Just under a week out from launch, over 150 Canberra small businesses have registered for the ACT Governmentโs ChooseCBR discount voucher program.
The sentiment among many of the local businesses signed up is positive; they see the program as an effective way to promote shopping locally in the lead up to Christmas.
With a two-week trial commencing next Wednesday, 9 December, the voucher scheme is open to small businesses with an ACT shopfront operating in the retail, tourism and accommodation, arts and recreation, personal services and hospitality sectors who received JobKeeper this year.
Owner of The Bank Skatepark in Fyshwick, Aaron Gardner, told Canberra Daily he thinks the scheme is a โreally good, smart ideaโ to encourage Canberrans to shop locally.
โPreviously people have just bought online because itโs easier; with this people can say weโre going to save money, weโre going to get the item straight away, and weโre supporting local,โ he said.
โOnce I get the money, I take my kids out to restaurants, Iโll shop local too and itโs going to circulate. It doesnโt just get spent once; itโs spent multiple times within the local economy.โ
The Bank Skatepark owner Aaron Gardner
Mr Gardner said the timing of the trial scheme in the lead up to Christmas complements the shop component of his business well.
โWe set ourselves up being an indoor skatepark for Christmas with our scooter sales โฆ Having a big Christmas is pretty important,โ he said.
The initial trial of the scheme will run with $500,000 worth of discounts in the form of five daily vouchers, each of which must be used at a different business.
For every $1 of government spending through ChooseCBR, businesses will benefit by between $4 and $6.
A week prior to launch, Minister for Business Tara Cheyne announced that over 15,000 Canberrans had registered for the program, which was music to the ears of Impact Comics owner, Mal Briggs.
โI think thatโs terrific,โ he said. โItโs a good sign people are preparing to or actively spending money in the community.โ
Mr Briggs said heโs able to promote the scheme โwith confidenceโ knowing heโs encouraging people to โnot just shop with us, but with other Canberra businessesโ too.
โTo take an extra moment and double check whether they can get what theyโre after from a local business is probably going to make a bit of a difference to stop that money leaching out of the community too,โ he said.
Melissa Tuckwood of Melโs Massage said the discounts offered by the voucher scheme might just be whatโs required to prompt some customers to seek out a massage.
โFor a lot of people thereโs just been so much uncertainty this year and we always put ourselves last,โ she said.
โIf this is the incentive someone needs to tip them over the line for a bit of self-care, I think thatโs wonderful.โ
Frugii Desert Laboratory co-owner Ed Marshall said her business registered for ChooseCBR to โlet people know we are here, who we are, and what we doโ.
โWe’re a small family business and the support of our customers has been astounding,โ she said.
โWe decided to join up with the voucher promotion to encourage more people to come and visit Frugii and see what weโre all about.โ
Following the upcoming trial of ChooseCBR, ACT Government will evaluate the program with the possibility of a full rollout next year.
A list of participating businesses is available via the ChooseCBR directory.
