MainStreetEXPO.com Aims To Help Small Merchants With New Platform

Registration is open for small merchants at MainStreetEXPO.com, a website created to assist local companies with selling to a larger market, according to a Friday (Oct. 2) announcement.

The website was created to provide a simpler, more cost-effective method for small merchants to market to the country through the web.

“We went from whiteboard to launch in 30 days because we care fiercely about seeing our small businesses survive COVID and thrive after COVID,” said SANDIA Marketing and Advertising Founder Bernard Sandoval. “These merchants need a solution yesterday.”

The website is now being piloted with retailers from Montana, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Massachusetts and Maryland. Shopping capacity goes live on Oct. 15, according to the announcement.

Retailers will have the capacity to quickly grow their customer base and offer a digital storefront for shoppers who are geared toward purchasing from small companies, per the release.

Work is underway to market the platform to city governments, consumers, regional business development organizations and chambers.

“Too many businesses are closing,” Sandoval said in the announcement. “I grew up in a family of small businesspeople. Many of my clients are small businesses. I do this work because I want to see them succeed.”

The news comes as PYMNTS has found that one out of four small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) doubt they will weather COVID-19, and only four out of 10 are confident they will.

PYMNTS’ analysis determined that 58.4 percent of SMBs think they are at risk of shuttering before the end of the pandemic and its economic impacts, with 25.8 percent saying they are sure they won’t survive and 32.6 percent noting that they are not sure if they will. SMBs in the technology and manufacturing sector are the most likely to indicate that they are not able to weather the turmoil. PYMNTS’ research indicates that 39.1 percent of those in the manufacturing space foresee going under before the pandemic ends.