After a turbulent year for businesses, ShopLK are celebrating reaching a major milestone for gift cards.
2021 saw a record-breaking €3million spent on ShopLK gift cards supporting local businesses in Letterkenny.
With a new outlet at Bookmark in the Courtyard Shopping Centre, ShopLK gift cards are now available 7 days per week or online on shoplk.ie.
Looking back to last year, with only a few weeks fully open before Christmas in 2020, it was difficult to know how voucher sales would go. But an incredible €3million was spent on gift cards between the 1st of November 2020 to the end of October 2021, marking a huge milestone for the initiative.
First established in 2004 by Letterkenny Chamber as a local shopping initiative, it has gone from strength to strength. Since moving to the gift card in 2015, gift card sales have increased year on year with customers seeing a ShopLK Gift Card as the gift of choice for any season as the best employee reward around.
Commenting on the most recent achievement, Michael Margey, Chamber President said “Each year since our ShopLK gift cards were launched, we have been delighted with the increasing sales levels, but our annual sales figure of €3m+ has exceeded all our expectations particularly as the office was closed for so many months.
“We have seen corporate sales increase year after year as businesses increasingly chose the ShopLK Gift Card as a reward for their employees. The ShopLK gift card is redeemable at over 220 member outlets, which gives customers endless choice and good value. ShopLK is all about supporting local shopping, sales of this level shows that the message has got through. Customers love the variety and the support it offers to their favourite outlets. For local shopping it Has to be Letterkenny”.
As ShopLK gift cards are only redeemable in Letterkenny, this brings profit to the town and supports local jobs. Records show that from at least one third of customers using the card, almost always spend more than the value of the card itself.
Toni Forrester Letterkenny Chamber CEO explains how that ShopLK Is more than just a gift card “ShopLK is about promoting Letterkenny as a retail destination and the commercial hub of the county. Being a ShopLK member gives businesses another promotional platform and encourages them to increase their own brand awareness and stand out in a competitive market.”
Acknowledging the support of Donegal County Council, Michael Margey said “The financial support that we have had from the Donegal County Council, Letterkenny Milford MD, has really enabled us to elevate ShopLK and engage more fully with businesses and with consumers. It has allowed us to promote Letterkenny across Donegal and the Northwest. We would also like to thank The Bookmark outlet at The Courtyard Shopping Centre who also sell our ShopLK Gift Cards directly to the public. This has greatly benefitted the initiative, most especially during peak sale periods.”
Letterkenny Chamber could not run this highly successful initiative without the support of DSP Community Employment programme through which the Chamber is staffed. It is the frontline staff in the Chamber that provide the much-needed resources throughout the year to make ShopLK such a success and the support of the Department of Social Protection is very much appreciated.
Buy ShopLK gift cards online at: https://shoplk.flex-e-card.ie/
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