A: Step to Shops is the ethical promotion system designed to help local business owners retain 100% of their income. We do this by enlightening the public to make a more ethical choice on their local shopping, boosting ‘walk to buy’ and direct trade instead of purchasing from online giants and apps. Over time, this vastly benefits the environment, our health and our neighbourhoods.

Businesses pay huge commissions of 30-40% to apps and local businesses are overlooked in favour of online giants. Step to Shops is the solution to a global business problem and helps environmental problems too. Our system and brand is designed to rollout across the UK and become an international brand leader.

A: We allow 3-4 weeks from the time of placing the order for your first drop delivery to take place. Drop 2 will then take place 3-4 weeks after drop 1.

A: Yes. Step to Shops currently services 260 postcodes all over London. In the near future, Step to Shops will be available nationally and will be able to handle 1 – 1,000 branches.

A: Simply select the package you want, and then add additional quantities of this package, giving us the postcodes and map selections for each unit/shop. You can also email our sales team, giving an address list of all your branches, your contact details and timescales: sales@steptoshops.com

A: We only take two of the same business type in your local delivery area. So, if there are four dry cleaners on the same road, in the same delivery area, we take two of them at any one time.

A: Step to Shops knows which public leaflets were last delivered in your area. We also have other products that will become available to reduce over-delivery. Vitally, these products will keep the public informed and still keep each local business promoted.

A: 7-14 days after your order is placed and paid for.

A: The Private Postman uses a multitude of exclusive systems simultaneously, making us the only bullet-proof system on the market. GPS alone is not enough. We use three types of tracking. Live GPS and Data Track GPS, showing workers walking up and down all roads and paths, gives proof of delivery. Live client updates, which allow you to come and watch delivery any time you like, unannounced, gives a truly transparent delivery. ‘Ride along’ services are not transparent. In addition, our live backcheck reporting and 12-point checks are our industry secrets. Our postmen must pass all checks before they get paid.

A: Normally 7 days from start of delivery.

A: You will get live email updates as your job starts and progresses. This shows you where and when we are delivering, allowing you to go and see, should you want to. You will also get your GPS image files as proof of delivery after both your drops are completed.

A: Step to Shops delivers 1 Leaflet for 1 doorbell, 2 leaflets for 2 doorbells, and a maximum of 3 leaflets for 3 doorbells or more.

A: We encourage you to ‘club in’ with other local businesses yourself. It should be a business that wants to go to exactly the same area as you. A business in your same road is perfect. Get their logo/pic/address, and upload both yours and theirs. Pay the total yourself, then split the costs with your partner. Upload both company logos at same time.

You can request an additional invoice for your shared partner by giving your partners name and address and your order number: info@steptoshops.com asking for shared invoice.

A: You can customise a logo and picture. Upload your logo and one larger picture into the blank space. Then add your contact detail, address, phone, website etc., and change the leaflet background colour to suit your company colours.

A: No. Step to Shops™ brand is for our clients only. If you are a client and require additional Step to Shops leaflets with your design on, you can add those in a block of 1000. Larger amounts are only available when you buy a Step to Shops package.

A: Yes, you can download a watermarked proof for the purpose of showing to a shared side partner.

A: Reduce the size of your photo or logo before you upload it. Or we can help/do it for you. Email sales@steptoshops.com

A: Yes, we offer this service, and it costs £100 per design. Place your order package and pay, and email your copy, one photo and one logo to: info@steptoshops.com If you haven’t got a logo, you can also insert a picture into this section.

A: No. In fact, delivering leaflets is one of the greenest ways you can promote anything. We deliver on foot, using only one vehicle to service one hundred workers who use public transport. So, there is no additional power used to deliver our clients’ leaflets. No electricity and no power needed, other than a good breakfast.

A: Step to Shops knows what we last delivered in your area, and also has other products that reduce delivery, but vitally we keep the public informed and local businesses promoted.

A: Step to Shops uses all media, but we also use local leaflet distribution because it’s the most efficient way to send a message directly around a local walking area of the business it promotes.

A: 5.9 billion items are currently delivered in the UK each year. Step to Shops aims to reduce this number by 20% over the next five years. That’s a reduction of around 1.1 billion items a year not being delivered, but instead being purchased on foot. This represents a massive reduction in consumption of energy and packaging.

