Southlake, TX is a beautiful suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth, located about 10 minutes away from the DFW airport. With a population of ~35,000 residents and a daytime population of over 100,000, the town boasts several Class A office buildings and an award winning, master planned, town square. Southlake provides its residents and daytime visitors alike with numerous restaurants and retail options.
For the last few years, Southlake’s Economic Development Department has worked directly with Bludot, a software platform specifically designed to support economic development teams and their initiatives. Southlake uses Bludot's business directory, an interactive directory that allows residents to easily find up-to-date information about local businesses and enables the economic development department to maintain accurate information.
Recently, they decided to expand their impact by investing in Bludot’s shop local app, Open Rewards. Open Rewards enhances shop local campaigns by making it possible for residents to seamlessly earn cashback on their local shopping, dining, and entertainment activities.
Building Southlake’s Open Rewards program
Home to over 2,000 businesses, many of them retail or restaurants, Southlake was searching for a way to engage its residents and visitors with their local businesses. Through their Business Spotlight series and direct outreach, they had built strong relationships with business managers and owners. So, when they approached these businesses about starting the Open Rewards program, that previously-built trust was important.
“Building those relationships with our business managers and owners, having that positive relationship when we go to implement this program, that trust is already there—that’s huge.” Robert Briggs, Deputy Director, Economic Development and Tourism
Similar to many shop local campaigns, the Open Rewards program is simple. Local small businesses sign up to participate, and whenever a community member shops at their establishment, they receive a certain percentage of cash back that can be a direct payout or redeemed at another business. The payout comes from a dedicated pool of money, often from a local Chamber of Commerce or Development Council.
Southlake, TX dedicated a pool of $75,000 for a 5% cashback incentive for community members spending locally. Over 300+ retail, dining, and entertainment businesses signed up for the program, which piloted during the first few months of the year when dining and retail spending historically dips.
And, unlike most Open Rewards programs, Southlake allowed direct cash back to their participants without any limits to the amount of cash back earned. They had expected the funds to run out by June, but due to unexpected positive engagement, they needed to replenish the funds a few months earlier than planned—an indicator of its success with local residents.
“Our residents and visitors were happy to earn $20-$30 just by going shopping!” Dylan Duque, Economic Development and Tourism Specialist
Driving a successful shop local program
The team leading the program attributes much of the success to a few key initiatives.
Firstly, their "boots on the ground" approach to economic development strategy was crucial. As mentioned earlier, building trust with community business leaders allows for the implementation of new programs with relatively little friction.
Secondly, they had the support of their Administration, City Council and the Community Economic Development Commission, a resident led board. All were fully aligned with supporting local businesses and embraced the program as a way to do so.
Finally, once the program was approved, they invested heavily in marketing. From trifold sets in the town square, handing out business cards and flyers to advertising across local websites, their economic development department ensured that residents throughout the town knew the program was in full swing.
A million dollar impact as a result of Bludot's Open Rewards program…
Six months into the program's implementation, Southlake has seen a 20x return on investment. They have observed over 1.5 million dollars in economic impact in their city and engaged nearly 2,000 people in the program.
With around 90% of participants being Southlake residents, it is clear that locals are excited about this initiative. In the future, Robert and Dylan hope to extend their impact beyond their community and engage more non-residents in the program.
For more programs that can engage communities more deeply with their local businesses or other economic development solutions, schedule a demo with Bludot today.
Comments