Olympia Downtown Alliance launched a new partnership with the Pacific Northwest loyalty leader SnowShoe with the goal of helping to accelerate the revival of small businesses in Olympia in 2021. The loyalty program lasts for two years. In Olympia, small businesses rebound!
Read all the details in a complete two page document (PDF), which includes information on how to use the application. Note that the application is restricted to the Olympia area during the first six months (July-Dec 2021). The Go Downtown app is based on these principles:
Privacy Note:
All data collected is transmitted to local merchants and the Olympia Downtown Alliance. All data is provided to local businesses to help them engage directly with their customers. No customer data is retained by SnowShoe.
A nationwide press release announced this new program. The Go Downtown program launches as part of the Olympia Downtown Alliance’s ongoing Why I Go Downtown initiative to encourage participation in local shopping, dining and entertainment. The new Go Downtown app uses game-based techniques similar to Pokemon Go to encourage downtown shoppers to “check-in” at local businesses.
“We’re thrilled that SnowShoe chose Olympia for this pilot,” says Todd Cutts, Executive Director of Olympia Downtown Alliance. “Downtown Olympia is a vibrant area with hundreds of independent local businesses, and we hope everyone comes back downtown this summer as retail rebounds in Olympia.”
Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby hopes that consumers will embrace the program. “Olympia residents and visitors alike are enthusiastic supporters of local business,” says Selby. “SnowShoe’s new program adds a fun gamification experience to buying local, and it offers us a way to thank people for coming downtown and encourage them to come again.”
“I’m excited to see people returning to our downtown,” says Kae Stair of Compass Rose. “Our Historic Downtown Olympia district is lucky to have such a close knit community of shops, restaurants, and everything in between, so being able to easily recommend and support our other local small businesses.”
The SnowShoe designed program provides each business with a small Spark Tap device which allows for hands-free checkins at each participating business. Consumers can either use a web application or a downloadable smartphone app to “play” the game of visiting as many local businesses as possible.
The Go Downtown program was designed to allow businesses in the greater Olympia downtown area to reward shoppers for visiting their store. The Spark Tap requires no person-to-person contact, does not require no batteries or electricity and works out of the box after sign-up.
The program is designed this way because research has demonstrated that customers who visit a single specialty retail store are more likely to visit other stores in the same district. Incentivizing this activity lifts repeat visits to the same set of stores by 30%-45%. SnowShoe has developed an application to reward shoppers for completing their favorite shopping routes, also known as loops. Shoppers will simply make a purchase and tap our device with their mobile phone to checkin and earn points, which can be redeemed for a set of prizes administrated by the Olympia Downtown Alliance.
For more answers to your questions, please see the complete four page FAQ document (available in PDF form):
