Park City Credit Union works to strengthen the local economy while adding value to their services with their Buzz Points rewards program. Buzz Points is a debit card rewards program with a Buy Local theme that rewards their account holders for using their debit card and for shopping local. Account holders earn points on their transactions that can be redeemed for local gift cards, cash cards, and donations to local non-profits.
Throughout November, Park City Credit Union and Buzz Points are promoting local businesses with Shop Local Saturday. Shop Local Saturday falls on the day after Black Friday and provides an alternative to the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy that has become a mainstay of big-box retailers’ annual business.
“We are empowering community financial institutions and local businesses to compete with mega banks and big-box retailers, while stretching consumer dollars and keeping more dollars local,” says Buzz Points CEO Jay Valanju, who added, “Everybody wins when you shop local.”
Shopping local doesn’t just affect businesses, it affects residents too. Studies show that as much as three times the money stays in a community when purchases are made with locally owned and operated businesses vs. national chains that ship the majority of their profits off to their corporate headquarters. Furthermore, local businesses typically offer better wages to employees, keeping even more money in the community. Locally owned businesses also define a community’s identity, add “local flavor,” provide a wider variety of goods, and offer more personalized service.
The Shop Local Saturday campaign engages consumers through social media, local media, and the web to drive more traffic to the network of local businesses that Park City Credit Union and Buzz Points have created. Additionally, business owners in the community are receiving a kit with Shop Local Saturday materials to display in their establishments.
You can learn more about Shop Local Saturday and joining the Buzz Points program, as a business owner or consumer, on the Shop Local Saturday homepage buzzpoints.com/shoplocalsaturday.