The city of Las Vegas has launched an innovative, new shop local campaign in partnership with Bludot. Open Rewards—a program targeted at assisting small, independently-owned businesses in Las Vegas—allows customers to earn cash back rewards for every purchase at participating businesses.
While many cities have shop local campaigns, Las Vegas Open Rewards is powered by Bludot’s Open Rewards app, which makes it easy for businesses to sign up and for residents to earn 10% cash back on all of their purchases. Customers can then redeem the rewards by shopping at other participating businesses.
To celebrate this launch, the city is offering $10 sign up bonuses for customers who use the Open Rewards app—making it even easier to support small businesses.
"Small businesses are at the core of our diverse and vibrant community. Being able to promote our local businesses and incentivize both our residents and tourists to shop local is such an exciting opportunity for us." Carolyn G. Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas
Funded by $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, the program is limited to small, independently-owned businesses that have been financially impacted by Covid-19 in the last few years, as well as those operated by or on tribal lands.
Over 600 small businesses are participating in this innovative shop local campaign, which runs through June 30, 2024. In just a few months since launch, the program has over 12,000 users and brought over one million dollars in revenue to the local businesses, which range from restaurants to retail outlets to grocery stores to boutique hotels and more.
“Our consumers and our local population can patronize these businesses and see what's out there. [We see] this is as a way to market these businesses, so our local community can see some of the cool businesses that we have here in Las Vegas.” Tammy Christensen, Economic Development Manager for the city of Las Vegas
Marketing the program has included a variety of traditional efforts, along with partnering with the local influencer community in Las Vegas. These partnerships have resulted in nearly 60% of all new user growth. Shared through a variety of social media outlets—like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube—this strategy has garnered significant buzz among users and local business owners.
The response from the business community has been overwhelmingly positive, with many seeing spikes in new customers and larger than normal surges of customers from influencer campaigns.
Consumers are also raving about the program, sharing “Great app to support local businesses” and “I am truly glad how the city of Las Vegas is supporting local businesses.”
At Bludot, we are excited to partner with one of the largest and most iconic American cities to promote supporting the lifeblood of any city—their local businesses.
"This is truly a monumental partnership for Bludot. To be able to bring Open Rewards to one of the largest and most visited cities in the United States is a major milestone. Open Rewards will allow shoppers to earn and redeem rewards at so many incredible local businesses in Las Vegas. We're thrilled to call the city of Las Vegas a partner, and look forward to the success of the program." Sophia Zheng, Founder and CEO of Bludot
The city of Las Vegas now joins hundreds of other communities in 30 states that are powered by Bludot. If you’re a city looking for an innovative approach to shop local campaigns, schedule a call today.