Irish town sells gift cards for local businesses, generates 4 million euros

The town of Letterkenny has been offering the vouchers since 2015, but last year was extremely good for business

An initiative to support local businesses in Letterkenny, Ireland, has reached a new milestone. The initiative called ShopLK aims to promote purchases from local businesses in the form of gift vouchers, redeemable in listed local vendors and producers.

The initiative was launched in 2004 and has been gaining popularity with locals ever since when in 2022 it generated 4 million euros. This is a growth of 34% compared to 2021 when locals spent just 3 million on ShopLK vouchers.

Supporting local businesses

ShopLK was started by the Letterkenny Chamber, an Irish lobbying organisation, fighting for the interests of local businesses before regional and national authorities, while boosting regional development.

The idea was simple at first, promote shopping locally. However, according to Letterkenny Chamber in 2015 the organisation decided to move to a gift card system, which increased sales and made ShopLK and made it a staple for every occasion.

This includes a stable year-on-year sales growth to businesses, a significant source of sales. Additionally, the Letterkenny Chamber claims that data shows a third of customers who use the card spend up to four times its value. Also, the gift cards are only redeemable in Letterkenny and customers can choose between 240 individual outlets in the city, offering a lot of variety.

Kristine Reynolds, the President of Chamber, was quoted in a press statement acknowledging the financial support from the Donegal County Council. She pointed out that the collaboration has helped the initiative promote Letterkenny across the region.