Have you ever received a gift card as a present? Those wallet sized plastic cards with a magnetic strip, be it as a thank you, birthday, or Christmas present. The easy gift and the only thing to think about is the amount. Easily accessible, shops will even sell you other business’ gift cards. You can even use them in other towns, which is great for out of town relatives.
If 300 gift cards of $50 value were sold on average each day in this region that would nearly be $5.5M in card sales a year. In the month of December it wouldn’t be hard to imagine over 1000 a day are being sold. What are the most popular gift cards, I guess you’re thinking national and multi-national companies? Money that doesn’t necessarily circulate back in our region. Money that finds its way to financial centres in Sydney and Melbourne or maybe Bermuda.
Here’s a late election type promise, we’ll put $50M back into the local economy. $50M distributed amongst the businesses of Central Queensland, stimulating the local economy, creating more jobs and local investment.
How can this promise be delivered? You simply get local people to buy gift cards that are used at local stores not at (multi-)nationals. If the spend is around $5.5M a year, well over 10 years (as this makes a more impressive total – and indicates a long-term commitment) that will be a $50M plus boost for the local economy.
If you are a person who likes more detail you’ll be asking how could this promise be efficiently delivered? Well, you get a community minded institution to approach the Council with a concept already working in 18 other Australian communities, introduce a local branded gift card, make it free for local businesses to register with, promote the benefits of the gift card – the ease to purchase and variety of places it can be redeemed, and how buying this card as opposed to a (multi-)national card keeps the money circulating in that region because it is geo-fenced, thus only can be used in that region. Locals buy their region’s gift card, instead of the (multi-)nationals gift card, and low and behold over 10 years an extra $50M has circulated in that region, distributed amongst local businesses who are the primary employers and investors in the region, which helps improve the overall standard of living in the region. Cost to tax payer, basically only what they were going to pay anyway – no new taxes needed to fund it.
Well it wasn’t a promise in the recent election, but it is going to be in part delivered and not about 3 years from now. Tonight, the concept will be launched in beautiful Emu Park. Why Emu Park? Because of the existing collaboration of the local business community in promoting their town in the near state-wide Beautiful Emu Park television campaign makes them a likely receptive and pro-active audience and that the community minded institution that approached the Livingstone Shire Council to support this shop local initiative is the Emu Park and Yeppoon Community Bank® branch of the Bendigo Bank.
Keppel Cash is the branded gift card, the gift card that gifts backs. Buy a $50 Keppel Cash gift card from any participating business on the Keppel Coast and that $50 will get spent back with participating businesses on the Coast, even if it is given to someone in Rockhampton.
It is estimated (national companies) gift card sales on the Coast would be around $1m a year. Thus, the potential extra money that could be circulating around the coast with the introduction of Keppel Cash is $1M a year or $10M over 10 years in political speak. Any way you shape it I’m sure this amount will be most welcome by the Coast’s business community and help stimulate their economy. Please consider it, and the benefits, next time you are buying a gift.