Hello Business Partners
 

It’s unfathomable that it was only last Saturday, that I walked around the village, along streets full of locals and visitors, speaking to shop owners, who said they were having a good business day. There appeared to be some small hope that we would escape the worst of it.

We’re all still reeling at what has transpired in four short days. But, today, there is no way but forward and, fortunately, we are small and nimble, have a supportive community and city leaders, and we have a strong brain trust in our business community.

On Monday I took two proposals to the City Council. They were unanimously approved 5 to 0. We’ve sought legal opinion and feel we are in the clear to move forward.

Overview – Proposed Programs

Customer Retention/Bring Back Gift Certificate Program:
To ensure that visitors and local customers come back to our businesses once we reopen, we are initiating a customer retention program, consisting of escalating gift certificates for retail, restaurants and lodgings.

Langley Virtual Village
“Langley Virtual Village” is a commerce enabled shopping portal, residing on VisitLangley.com. Each retail, restaurant, service and lodging business will have the opportunity to have an expanded splash page and, if they choose, up to 10 products for sale.

The programs are explained further below. Both are open to any Langley business; Chamber membership is not a requirement. If you know a business that didn’t receive this invitation, please forward it to them. 

We are building these programs at an unprecedented speed and know that you will have many questions, some we may have not thought of ourselves. We will do our best to answer any questions as you have them…feel free to reach out by phone or email. If you have suggestions, we’re open to those as well.
 

Customer Retention Program Details
 

Gift Certificates for participating businesses will be sold on the VisitLangley website. The customer will be able to choose the business or businesses they’d like to support with the purchase of a $20, $50, $75 and $100 certificate. The certificate will have a face value of the purchase price at the time of purchase, and an accelerated value of plus 20% if held for 45 days or longer. (A $20 certificate has a $25 value if held.) The customer will also have the opportunity to donate to the business of their choice and forego the certificate.

All purchasers will receive a “certificate” in the form of an email receipt. The business chosen as a recipient will receive a corresponding receipt for their records and the monies (100%) will be transferred to the business.Upon redemption, the business bears the cost of 20% increased value.
 

All Indicators Point to Success

Gift cards and certificates are widely embraced by the consumer, 93% of whom have either given or received one. Given the loyalty our local and visiting customers have to the Langley businesses, we think that there will be an outpouring of good will.

Some other factors to consider about Gift cards and certificates:

• Approximately 72% of customers spend more than the value of their gift card/certificate
• 85% of gift cards/certificates are used, meaning that 15% of them are never used.
• By centralizing the purchase under one umbrella (VisitLangley) the marketing message will be focused and easy to understand for the customer. (Ease of shopping.)

We encourage all local retailers, restaurants and lodgings to sign up. There is NO COST to you. The program will be completely transparent and the cash will come to you at a time when you need it most.

If you’d like to have your name listed as a participating business, please send a message to:
 

Langley@Whidbey.com

Langley Virtual Village Explained

Langley Virtual Village is a commerce enabled business district within the Visit Langley website. Many of our downtown businesses do not have commerce enabled websites and “Virtual Village” would enable business to generate sales via e-commerce in the short term. In the long term, it allows us to have a branded look and feel to Langley and will allow visitors and locals to navigate the downtown district, purchase products, and to see what’s new in their favorite shops and restaurants.

There are two ways to participate:

Option #1: Your business splash page, consisting of an expanded version of what we have on the site today, with a new look.

1. Your business name, address, phone, web/social media and hours
2. Owner Name
3. Description of your business
4. Personal statement by the owner
5. Image of owner and image of store front or interior
6. Special services, like shipping, phone orders, etc.
7. Restaurant menu (if applicable)

If you’d like this option, fill out the “Langley Virtual Village” sign up located on the VistLangley website at  https://visitlangley.com/langley-virtual-village-business-sign-up/  You will also be asked to supply images and a company logo as part of the form.
You may be listed on our site currently, but we don’t want to risk duplicating information that may be out of date or has changed due to the current situation.

Option #2: Commerce enabled shop: All the above would appear on your new splash page AND you would have the ability to add up to 10 products including photography for sale directly on the virtual village.

If you choose option number 2, please fill out the sign-up sheet at https://visitlangley.com/langley-virtual-village-business-sign-up/  and, for each product added, supply the product name, description, SKU, inventory (the site will deduct from the inventory provided), sizes, styles, etc. You will be asked to supply images of product. If you need help capturing images of your product, please let us know.

All orders will process though our website and you will receive them as they are placed via email. Once you have filled the order and supplied the shipping confirmation, the monies will be transferred to you.

Long term, the program will convert to a “membership” sign-on, allowing each retailer to manage their own product page. But, for the moment, we wanted to streamline the process for ease of implementation.

We will load businesses as they come in, with priority given to those businesses selling product, as the basic information for most businesses already resides on the website.

Page layouts will be forwarded to you prior to publishing. More information will follow. We know there are many loose ends to be tied up.

A Final Word
 

We all, like so many in America and around the world, are working in new ways today and we are feeling our way through a world that, last week, was very different. All of us are frightened and unsure of our future. There are no words that will make any of this feel alright. Each of us, in our own way, will have to come to terms with what is happening. All we can do today is be thankful for the things we do have–a great community of people that stand behind one another. Our strength and recovery will come from working together.

Please let me know if I can personally do anything for any of you.

Inge Morascini
Exec. Director, Langley Chamber of Commerce
360-221-6765
Cell: 415497-0161
langley@Whidbey.com