We are so excited to announce we are launching a Downtown Oakville Gift Card program.
This program is open to ALL members as part of your membership benefits. We anticipate launching over the upcoming holiday season. We are now gathering confirmation from members wishing to participate in this program. Please read through the following information before confirming your intention to participate. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 1. There is NO cost to participate in this program – the BIA will cover all participating member monthly fees and software costs.
2. There are no additional costs for a business to accept the gift card. The business will incur a transaction charge from your merchant service provider at your current rate, which will be the same as accepting a Mastercard or VISA. Participating member businesses will be responsible for covering this fee (up to) a 5% processing fee.
3. These gift cards will be sold online only at launch and will be available on oakvilledowntown.com. We will also focus on corporate sales and gifting in the future.
Why a Gift Card Program?
The purpose of this program is to encourage residents, visitors and Oakville based corporations to buy and spend locally. We believe that the program will have a direct, ongoing and positive financial impact for all our members.
There is a proven demand. In 2019 the average local gift card program in North America sold $157,000 worth of gift cards with more than 50% sold outside of the community. On average customers spend 65% more than the face value of the card + it is estimated that 15% of redemptions are new customers.
How it works?
It functions as a pre-paid credit card.
Works on all point of sale systems.
Works with in-person AND online redemption (purchases).
The Member cost is for redemption-only (credit card fees).
Can only be used at approved businesses in Downtown Oakville.
Requires no extra equipment or training
The sign up process is quite simple, and will require completion of a short form and a swipe of your POS system prior to launch. In order to schedule member onboarding, we request that you please respond with your intent to participate before September 3. If you have any questions prior to confirming, please reach out to skay@oakvilledowntown.com