As the holiday season comes to a close, the Business Improvement District has something to celebrate. The organization’s annual holiday rewards program has had its best year yet.
The program started in 2020 as a way to incentivize residents to do their holiday shopping at local businesses.
Total purchases from 311 receipts that were submitted totaled around $131,152 spent. Out of 311 people, 810 receipts were submitted.
The program produced a total local spend of approximately $147,677, which is a program record. The smallest purchase out of the 811 receipts was $25 and largest purchase was a whopping $12,124.50, while the average spent to qualify for the reward was $421.71.
Customers saved their receipts and submitted them to the BID. After they reached one of the three spending levels ($100, $300 or $500), they earned a reward. The reward was a gift card to one of 12 local businesses. Reward gift cards are based on spending – spend $100 earn a $25 gift card, spend $300 earn a $50 gift card or spend $500 and earn a $100 gift card.
Shoppers were allowed to submit up to 10 receipts to achieve one of the spending thresholds, and each receipt had to have a minimum value of $25 to qualify. Purchases had to be made at either BID or Durango Chamber of Commerce establishments, and they had to fall into one of these categories: lodging, attractions, personal services, dining, shopping or other select businesses.
“This is small sample size of all the people shopping at Durango businesses, but with the average spend being well over $400 by these 311 shoppers it shows that people were opening their wallets early in the holiday shopping season and were making the choice to shop local,” said Tim Walsworth, executive director of BID.
This information is only an early indication that it was a fruitful earning year for Durango businesses, but Walsworth said the BID will have a better idea when it receives sales tax data in February or March.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
