Showing true support for our Kiwi SME’s, Visa has launched Where You Shop Matters. The initiative acts two fold as an online store locator to help consumer find nearby local businesses, and includes a e-commerce support package small retailers.
As we come out of Lockdown and straight into a recession, retailers are being hit hard to adapt and innovate to stay alive. The restraints on in-person shopping forced many retailers to secure their online offering and adapt to a new wave of consumers, now Visa is working further to equip these businesses to do so safely and at the new speed which consumers demand.
Marty Kerr, Visa’s country manager for New Zealand says these new initiatives will empower the e-commerce ecosystem.
“We want to use the power of Visa’s network to empower the commerce ecosystem, and Where You Shop Matters will do this, connecting shoppers with merchants across New Zealand as these small businesses navigate immense change,” Mr Kerr.
“While e-commerce presents new revenue avenues for merchants, it can be a new territory for many businesses who might not have an online presence, or who need to enhance their current online offering – so we’re pleased to offer Visa’s support to help make this digital process easier for SMEs.”
Visa is firstly tapping into the most recent push from Kiwis to shop local following the Lockdown. The Business Locator Tool leverages Visa’s global payment network to connect shoppers with open and operating businesses.
“Visa first used our network in this way in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey in the US, as a platform for consumers to locate and support small businesses. We’ve now adapted it to be purposeful in the current environment and to support New Zealand’s small business sector getting back on its feet,” says Kerr.
Visa’s Business Locator tool is the largest, transaction-based directory of New Zealand businesses currently operating. A hyper-local interactive map-based web tool that enables users to view businesses that are open and trading in their area, based on whether the merchant has processed a Visa transaction in the past 24 hours. Updated daily, the tool can be filtered by merchant location and category.
Following the launch of this tool today, Visa has also announced alongside it an advertising and support e-commerce package for small businesses.
The packages are a move to help SME’s who may need assistance when trading online. Eligible businesses can apply for perks such as a free three-month Shopfiy subscription to get their website up and running which includes digital payments. SME’s can also apply for a $500 ad booster programme to enhance their social media presence and reach more customers online, with several more e-commerce offers from a range of platform partners coming soon.
Kerr says that by opening up e-commerce platforms, businesses expand their customer base not only domestically but to millions of Visa cardholders internationally.
“Many merchants new to e-commerce find that they quickly expand their customer base beyond a typical five kilometre local radius to sell to the rest of New Zealand and even the rest of the global marketplace.”
