- ‘Visit, Shop & Explore’ supports 75 local businesses with exciting prizes.
- Event strengthens community bonds and supports city centre vibrancy.
In the month of May 2024, the Invercargill City Centre plays host to a retail promotion called ‘Visit, Shop & Explore’.
Shoppers are encouraged to make a purchase at any of the 75 participating businesses right across the city centre, fill in an entry form, and drop it in the entry box to go in the draw for a prize pool of $4,000 worth of vouchers.
Organiser Oli Cameron said the activation programme started as a partnership between the Invercargill City Council and Great South to create more vibrancy around the city centre.
“It’s about getting people to shop here and not online to help stimulate the local economy.”
Funded through a targeted rate to commercial land owners, he said those who owned the buildings in the city centre saw value in helping market their tenants’ businesses and it was a win-win for everyone.
This retail activation was the first for the year and was a simple campaign that offered shoppers incentives to come into the city centre.
“And it also creates some excitement around wanting to be here, and this is also something that we are trying to work through to strengthen those community bonds,” he said.
The internet had desensitised the shopping experience and made it a challenge for retailers right across the world, he said. Go here for more information