New road high street Gravesend

A new programme has been launched to attract shoppers back to the High Street.

We have collaborated with social media specialists, Maybe* Tech to launch Local Rewards. The aim is to help businesses recover from the impact of COVID-19. Giving them the support, they need to reach more customers and make more sales. 

The main objective of the programme is to increase footfall in both town centres and encourage shoppers to visit local businesses in person. Businesses signing up to the programme will benefit from 12 months of support free of charge.

Local Rewards allows businesses to communicate with, and reward shoppers when they hit the High Streets. The intention of ‘levelling the playing field’ through enhanced digital skills. Enabling small businesses to have access to the same level of tools and know-how as big businesses with bigger budgets. 

Businesses can also cross-promote and support their High Street neighbours to create an online network of connected traders. 

Cllr Dr Lauren Sullivan

 

Cabinet Member for Strategic Environment, Cllr Lauren Sullivan, said: “We are committed to doing all that we can to boost the health of Gravesend and Northfleet’s town centres, as well as the surrounding areas.

 

“The council will be working alongside the new Local Rewards programme. Encouraging local businesses who might not be fully confident with how to promote themselves online to take advantage this programme.

 

“We appreciate that high street businesses work long and often irregular hours. The programme will feature ‘on demand’ assets like webinars and videos, which they can access when they need.

“In addition to the digital programme, we will be working with university students who will begin making contact with businesses introducing them to how the scheme can benefit them.”

The technology enables shoppers to see businesses near them, view and engage with their social media content and shop with them via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

For every pound a shopper spends with a participating business, they earn a point. Points can be used to claim rewards offered by local businesses across the county.

Every business that signs up to manage their listing on the Local Rewards High Street Guide will have access to a range of social media tools and training provided by Maybe*. 

Maybe* collates the data from over 3.9 million businesses from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram daily. As a partner of the High Street Task Force, they work alongside Kent Invicta Chamber to support businesses across Kent. 

Polly Barnfield OBE, CEO of Maybe* Tech said: “Around two thirds of shoppers regularly look online for inspiration. The Local Rewards programme groups all social media content by location. It then encourages people to browse their local high street and rewards them for spending locally.

“High streets need infrastructure that until now has only been available for online businesses. This programme will help local businesses level the playing field, with giant online retailers.” 

“They need to communicate with shoppers in real-time to showcase what’s available. To compete, High Street businesses need to up their digital game. Promote their physical stores and collaborate. Our platforms help them collectively to do that. We are delighted to be working with businesses across Gravesend and Northfleet.”

Published: Friday, 25th February 2022