Pilot in Downtown Whitby to Offer Valuable Consumer Insights to Small Businesses
Digital Main Street, in partnership with the Downtown Whitby BIA, is pleased to announce that GroundLevel Insights has been selected to pilot its consumer data and COVID-19 compliance solutions in Whitby, as part 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).
GroundLevel Insights offers main street businesses invaluable data on consumer habits including dwell times and information on the places customers visit before and after individual businesses. In the wake of COVID-19, the platform has expanded to include social distancing and mask compliance technology. A select number of main street small businesses in the Downtown Whitby BIA will have full access to this platform for 90 days to aid in their recovery during Durham region’s reopening.
“The Government of Canada is pleased to support the Digital Main Street platform and see innovative technology pilot studies, like this one with GroundLevel Insights, providing key consumer insights to 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.”
The Digital Main Street Lab seeks to pilot projects that help main street businesses explore innovative and exciting ways to interact with their customers. As main street restrictions continue to evolve, it is more important than ever for small businesses to understand their customers, ensuring the best possible experience every time they visit. Understanding habits like where a customer goes next can create opportunities for businesses to cross–promote.
“The Downtown Whitby BIA is excited to partner with Digital Main Street and GroundLevel Insights to bring this invaluable resource to our members. This tool allows business owners to gain insight on their customers and leverage that data to elevate their businesses,” said Executive Director, Karey Anne Large. “Main Street businesses are the lifeblood of every great town. Providing our businesses with resources to further their success not only enhances our downtown, but also allows us to meet the core mandate of the BIA.”
Included in this program, GroundLevel Insights also provides CANATRACE™ for free to restaurants, bars, retailers, hotels and many other establishments across Canada. CANATRACE™ is a fast, secure, bilingual solution used to collect contact and health screening information per provincial guidelines. Visitors and employees scan a QR code, which redirects them to a unique company branded page, with no app required. The platform is updated as regulations change to support the businesses’ evolving needs. All data is securely stored for 30-days and provided directly to public health authorities on request. The CANATRACE™ system is already in place for thousands of businesses across the country today. Others can start using CANATRACE™ for free by registering at www.canatrace.com.
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 of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. Digital Main Street 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-million 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 not-for-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 Whitby BIA
The Downtown Whitby BIA is a specially designed zone within the downtown core. Founded in 2017, the Downtown Whitby BIA has continuously worked to enhance the downtown through signature events, beautification efforts, and most importantly, building relationships with our small business community. With over 350 businesses in the BIA, there is truly something for everyone in downtown Whitby.
About GroundLevel Insights
GroundLevel Insights is a proprietary artificial intelligence platform rooted in tracking the physical movement of customers by aggregating anonymous, privacy-compliant data and giving clients the intelligence of both their customers and competitors—always keeping them in a position to grow, respond and win. The GroundLevel system includes tools for capacity monitoring and face mask compliance through sensors and video analytics. The powerful dataset is blended into an elegant, customizable dashboard that allows for bespoke insights. GroundLevel gives users the ability to export their own data for propensity models and allows for integration with an ever-growing number of POS systems, apps and CRMs for analytical decision making.
