WEtech Alliance, in collaboration with Community Partners, is launching Activating Online Sales and Buy Local, a Community Collaboration Project with Windsor-Essex technology company Splice Digital as part of the Digital Main Street Future Proof Program in Southwestern Ontario.
Leveraging Windsor-based Splice Digital’s shopmytown innovative e-commerce platform, this project aims to connect local vendors with new and existing customers who like to shop and support local. The project will run in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, beginning on January 1st, 2021 and run through to March 31st, 2021.During the duration of the project, platform fees will be reduced to 3% (from 12%). In addition, business owners will have complimentary access to dedicated Customer Success Teams, in partnership with Communitech, who will help business owners get online and sell on shopmytown quickly and easily.
Why: Through the WEtech Alliance Ignition Program powered by Libro Credit Union, weconnected with over one hundred small and medium-sized main street businesses across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, to better understand the top challenges they’re facing.
We heard clearly that the negative impact of COVID-19 directly relates to lost revenue as a result of not having the expertise and resources necessary to transition to an e-commerce model, as well as businesses lacking the critical infrastructure being built to effectively manage this transition. Learn more about the problem here: https://www.wetech-alliance.com/ignition/
How: Vendors in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent can visit https://windsor.shopmytown.ca/vendor-registration to register.
Need help setting things up? Reach out to a customer support team representative and get the answers you need. WEtech Alliance and shopmytown will make sure the community is here to support you. We’ve got your back! Contact Christine Ricker at [email protected] or Noah Campbell at [email protected] to get started.
About WEtech Alliance
WEtech Alliance is one of seventeen Regional Innovation Centres, funded by theProvince of Ontario, serving the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent regions. Theyprovide entrepreneurs with business services, training, mentorship and strategic connections to help bring new ideas to market, scale to the next level and build a dynamic culture and a community of innovation. WEtech Alliance has served as the catalyst for technology and innovation in the Windsor-Essex + Chatham-Kent regions since 2011.
About Digital Main Street:
Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve digital transformation. The program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and our Digital Service Squad, a team of street-level team members who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through technology. Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, Facebook, Intuit QuickBooks, Square and Yellow Pages.
A $42.5-million investment from FedDev Ontario and an additional $7.45 million from the Government of Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa, and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses to go digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19.
About Community Collaboration Projects:
Community Collaboration Projects connect regional innovation centres and community organizations in a series of engaging conversations on common issues facing small businesses to build workable solutions. The Digital Main Street Community Collaboration Project is made possible through financial support of the federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and the Government of Ontario.
