The Downtown Alliance is offering a “Downtown Digital Innovation Grant” that will award one storefront business in Lower Manhattan up to $10,000 in services to improve its online presence and digital tool kit. This grant is intended to give businesses the capacity to invest in everything from digital advertising and social media strategy to outfitting in-store employees with mobile tools and smarter checkout capabilities.
“Our storefront businesses are the lifeblood and character of our neighborhood and we want to help them succeed,” says Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance. “Digital innovations are key in the changing retail landscape which is why we created this grant as a way to empower our stores to grow their businesses.”
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Alliance president Jessica Lappin:
“Our storefront businesses are the lifeblood and character of our neighborhood.”
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The Digital Innovation Grant program is driven in part by insights like those contained in the “State of Retail Report 2017,” by TimeTrade, a software company that equips businesses to provide personalized service to larger numbers of customers. The report finds that contemporary retail consumers, “want a hybrid shopping experience that combines the convenience of online shopping with the customer service focus of in-store shopping.” It also documents that, while 75 percent of consumers prefer to make their purchases in a physical store, 90 percent are researching online first. Similarly, once in the store, 57 percent of shoppers reported feeling more confident about the purchases they make when their store associates were using mobile devices to assist them.
Applications are now open for all storefront businesses within the Business Improvement District that the Alliance operates. (See map for boundaries.) The deadline to apply is March 20, 2018 at 11:59 pm. For more information, or to apply online, please browse: twn.nyc/DigitalGrant18
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The borders of the Business Improvement District operated by the Downtown Alliance, within which storefront firms are eligible to apply for the Downtown Digital Innovation Grant, worth up to $10,000.
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For the winner (who will be selected by sharing a compelling vision for how the grant will help attract more customers and increase profits), the Alliance will help select (and pay for) the right expert to fulfill a critical digital need, ranging from search engine optimization to a website redesign.
In addition to the grant, the Alliance has also hired Heather Ducharme as its new Director of Storefront Business Engagement. Ms. Ducharme will serve as the Alliance’s advocate for local businesses, helping shop owners navigate the sometimes complex issues their firms are regularly confronted with, and sometimes confounded by.
The mission of the Downtown Alliance is to enhance Lower Manhattan for businesses, residents, and visitors. (Along with other functions, the Alliance also provides local security and trash pickup, as well as operating the business improvement district that covers the area roughly bounded by City Hall and the Battery, between the East and West Street.) Among the services provided by the Alliance that Lower Manhattan residents especially prize is Downtown Connection shuttle, which ferries passengers (free of charge) between 37 local stops that link residential areas neighborhoods with business and shopping districts. Running from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, seven days a week, the Downtown Connection was launched by the Alliance in 2003 and expanded in 2009. Funded in part by the Battery Park City Authority, the Connection shuttle is currently utilized by more than 800,000 people each year.