Digital Main Street Partners with the Downtown Newmarket BIA to Improve Gift Card Program
In partnership with the Newmarket Main Street District Business Improvement Area (BIA) Digital Main Street is pleased to announce that residents will be able to buy gift cards for local businesses through the BIA website via a partnership with snap’d as part of the of the Digital Main Street Lab program. Funding for this pilot is made available through the Digital Main Street Future Proof program, with support in part from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
Snap’d is a community networking and advertising organization with several local publications as well as a ticketing platform for community events. Through this pilot, snap’d will use its ticketing platform to sell gift cards for Newmarket Main Street businesses directly from the BIA website, allowing these businesses to generate income during ongoing capacity restrictions. Businesses without the technical expertise required to manage an online store or sell and redeem digital gift cards will gain access to a new type of commerce. As part of a larger Newmarket Main Street District BIA website renovation, at least 50 independent businesses will be helped through the pilot to sell digital gift cards through the Spring.
“The Government of Canada is pleased to support the Digital Main Street platform and see innovative technology pilot studies, like this one with snap’d, helping to support our main street businesses,” says the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario. “We are proud to work with Digital Main Street partners including the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), Communitech, Invest Ottawa and the Regional Innovation Centres to help our innovation ecosystem grow stronger.”
“We are grateful to have been able to participate in such an amazing program that helps push the limits of technology to support growth in the retail sector,” says Tom Hempen, Chair at the Newmarket Mainstreet District BIA. “Innovation is harder for small business as we have such limited resources, budget and time — this program enabled us to fast forward some initiatives and create access to digital lanes for small retailers and increase opportunities for unrealized revenues.”
“The pandemic has seen its share of stresses on small business over the last year. Along with restrictions, public lockdown, and a customer base with less money to spend, a forced pivot to go digital has been tough for some traditional businesses to adapt to,” says Dan MacPherson, Community Development and Franchise Relations at snap’d inc. “While some see it as an opportunity, it has become yet another obstacle for others. Our plan is to give these businesses access to a free, flexible, and easy to implement digital Gift Certificate solution helping generate cashflow during a tough time.”
With a central place to purchase gift cards for any local business, the Newmarket BIA aims to introduce customers to new businesses that they have not yet had a chance to support. The Digital Main Street Lab seeks to pilot projects that enable main street businesses to engage with their customers in new and innovative ways.
About Digital Main Street
Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve digital transformation. The program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and our Digital Service Squad, a team of street-level team members who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through technology.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association on Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, Facebook, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, and Yellow Pages. A $42.5 investment from FedDev Ontario and an additional $7.45 million from the Government of Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa, and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses to go digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19.
About the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA)
The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) is a non-profit umbrella organization working with the 85 Business Improvement Areas within the City of Toronto, who in turn represent more than 90,000 business and property owners
About FedDev Ontario
For more than 10 years, FedDev Ontario has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth in Canada’s most populous region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects.
About Downtown Newmarket BIA
Main Street is the unique, historic, vibrant heart of Newmarket!
Visitors can spend the day losing themselves in the 150 one-of-a-kind places to see. From retail shops, Beauty Salons, Professional Services, Restaurants & Pubs, Newmarket Main Street has what you are looking for! The same magic that attracts us to famous city streets and quaint village centres is taking root in suburban soil. For the third time in two hundred years, Main Street is resurrecting itself and the way we shop, eat and play.
À propos snap’d
snap'd Inc. is your connection to your community. We are an organization that specializes in community-based advertising, public relations, networking and marketing initiatives. Our media vehicles are photographically rich, and free to consumers, showcasing the life, entertainment and overall spirit of each and every community in which we operate. We use a business model that emphasizes customer service and relationship building, technology, marketing savvy and attention to detail to deliver our products across print, web and other visually dynamic media.
