Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Plenty" currency in Pittsboro, NC


Innovation can come from anywhere, even tiny Pittsboro, NC (just outside Raleigh, NC). This story talks about how the local community has come up with a creative way to encourage the local residents to shop locally.

If you work out the math behind it, it's essentially just store owners giving a 10% discount to the customers. The trick is in the packaging. If they just printed coupons, residents may just throw them away. But by giving them 10% extra ($100 USD buys 110 "Plenty" dollars), they are incentivized to spent the dollars they have exchanged. The emotional connection and the transactional connection is made. 90% of something is far better than 0% of nothing.

Who knows how long this currency will stay in existence, but it's a nice example of a community pulling together to create something greater for the overall community. I think I'll take the family down to the Pittsboro Soda Shop this weekend and spend a few Plenty dollars.
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