sales message from their mobile as soon as new dresses arrive, or a deli could text a promotional message to say that they are doing a last-minute offer to sell some perishable produce.

Texts cost your Standard Network Rate plus £1.50. The Standard Network Rate to send a text message varies from network to network. A typical cost is 10p. Many network contracts offer free/inclusive text messages.

What is my business web page?

Every Shopinsky customer has a full web page that contains all the relevant information about their business. When you register with Shopinsky you fill out a simple form which has your business name, address and contact details ... plus 20 lines of text and a photograph.

We can also link this page to your corporate web site if you have one.

Your web page is automatically created - using our stylish design template - once you have supplied those details. Most people find it takes less than five minutes to supply the details for their own business web page.

Can anybody see my business web page?

Absolutely. Your page can be viewed by anyone, anywhere on the Internet.

Your page will have a unique www address (known as a URL in Internet circles) that you could use on business cards or on any other advertising that you do. For example, a company called ‘The ABC Printing Company’ could have a URL like www.shopinsky.com/ABCprinting

When you are completing your online registration form, you will create your own URL. You just have to remember that there can’t be any spaces between characters in a URL ... but our online form will help you get it right.

Will my business web page be on Google?

Yes, Google and other search engines will be able to access your Shopinsky business web page. In fact we have made it easy for search engines to find your page by using advanced techniques which are search engine friendly.

This means that in addition to local consumers on the Shopinsky consumer page, blog and Twitter ... your business web page can also be seen by shoppers worldwide, and by people anywhere who are planning a trip to your town.

Can I edit my business web page?

Yes. As a Shopinsky customer you can log-in to your secure administration page at any time and update the details on your personal web page.

For example, restaurants could update their page to show menu changes and offers, or a fashion store could change their photo to show the new dresses which have just arrived.

Do I need to be a computer expert to use Shopinsky?

Absolutely not. We have made the whole package easy-to-use. No special skills are needed.

To send sales messages takes one minute. To create your business web page takes 5 minutes. You simply type text into boxes on our online form. If you want a photo or logo on your business web page, just click on it. Our system automatically re-sizes the image for you.

What does Shopinsky cost?

Shopinsky costs from just £5 per month.

To ensure that our customers get maximum value for money, there are three service levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. No matter which level they choose, all customers have a dedicated business web page and the ability to send sales messages to local consumers.

What does the Bronze package include?

The Bronze package costs £5 a month (plus VAT). You can pay monthly or quarterly, in advance, by credit or debit card.

Five PC-message credits, with a total value of £7.50, are included in the Bronze package.
We also include a business web page, valued at £5 per month, plus an entry in the local shopping directory, also valued at £5 per month. So your £5 monthly payment gives you a total value of £17.50.
Extra PC-message credits can be purchased for £1.50 each. You can also send sales mobile-messages from your mobile phone, at a cost of £1.50 each, plus the standard network rate for a text message.

The bronze package is ideal for any business that wants an economical web presence ... and only needs to broadcast a sales message from time to time.

What does the Silver package include?

The Silver package costs £10 a month (plus VAT). You can pay monthly or quarterly, in advance, by credit or debit card.

Ten PC-message credits, with a total value of £15, are included in the Silver package.
We also include a business web page, valued at £5 per month, plus an entry in the local shopping directory, also valued at £5 per month. So your £10 monthly payment gives you a total value of £25.
Extra PC-message credits can be purchased for £1.50 each. You can also send sales mobile-messages from your mobile phone, at a cost of £1.50 each, plus the standard network rate for a text message.

The Silver package is ideal for businesses who want to send one or two sales messages a week.

What does the Gold package include?

The Gold package costs £20 a month (plus VAT). You can pay monthly or quarterly, in advance, by credit or debit card.

