Shops seeing benefits from digital grants
Some recipients taking part in St. Catharines’ first digital market on Instagram Friday
Mindbomb Records can’t let customers browse through its vinyl in person right now, but it has made its online shopping experience a little more satisfying.
The downtown St. Catharines store has been adding more content to the items on its formerly “bare bones” website, thanks to a Digital Main Street grant it received a month ago. The funding, which coincidentally came as COVID-19 shut down storefronts, has allowed the shop to boost its online presence at a time when it counts on it more than ever.
“If you are a business that can benefit from doing online sales, it’s kind of a do-or-die at this point,” said Mindbomb owner Chris Charkowy.
Mindbomb Records is one of the local stores taking part in the city’s first digital market on Friday, hosted by Niagara’s Digital Service Squad. The event on Instagram from noon to 2 p.m. is showcasing products from local businesses with a focus on gifts for Mother’s Day.
The local Digital Service Squad was created last year through Digital Main Street, a program funded by the province and dispersed by the Ontario BIA Association. The goal was to help as many small businesses as possible to modernize and build their online presence.
St. Catharines received a $70,000-grant from Digital Main Street to hire a squad for a regional project that involves 12 BIAs in Niagara.
Digital Service Squad team members Jessie Reid and Brittany Ditizio have been in contact with about 200 businesses throughout the region.
Reid said the businesses were at different levels, with some needing help to build e-commerce stores and websites or creating social media profiles. Some already had a digital presence, but wanted it to be stronger.
The pair also helped businesses apply for $2,500-grants offered through Digital Main Street.
St. Catharines downtown development officer Samir Husika said that’s proven timely because a lot of businesses that applied have recently heard back about their applications and are getting their grants.
“It’s probably the one really good piece of information that a business owner is hearing about now in such difficult times,” he said. Mindbomb on James Street used its funds to hire someone to add more details on its website than just the title and artist names. Charkowy said there are now descriptions about the pressing, whether it’s on limited coloured vinyl, if it comes with a digital download, and writeups about the artist and record.
He said those extra details help with search engine optimization so people will find the site easier when they Google for products.
“It’s hard to tell if our online sales have spiked in the past month because of that or just because people are stuck at home and just buying things online,” he said. “I would assume it’s a bit of both.”
Charkowy said it’s still a fraction of regular sales, but enough to keep the business going. The store is doing curbside pickup and delivery in the United States and Canada.
Melisa Parkins, from Pocket Change on St. Paul Street, received a digital grant earlier in the year and used it to update the store’s website and hire someone to get it optimized so more people would see it, too. She also purchased a lightbox to help her take better quality photos of products for the website.
“With online presence being so important during this current experience with COVID, having a more visible online presence has really helped during these times,” she said.
She’ll be part of the digital market on Friday with gift boxes featuring local makers and handmade products. They are available for pickup.
“The conversion from being a brick and mortar store to going online isn’t an easy one, but definitely I’m seeing more online orders and having new customers, which is wonderful,” she said.
“All the support I’m receiving right now is truly 100 per cent appreciated.”