By the numbers · live data from our directory
- US3,965
- GB716
- FR482
- IN431
- CA287
- AU263
Where retail thrives
Open-air shopping centers anchored by grocery or service tenants (Starbucks, T-Mobile, salons) are at all-time-low vacancy. Independent retailers in those locations are doing well - the foot traffic is real. Indie retail in enclosed malls is struggling alongside the malls themselves.
The Shopify-Amazon trap
Most indie retailers under $1M revenue now run Shopify + a side of Amazon FBA. Margin compression is structural: Shopify Payments, ad costs, fulfillment, and Amazon's 15-30% take all stack. The retailers who win are vertically-integrated (their own brand, their own DTC).
Tech adoption is uneven
POS + inventory has been re-platformed by most operators in the last 5 years (Shopify, Square, Lightspeed). Marketing automation + customer retention tooling lags - fertile ground for SaaS targeting indie retail.