With ‘walk to buy’ shopping, there is also less chance of returned items because you can try it on/touch it. Online shopping stats say that 1 in 3 items may be returned, causing even more problems for the environment.

A: Walking is known to be one of the best forms of exercise humans can do. (see W.H.O: Physical activity (who.int) walking; and HARVARD : 5 of the best exercises you can ever do - Harvard Health.)

Step to Shops encourages people to make one ten minute short walk to the shops per week. This adds up to 8.6 hours of additional walking per year. If we encourage just 15% of the UK’s 65 million population to simply Step to Shops once a week, 9,750,0000 people could be walking an extra eight hours a year. That’s an additional 78 million walking hours a year. We believe this will bring great health benefits to the nation.

It is proven that walking also benefits mental health, and increases your chances of making friends or even finding love. Verbal face-to-face communication and seeing people regularly gives everyone’s day a lift.

A: No. We understand it’s not always possible to walk and buy, or self-pick-up. We’re saying that when possible you should think about making a more ethical choice for your local purchases instead. Start off with just a ten minute walk to buy each week and see how much better you feel about it, knowing you’re giving 100% income to that local business and helping the environment.

A: Electrical vehicles are not 100% green. 58% of UK electricity is produced by burning gas or coal or by generated nuclear power. That means nearly 60% of UK electricity is not from renewables. And it doesn’t end there. The average weight of a modern electric car battery is 450kg, the equivalent of a full carload of people everywhere you go. This is just a car. Imagine how much heavier an EV or electric lorry is.

The chemicals used to make the batteries are known killers. Some possible lithium-ion battery materials are toxic, carcinogenic, or could undergo chemical reactions that produce hazardous heat or gases. Toxic materials include lithium compounds, nickel compounds, arsenic compounds, and dimethoxyethane.

If your product is on the hight street, only a short distance from you, it will require no more packaging than it already has on its box. Online shopping items must be repacked and use more additional packaging that you will have seen your own bins each week.

Tyres from these vehicles cause larger amounts of ‘road spill’, carrying toxins and chemicals into rivers and affecting wildlife. Brake dust generated from all four wheels of many electric vehicles contains asbestos that can cause serious illnesses such as lung and mesothelioma cancer.

Online shopping stats say 1 in 3 items may be returned, causing even more problems to the environment. That’s around 1.4 BILLION RETURNED ITEMS EACH YEAR.

Delivery apps mainly utilise e-bikes that use less electricity than a car. But they charge restaurants 38% commissions, putting up the prices of everything you buy on apps.

A: No, but as we have seen, even electric vehicles use fossil fuels and cause harmful toxins. If you walk to buy something or if you use your car to only drive a mile or so to a shop, you’ve stopped a longer journey being made by a big delivery truck and saved the additional packaging needed. If you’ve walked to buy, you’ve prevented 100% of any additional fossil fuel being used on your purchase.

A: No, Step to Shops prints from sustainable European forests, which are growing by 1,500 football pitches every day. Paper is the most recycled product on Earth. Only ‘matt laminated’ paper (with a plastic coating) cannot be recycled, but we don’t use that. (See Love Paper | Discover the story of paper)

A: The biodegradable ink we use for printing replaces mineral oil with other raw materials such as plant oils. These are more biodegradable and provide the same high-quality print results. Also, we store our inks exclusively in large-volume containers to reduce waste.

Thanks to our advanced printing equipment, alcohol is no longer needed for basic processing. Our alcohol-free ink has a thicker consistency, which prevents splattering during printing. It also dries considerably quicker. This not only helps the environment and our employees, but also optimises turnover times for your print orders.

We use a collective print process. Multiple orders are arranged on sheets of paper to ensure that as little paper as possible remains unused. Thanks to our modern equipment, we also use 50% fewer print sheets to set up the print process than with conventional printing machines. Our high-quality standards in our production processes help us to avoid rejects and production surpluses. Unavoidable waste is collected in large containers and then recycled.

We are a Crewe Sustainability Report Member, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 and Certified FSC ® C101851. We are also partners in the Love Paper campaign.

Please see the facts about paper and the environment @ Love Paper | Discover the story of paper