Here at the Gurn we've heard about the interesting idea being canvassed by Nairn BID with local businesses just now. Obviously every penny we spend in local businesses helps local jobs going and the more we circulate our own cash amongst ourselves the more we all benefit - the BID are discussing taking that a step up and offerning the opportunity to do it digitally with a gift card.
A BID survey page for local businesses reads: "Town-specific gift cards are a popular option for organisations like
Business Improvement Districts as they allow a gift card to be bought
for residents of a town, which enables the money to stay in the town.
They have the advantage over store specific gift cards as if one shop or
chain ceases to trade, the card can always be spent elsewhere in the
town.
The card is free for retailers to accept and the
registration process takes a couple of minutes, using the existing
Mastercard network. So, put simply, if you accept Mastercard, you can
accept the gift card"
Apparently the Elgin version went down well in the run up to Christmas, P&J article here.
Peter Gibson, BID Chair, tells the Gurn that residents can participate in the survey too here on this webpage.
Do not believe the marketing hype!
ReplyDeleteThere are 422 Levy liable properties in the “Embrace Elgin B.I.D.” area, with the gift cards accepted at only 85 “businesses”.
From the annual reports of City of Elgin BID Ltd. for the period 1st October 2018 to the 30th September 2020, (2yrs).
£21,657 was placed onto the cards.
£16,183 was redeemed from the cards.
925 transactions took place.
However, City of Elgin BID Ltd paid the card provider £23,407 to run the scheme over the same time.
Therefore, it is running at a LOSS!!
Please remember that City of Elgin BID Ltd. gets the money to pay for the scheme by charging all the 422 businesses the B.I.D. Levy!!
Nairn had a similar card a few years ago, and it was not very successful Although a good idea, folk don't really shop on the High Street much.
ReplyDeleteD Ross said.... - David if you applied the same amount of effort to being positive about Nairn as you do to being negative, you could be an asset to the town .........
ReplyDeleteThink about that suggestion and blast it into negativity! Cos that's what you always seem to do!
Seems like a good idea
ReplyDeleteTo Anon @ 8:42AM,
ReplyDeleteAs you state, I put effort in….....researching accurate facts for the businesses of the town to use to make their own well-informed decisions. How these facts are then used is the responsibility of those individuals.
An individual’s perception makes facts positive or negative.
Facts themselves are neither positive or negative.
To keep the businesses of the town well-informed is surely positive!
Anon @8.42am, what is negative about the information DRoss has provided? If these are the facts that he is stating then surely it's better to be aware of the potential problems other organisations have faced.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has to come to the defence of D Ross!
ReplyDeleteMost local residents will, I hope, be sympathetic to any proposals which will help to sustain and revive the local economy and the High Street shops.
But it will be important to base any scheme on a rigorous and realistic assessment of its financial viability. Not much point in being positive about an operation if the promoters in the BID, the participating shops, or the local resident shoppers end up losing money: nobody gains from that.
D Ross has put out some thought-provoking figures. Who knows whether they are reliable, or whether there is more to the story? But this is a matter which needs serious hard-headed analysis, not woolly thinking or warm-and-fuzzy sentiment.
Mr Ross is right to voice his concerns on this topic. Just what will be the cost of set up and running this card?
ReplyDeleteHe says it’s running at a loss but what assumptions is he making within that? If the person spends their £20 gift card in a shop on the high street, what’s to say that they dont shop elsewhere that day? Have Elgin BID marketed the product well enough, would the Nairn community get behind it, could restaurants get involved and what about hotels or B&Bs giving a £5 voucher for eve4 stay which then pushes more footfall to local businesses? Not everything is as black and white as D.Ross likes to make out.
ReplyDelete