It might have been natural to despair at the hardships the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed on Yellowknife businesses, but Rami Kassem kept a watchful eye on new opportunities.
In August of 2020, he began working on a digital platform that would produce coupon vouchers for businesses in the city.
After six months of working with a developer on the app, platform and website, KassemSA国际影视传媒檚 Aurora Coupons went live in February, 2021.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e been running Javaroma since 2009 and ISA国际影视传媒檝e done lots of marketing for my business,SA国际影视传媒� Kassem said. SA国际影视传媒淚 know that every business needs customers to come in and have their business needs met so they become loyal. So offers and promotions are useful. When the pandemic started I decided it was the right time to do it.SA国际影视传媒�
Aurora Coupons brings together local companiesSA国际影视传媒� promotions of products and services into one app, saving customers the effort of learning about offerings on their own.
The app also answers the need to maintain social distancing.
SA国际影视传媒淟oyalty cards or stamp cards arenSA国际影视传媒檛 good for the environment because theySA国际影视传媒檙e disposable. People are so careful about touching during COVID-19. People arenSA国际影视传媒檛 comfortable anymore with traditional coupon programs. I thought this was the right time to go fully digital and be one of the first companies in the NWT to do this, and hopefully one of the first in Canada to have it all on one platform.SA国际影视传媒�
About 26 companies have participated with offers on Aurora Coupons since it launched, with more than 800 downloads of the app and over 10,000 visitors each month to the website.
Kassem estimates 1,000 coupons have been redeemed.
Featured businessesSA国际影视传媒� coupons are displayed on the main SA国际影视传媒渂rowse offersSA国际影视传媒� tab of the app. Clicking on the SA国际影视传媒渓ocationsSA国际影视传媒� tab opens up a GPS map of Yellowknife with more than a dozen additional offers, including links to the businessesSA国际影视传媒� Facebook page and the distance of the business from the user.
One of the first companies to join Aurora Coupons was the Northern Sky 360 Dome cinema.
SA国际影视传媒�(The owner) was very excited that the first time he put up the offers a lot of customers came to his business. There were $700 to $800 in sales just from coupons in February. And My World (childrenSA国际影视传媒檚) Entertainment had a lot of coupons too. They were very happy with the platform.SA国际影视传媒�
The owner of SavannahSA国际影视传媒檚 Family Restaurant texted Kassem on the first day its coupon went on the app and said many new customers had came into the eatery.
The placement of Inclusion NWT on the app helped raise money for its BloominSA国际影视传媒� Raffle program from May 14 to June 18 and SA国际影视传媒渉elped reach so many people so fastSA国际影视传媒� as Kassem recalled organization spokesperson Daron Letts telling him.
The Aurora Coupons platform also hosts the #ShopNWT Scan 2 Win campaign supported by the NWT Chamber of Commerce. Customers scan the QR code on the Scan 2 Win site, fill out the registration form and then upload photos of their receipts from shopping at participating businesses.
Each point earned counts for $1, up to a maximum of $2,500 allowed in the #ShopNWT campaign.
Once a userSA国际影视传媒檚 points reach $500 theySA国际影视传媒檙e entered into the draw for one of six $1,000 gift cards or one SA国际影视传媒淯ltimate Staycation PackageSA国际影视传媒� courtesy of the the Explorer Hotel.
The campaign wraps up on July 18 and winners will be drawn on July 23 on BuyNorthSA国际影视传媒檚 Facebook page.
Kassem plans to develop Aurora Coupons even further by making the program detect the language of the userSA国际影视传媒檚 phone so that tourists from China, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere can see offers in their own languages.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 hoping that it will happen by the fall when tourism might pick up (again). And I will start making contacts with NWT Tourism and the City of Yellowknife to promote more offers. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 important that tourists have information available in their languages,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
He also hopes by fall to expand the program to other communities such as Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Inuvik.
