What you get with NearSt

What can I expect after signing up?

The setup process is almost entirely handled by us, leaving you to run your shop. So you know what to expect, the key stages are:

1. Qualifying your shop
We give you a ring to make sure your shop is a good fit for NearSt. We’ll ask a few basic questions about your shop, products, and inventory management system.

2. Integrating your POS system
This is either done by your POS provider, or by downloading a small software package from NearSt that takes about a minute to install. In both cases it takes just a few minutes and is very simple.

3. Google setup
We get you running on Google. This usually takes about a week and is done by us. During the process we’ll ask you to grant us “manager access” to your Google My Business account so we can link your business location in Google to your products. If you don’t have access to your Google My Business account, don’t worry - we can help you recover it.

4. Your store goes live!
Usually we’ll put See What’s In Store live first, followed by your 4-week trial of NearSt PLUS. During your trial you’ll receive weekly reports about your products’ performance in Google.

5. Your 4-week NearSt PLUS trial ends
We’ll send you a final report taking you through the results of your NearSt PLUS trial, so you can decide whether you want to keep it active now, or help inform if you want to reactivate NearSt PLUS in the future.

Whatever you choose to do, your products will continue to be searchable via See What’s In Store in your Google My Business listing as part of your ongoing free NearSt Base package.

Throughout this process, our customer success team will be available for any questions or comments regarding your setup.

Can customers order products on NearSt?

NearSt currently doesn't offer ecommerce functionality that lets customers order your products online. Our focus is on helping nearby customers searching for your products discover that you stock them, then send them directly to your store in-person.

How often is my inventory updated in Google?

Your connection to NearSt updates your inventory every 15-60 minutes. Any changes to the inventory in your inventory management system will be automatically updated on NearSt and Google behind the scenes - there’s no extra work for you.

Who decides the prices of products on your service? How do these change?

We take the pricing for each product directly from your inventory management system. If you were to change to price associated with a product in your system, this will be automatically updated in NearSt and Google. We always show the price your store specifically is selling a product at, rather than RRP.

Can we put special offers on Google?

Google does not yet allow for offers or promotions on NearSt PLUS ads. However, if you change the price of a product in your system - this will be automatically updated on NearSt and Google.

Why do you need access to my Google My Business listing?

We need manager-level access to your Google My Business listing in order to show live searchable inventory via Google See What’s In Store. NearSt is an official partner of Google, and you’ll always have primary ownership of your Google My Business.

What is a Google My Business listing?

Your Google My Business listing is what appears when people search for your shop in Google. The listing contains useful information about your business, such as opening hours, address, phone number and images of your shop. Read more about Google My Business and how to get set up if you haven’t already here. If you need a hand getting started, we can help as well.

Is my inventory data secure?

We understand how sensitive inventory data is to shopkeepers, and we take our role as neutral third party handlers of it very seriously. We maintain an open and regularly reviewed set of principles that govern how we use and protect your data to ensure it is always for the benefit of your shop. You can find these principles on our Data Ethics page.

Billing & Costs

Will I get charged after my 4-week trial?

Nope! NearSt PLUS is automatically switched off at the end of your NearSt PLUS trial and you are only charged if you decide to turn on NearSt PLUS. You are kept in control of your spend, and we only bill you for what you use.

If you want to switch on NearSt PLUS, login to your MyShop page, click on the ‘PLUS plans’ tab on the left and choose your daily budget, starting from just £2 per day.

How much does NearSt PLUS cost?

NearSt PLUS starts at just £2 per day, and is available by the week.

What does spending more on NearSt PLUS give me?

The higher your daily budget on NearSt PLUS, the more customers we can put your products in front of in Google. Based on your 4-week trial of NearSt PLUS, we provide a tailored estimate of how many customers you will likely reach for different budgets on the PLUS Plans page of your MyShop dashboard.

When am I billed for NearSt PLUS?

During the month we’ll track what you use in NearSt PLUS. Then at the end of each month of use, we tally it up and bill you for the total. For example, if in July you ran the NearSt PLUS £2/day package for two weeks, the £5/day package for one week, and turned it off in the final week, we total up the spend as:

Two weeks at £2 per day (£28)

One week at £5 per day (£35)

Total spend: £63

Please note that NearSt PLUS prices are exclusive of VAT.

Are there any hidden costs or ongoing fees?

There are no hidden costs or ongoing fees. After you’ve paid your setup fee and gone through your NearSt PLUS trial, our NearSt Base plan is completely free. We only charge when you turn on and use NearSt PLUS, and then you only pay for what you use.

To switch on NearSt PLUS head to your MyShop page, click on the ‘PLUS plans’ tab on the left and set your daily budget. NearSt PLUS runs weekly, so any changes will come into effect from the following Monday.

Please note that NearSt PLUS will continue to run until you switch it off in your ‘Plus Plans’ tab. We’ll send you an email each week reminding you if you have a plan active.

Can I quit after the trial if I don’t want to pay any ongoing fees?

Yes, of course. We want you to be in full control of what you spend. NearSt PLUS is automatically switched off after your trial, and you will only be charged if you decide to turn it on again.

Some shops decide to run NearSt PLUS for a few weeks at a time during key shopping periods or local events, while others run it continually to help maintain awareness with their local customers. This is entirely up to you and your own marketing needs and budget!

How NearSt PLUS plans work

Where does my daily PLUS budget go?

Your daily PLUS budget is your spend in Google to run Local Inventory Ads.

What can each PLUS plan get me?

The results you can get with each PLUS plan is specific to your shop*. Generally, the higher your PLUS budget, the more clicks you can get on your products in Google.

Each click on your products costs a certain amount of money (cost-per-click).

Cost-per-click is automatically controlled by Google and can change throughout the day. These changes can depend on things like time of year, number of people searching in your area, proximity of shopper to your shop and a few other factors.

*Visit your PLUS Plans page in Myshop to see how many estimated clicks you can get with each budget (based on your trial results).

Example:

Let’s say you’ve selected £3/day to put behind NearSt PLUS. On one day, your average cost-per-click is 20p, meaning you can get a maximum of 15 clicks on your products that day. The next day, your average cost per click drops to 10p, meaning you can get a maximum of 30 clicks on your products that day.

We like to keep the cost-per-click as low as possible to ensure you’re getting as many clicks for your budget. Occasionally, if your cost per click is looking too high or low, we will suggest an amendment to your daily budget to accommodate this.

Your daily PLUS budget is your spend in Google to run Local Inventory Ads. Each budget gets you a certain number of clicks in Google. The higher the budget the more clicks you can get.