The City of Oakley is proud to implement exciting shop local small business incentive programs to support the Oakley community and help local businesses overcome some of the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approved by the Oakley City Council at the March 15, 2022 meeting, the program allocates $65,000 from the City’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to support the local business community. Through this program, the City will offer a digital gift card that makes it fun and easy to keep local spending local. A key element of the campaign is the City-provided bonus gift cards given to shoppers when they purchase eGift cards through the program. For example, someone can purchase a $50 card and get a $50 bonus gift card funded by the City. Shoppers can choose to spend it at one of 17 (and growing) participating merchants in the City—or mix it up and spend flexibly at multiple locations. The City is implementing this program through Yiftee, Inc., which offers award-winning eGift card and promotion solutions for local businesses and communities.
Simultaneously, the City is launching the Oakley Digital Market (https://commerce.glass/oakley/), an e-commerce marketplace where Oakley Community eGift Card users can browse and shop products, and local business owners can showcase and sell their products & services online. Local businesses can digitize their catalogs of products and services, while residents can discover Oakley’s businesses, services, and pricing while shopping online. The Oakley Digital Market is powered by GLASS, a Bay Area software company supporting city governments on their Economic Recovery and Development efforts, as well as on their business diversity and inclusion programs, using big data and real-time analytics.
Participating in this program means supporting the heart of what makes our community unique. The Oakley Community eGift Card and the Oakley Digital Market programs boost a pool of cash that local businesses in Oakley can rely on. Studies[1] have shown that local independent retailers recirculate 47% of their revenue back into the community, while only 14% of national chains’ revenue stays in the community. More dramatically, restaurants recirculate 73% of their revenue back into the community, versus only 30% for national chains. By supporting local businesses, more money continues circulating through the local community—this is achieved through a combination of profits paid to local business owners, wages paid to local workers, goods and services procured locally for internal use or resale, and charitable giving within the community.
To purchase egift cards visit: https://app.yiftee.com/gift-card/city-of-oakley–ca-oakley
To check out the Digital Market, go to: https://commerce.glass/oakley/
For more information or to participate as a merchant in the program, please contact Harumi Murata harumi.murata@ci.oakley.ca.us.
[1] Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, 2012, by Civic Economics.