Fifteen PC-message credits, with a total value of £22.50 are included in the Gold package. As a Gold member you are entitled to a banner advert on the Shopinsky consumer page for your town. The banner page has a value of £10 a month.
We also include a business web page, valued at £5 per month, plus an entry in the local shopping directory, also valued at £5 per month. So your £20 monthly payment gives you a total value of £42.50.
Extra PC-message credits can be purchased for £1.50 each. You can also send sales mobile-messages from your mobile phone, at a cost of £1.50 each, plus the standard network rate for a text message.

The Gold package is ideal for businesses who want to send three or more sales messages a week, and who also want to promote their business to local consumers with a 24/7 banner advert.

What does the free account include?

At the end of the free trial you can do nothing and we will automatically continue you as a free account for 12 months . The free account has a value of £10 per month, presented with our compliments as a thank you for trying out our service. Remember, you are not asked for any card details. This is a no-cost, no-obligation offer.

You will continue to appear on the Shopinsky local shopping catalog. (£5 per month value)
You will continue to have your Shopinsky business web page, so consumers can find out more about you. (£5 per month value)
The free account does not include any PC-message credits. PC-message credits can be purchased for £1.50 each. You can also send sales mobile-messages from your mobile phone, at a cost of £1.50 each, plus the standard network rate for a text message.

How do I pay for mobile messages?

Sales messages from your mobile phone cost £1.50, plus the standard network rate for a text message. You simply create your message as a normal text message and send it to a number which we will give you.

If your mobile phone is on a contract, the £1.50 will be added to your monthly phone bill by your network supplier. If you have a prepaid / Pay-as-you-go mobile, the £1.50 is taken from the credits on your phone. With prepay / Pay-as-you-go, you must have sufficient credits on your phone at the time of sending the message otherwise your network provider will not forward it to us.

Is there a long-term contract with Shopinsky?

No. You can cancel your Shopinsky subscription at any time, from the end of the current month. No notice period is required. You can cancel for any reason.

Is there a catch with the free trial?

No. You can cancel your trial subscription within the first 30 days and pay nothing. No questions are asked. No salesperson will call you.

Do I have to give you my credit card details for the free trial?

No. Unlike many internet sites, we do not ask for your card details during the free trial.

Is my credit card secure?

Yes. Our customer payments are processed by Paypal who have millions of customers around the world. In fact your card details are so secure that not even Shopinsky keeps a record of them ... they are stored on Paypal’s ultra-secure servers.

Paypal accepts Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard, Amex, Maestro, GiroPay and Switch.

Can I pay by Direct Debit?

Yes. Paypal offers a Direct Debit option.

Can I upgrade/downgrade my service level?

Yes. You can change between the Bronze, Silver and Gold packages whenever you want, as often as you want. Changes take effect from the first day of the following month.

Does my free trial give me full access to Shopinsky?

Yes. Your free trial is at the Gold level so you will have:

• a business web page

• a banner advert on the Shopinsky local consumer page

• and fifteen free PC-messages from your personal computer.

The only cost would be any mobile-messages you choose to send from a mobile phone, which would be charged at the rate £1.50 each, plus the standard network rate for a text message.

How can I check my messages have been sent?

The best way to prove it is to try it! Send a sales message from your PC or mobile phone and you’ll be able to see it broadcast on the local Shopinsky consumer page and on our local blog and Twitter pages. If you use an RSS reader, you can also verify the RSS feed.

Are there any restrictions?

Yes. Shopinsky is a family-grade service. We do not accept subscriptions for adult services or for any illegal products or services. Sales messages are filtered for unacceptable content, such as profanity or racist comments. We want to keep Shopinsky as a service where Internet users would happily let their children browse our pages.

What do I do next?

Just follow the link to our free trial page on the www.shopinsky.co.uk website, then complete the simple order form. The details you will need are:

• Your business name, address and contact details.

• A short description of your business. 10 to 20 lines would be ideal. The snappier the better.

• A digital version of your logo, or a product photo (or you can add/change the image later).

The registration process takes less than five minutes.

Who can I contact for more information?

If you’d like to know more about Shopinsky and our marketing platform for retailers, restaurants, bars and local businesses, please get in touch with Richard Drinkwater by emailing richard@shopinsky.co.uk