Champion Green launch Innovative Loyalty App for Local Businesses

Champion Green is a national movement with a grand coalition of government, industry, business, and the public to support each other and drive the recovery of our communities and economy after the COVID-19 crisis. The initiative is aimed at supporting our local community, shopping local and generating revenue for Irish businesses.
As part of the initiative, Champion Green are partnering with Visa and LoyalBe to launch the Champion Green Rewards App bringing LoyalBe’s digital loyalty solution to more businesses in Ireland. Loyalty programmes are a helpful asset to any company, but traditional paper programmes can sometimes offer little to no data about how their customers are actually engaging, making it difficult for business owners to adapt their business to consumer behaviour. LoyalBe offers smart digital solutions to small businesses, meaning customers will no longer need to look in their wallet in order to get a card stamped. Once signed up, consumers can start earning rewards every time they pay with Visa.
LoyalBe puts the power of ‘loyalty’ in the hands of shoppers and independent businesses alike. With no requirement for Point of Sale integrations or equipment, businesses can be onboarded quickly and seamlessly.
Cormac Quinn, CEO and Founder of LoyalBe, believes that this original application will be of even greater value to small, independent retailers as we emerge from this period of uncertainty:
“Our LoyalBe app works by connecting directly to the customer’s bank card to reward purchases, thereby giving retailers the ability to understand their customers better and offer them a more personalised shopping experience. By using Open Banking technology, we make the process of rewarding loyalty seamless. Given its frictionless nature, we don’t require any equipment or software at till points and customers don’t need to change their behaviour. They simply just pay by card as usual.”
“This new partnership with Visa and Champion Green will empower SMEs to compete on a level playing field with big retailers, by providing access to a digital loyalty solution and scheme. Loyalty is proven to drive increased sales but, for a long time, it was only the larger, corporate retailers who had access to data and analytics that gave them an advantage. From the beginning, our mission at LoyalBe has been to democratise loyalty and give smaller retailers access to invaluable data which can be used to stimulate customer engagement.”
“People have seen how the smaller, independent retailers have been affected by the pandemic and now, more than ever, people are keen to champion local businesses. In this climate, tools such as LoyalBe are even more valuable in getting people back through the door and, most importantly, ensuring that they continue to come back.”
Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager at Visa said, “This Christmas, where you shop matters and by supporting independent businesses you can help your community thrive. That’s why we’re giving Kilkenny businesses a helping hand through our partnership with Champion Green and LoyalBe, so loyal customers can be rewarded for showing their support at this vital time of year.”
Ideally suited to businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors, the app is being piloted in Kilkenny City and surrounds and will be rolled out nationally over the coming months. The great news is that the loyalty app has a fantastic introductory offer for launch, offering a 3 month free trial, limited to the first 60 businesses in Kilkenny. Beyond that, businesses can avail of a €15 discount for 3 months, bringing the price down to €10 per month on the standard plan.
Key supporters of the Champion Green initiative, Kilkenny Design Centre is one of the first Kilkenny City businesses to sign up to LoyalBe app. Sinead Gargan, Store Manager states “ It’s a fantastic way to know your customer and give something back to those who support our business on a regular basis. We have toyed with the idea of a loyalty app for some time but there were quite a few complexities involved to build one. The Champion Green Rewards App was so easy to set up, taking just 15 minutes and there is no time-consuming management of it going forward. I’m really looking forward to rolling it out with our customers and it has come at an ideal time for retailers.”

Food Operations Manager Martin Corcoran recently signed up the Foodhall Cafe & Foodstore as part of the pilot scheme “We’re looking forward to rolling this out, I think it’s going to be a great addition for our customers and a brilliant way for us to give back to the local community as well as being part of something bigger. Our offering will be a complimentary hot drink when a customer spends €40 with us so whether they are in for their daily coffees or every other month to stock up on takehome meals, they will be able to reap the rewards”
As businesses become more comfortable accepting contactless and mobile payments, now is a good time to explore growth opportunities through building customer loyalty digitally.

To book a free demo of the Champion Green Rewards app for your business contact hello@loyalbe.io or visit loyalbe.io/demo. For more information on Champion Green visit www.championgreen.ie.
Champion Green is a consumer support local initiative supported by Kilkenny Design and Visa, as well as business groups Retail Excellence, the Small Firms Association and Chambers Ireland.