We’ve all had a voucher given to us as a present at some point in our lives. You know the ones that you can spend in a variety of shops, including Boots, Debenhams, Argos, etc. But these vouchers only cover large retailers, so what about small independent retailers, can they offer a voucher scheme?
Small independent shops have decided to join forces to offer their own voucher schemes. One example is in Reading where 25 retailers have set up the MoLo scheme. The scheme works by the retailers uploading money-off vouchers to a website and consumers can access them either using their phone or by tapping their plastic card onto a reader in-store.
The scheme is being led by the Association of Town and City Management. Guy Douglas spoke of the scheme and his plans for expanding it to other towns.
He said: “This gives independent stores the ability to have total control of their offers. Never before have they had access to technology like this, it has always been the preserve of the big brands.”
Bristol have also launched a similar scheme called YourStreet gift card which allows customers to load money onto a debit card and spend in over 100 small local stores.
The scheme was set up by friends Anne-Louise Perez and Imogen McIntosh. They spoke of the need for independent retailers to join voucher schemes in their area.
“At the moment £4bn is spent on gift cards in the UK each year and most of that is spent on chain stores.
“If we can redirect at least some of that money towards independent stores then it is going to benefit everyone. If one trader goes bust then there are potentially hundreds of others where you can spend your money.”
Many people worry about buying a voucher from a particular store in case it goes bust. But these schemes can set people’s minds at rest as they have a variety of shops to choose from. Does your local town have a voucher scheme? Would you be inclined to purchase vouchers for independent shops if you could use them in numerous stores?
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