Three NH communities have signed on to beta test a new app, Distrx, which helps downtown merchants market to shoppers through their phones and communities to promote events and tours to visitors.
Modeled after iBeacon technology from Apple, the Distrx app operates as a social media GPS. A phone containing the app receives a welcome notification once it crosses into a downtown district, as pre-determined by geo-fencing established with a small, wireless beacon.
App users can browse the district’s database to learn about local shopping destinations and upcoming events, and access exclusive promotions and discounts posted by participating businesses. Participating merchants also have beacons installed that send direct, specific greetings to customers once they enter their building. Every business that uses the app has its own Distrx page, which is linked to its website and any other social media platforms.
Chris and Ron Cook, CEO and president respectively, began developing Distrx about a year ago in Florida. They wanted to capitalize on mobile promotion tactics used by large chains like Target, JC Penney and Best Buy while bypassing the limitation of downloading numerous apps.
“Our goal was to develop one app that can provide access to all different main streets, giving districts the ability to reach out and market themselves to mobile consumers,” says Chris Cook.
Ron Cook adds that Distrx is meant to “push the idea of shopping local. It’s that corner music store we want to help, not Guitar Center.” After initial beta tests in five Florida main street districts, Ron and Chris sought out other test locations of varying size, and three of the five additional locations are in Dover, Jaffrey and Rochester.
Rolling it Out
The beta test communities are using the app for free and providing the developers with feedback from both app users and merchants prior to a national launch, says Ron Cook. They’ve maintained a dialogue with downtown districts throughout the test, including an informational session in late March with interested businesses in Jaffrey scheduled by TEAM Jaffrey, the town’s downtown organization.
Melanie McDonald, executive director of TEAM Jaffrey, says that Distrx provides an accessible platform for main street managers and contributes to the shop-local culture in NH and New England. She says that 29 businesses and nonprofits will be participating in the beta test, slated to launch on or before May 1.
Rochester Main Street was the first NH community to implement Distrx, launching the app with 19 participating businesses this past March. That number has grown to 27 and counting, says Michael Provost, director of Rochester Main Street.
Provost describes the app as a tool for economic development. “Only 5 percent of travelers will stop at information centers,” he says, adding that preemptive Internet research has also dwindled due to the prevalence of smart phones.
Kris Ebbeson, owner of Riverstones Custom Framing in Rochester, uses the app to notify customers of various events she holds at her store. Distrx users can schedule when event notifications appear and the length of time, says Ron Cook.
“It’s another piece in my social media puzzle,” says Ebbeson. She says the app may be a more effective way to reach potential customers since it’s targeting people who are actually shopping in downtown Rochester.
“This gives our businesses another tool to turn passerbys into paying customers,” says Karen Pollard, economic development manager for Rochester. “We’ll have the opportunity to do a lot more digital marketing than we have before.”
Jaffrey is planning to eventually use the app to include features like scavenger hunts, geocaching and historical walking tours. “The quality of the app is going to be dictated by the quality of content provided by downtown,” says McDonald. TEAM Jaffrey has been working with the town on potentially implementing these plans, such as attaching beacons to recently restored WWI and WWII monuments in the town common with historical information pages.
“Downtown as a destination can mean many things,” says Jo Anne Carr, planning and economic development director for Jaffrey. “We want to let people know that there are many reasons to come to town.”
Dover Main Street, which plans to launch in early May with about 20 business, expressed similar interest in exploring non-business uses for Distrx, including a walking tour and scavenger hunt in conjunction with the Woodman Museum’s centennial anniversary, says Amanda Gourgue, program director for Dover Main Street.
The beta test will extend through late May, when Chris and Ron Cook will present the Distrx app at the 2016 Main Street Now Conference in Wisconsin. After that, Chris Cook says that they will officially launch and market the app nationally in June.
McDonald says that she’s negotiated to extend Jaffrey’s beta test through August to compensate for its late start. Other NH communities may be joining. Nashua recently signed on to use Distrx and Concord is exploring using the app.
Once Distrx is launched, the app will be free for consumers to download, says Chris Cook, with participating merchants charged a monthly fee that won’t exceed $10.