Co-operative marketing; Helping those who help themselves.

Kildare Chamber of Commerce voucher book is a resounding local success. Participating Local businesses report increased footfall. Local consumers are enthusiastic about the novel offers available and the value they can now find for everything from Pizzas to PC Doctor to Pet Health.
Households can use up their voucher book over the coming months and develop the all important habit of visiting our vibrant service provider and small enterprise based town centre.
Kildare Chamber of Commerce will launch a new book in the autumn to create a pre-Christmas shopping lead-up in Kildare town and to help our members help customers by giving real LOCAL value for money.
The Co-op movement sustained a generation in rural Ireland in the past. Co-ops helped farmers sell their produce, helped creameries acheive the volume needed to compete with imported produce, gave a retail outlet to rural households.
Kildare Chamber of Commerces voucher scheme is not original , but it does represent a new form of Co-op movement. Co-operative marketing.
The next level of Co-operative marketing has also now arrived to Kildare. A group trading as www.iBuyVouchers.com has the potential to help further business growth and promote customer loyalty.
Signing your business up will place your discount offer on a database for anyone to print or download and avail of -as an incentive to become a customer or a visitor to your town. Credit card style loyalty cards will be sold for three euro in each ibuy participating business. The same card sold in each member business can be used in any other business listed with the ibuy network to avail of their special iBuy member only offer.
An iBuy card holder going on holiday to Galway could look up restaurants linked to the scheme and perhaps eat every night at a special offer price while on holidays.
An iBuy card holder visiting Kildare village or the National Stud could buy a new suit on Kildare 's market square, availing of an iBuy member card offer- and enjoy iBuy card holder benefits in one of Kildares feted hostelries before heading home after a successful day trip.
As Kildare Chamber Chairman I am encouraging all our business members to join this co-operative marketing network AND I encourage consumers and householders to pick up their iBuy 3euro Loyalty card today.
Schemes like this can harness the potential of the small local business sector to help each other.
This is the type of Grass-Roots empowerment that helped Ireland conquer economic, social and political deprivation many times before in our past and can equally see us through the trials of today.

Des Groome