There have been some real challenges for downtown Greensboro businesses lately – homelessness and a lack of adequate convenient parking to name two big ones – however, backers of downtown businesses are hoping a new initiative will be a shot in the arm.
Downtown Greensboro Inc. is rolling out a new program aimed at encouraging residents and visitors to spend more money at locally owned businesses downtown.
The organization announced this week that it has launched “Boro Bucks” – a digital community gift card that can be used at more than 50 participating businesses in downtown Greensboro.
The gift cards can be purchased online in amounts ranging from $5 to $500 and can be sent instantly by text or email or mailed as a physical card.
Unlike cartons of milk, the cards never expire.
The program is designed to make it easier for people to support local businesses while also giving downtown merchants another way to attract customers.
“We created Boro Bucks to make it easy for residents and visitors to shop local,” DGI Interim Executive Director Rob Overman stated in a press release announcing the new program. “Every dollar spent with Boro Bucks goes directly to the small businesses that make Downtown Greensboro special.”
According to DGI, the participating businesses include restaurants, retail stores, salons, fitness studios, live music venues and other downtown merchants.
The cards operate through the Mastercard payment network, meaning businesses don’t need any special equipment to accept them. DGI stated that merchants receive payment the same business day and that there’s no charge for businesses to take part in the program.
The Boro Bucks program is part of a growing trend around the country in which downtown organizations, chambers of commerce and local governments create “shop local” gift card systems intended to keep spending within a community rather than sending it to national chains or online retailers.
The Greensboro program is being powered by the Yiftee platform, a national company that specializes in local community gift card systems. According to Yiftee, more than 700 communities nationwide now use similar programs.
Other North Carolina cities have launched comparable programs. Downtown Raleigh operates a digital downtown gift card program that can be used at more than 90 businesses. Durham also previously launched a “Spendabull” community card program aimed at encouraging residents to spend money with local merchants instead of large national retailers.
Programs like these became especially popular during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when downtown groups and local governments searched for ways to support struggling small businesses. Some communities have even used the cards for employee rewards programs, tourism campaigns and government assistance initiatives that require funds to be spent locally.
Supporters of the programs say the cards often generate more spending than the face value of the gift card itself because customers frequently spend additional money when redeeming them.
Downtown Greensboro Inc. is a nonprofit organization focused on downtown economic development, events, public space activation and business partnerships.
People interested in purchasing Boro Bucks or seeing participating businesses can visit the Boro Bucks website at https://downtown-greensboro.yiftee.com.
