#WDYT - Digital High Street Campaign

#WDYT (What do you think?) is a campaign that helps towns and retailers connect with their customers through social media and mobile technology with the aim of encouraging more footfall.

It helps retailers to connect the physical and digital retail experience of shoppers by engaging them through their mobile phones and social networks. It enables business owners to use digital channels to communicate with their customers to drive engagement, footfall and sales.

As part of the campaign retailers and place, managers are offered access to Digital Skills Training and a turnkey campaign to accelerate their digital adoption. 

Research undertaken by Loughborough University reveals that up to 74% of high street retailers do not have an active social media presence. This data is in stark contrast to the statistic that 72% of millennial shoppers research online before buying in store.  Social media is the place where purchase decisions are discussed and plans for life are made.

The campaign pilot started 6 months ago in three Gloucestershire towns, Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Stroud. GFirst LEP led the campaign to close the gap between the high street and online shopping and are working with the DCLG and the High Street Minister Andrew Percy MP. 

After 22 weeks over 150 retailers have taken up the campaign, over 70 million impressions of #WDYT on social media and 40,000 consumers have engaged with the campaign. There is a Digital Index that measures the impact on each participating place that is being developed alongside this.

A national roll-out of the campaign is underway. It will enable towns to provide their shopping centres, national retail brands and independent retailers with a great package of digital activity.  The purpose of the extended pilot is to provide guidance, insight and infrastructure for high street stakeholders to improve their high street customer experience and to bridge the increasing digital divide between consumers and high street retailers.

Maybe* are working closely with GFirst LEP to coordinate the collaborative delivery of the extended pilot. 

The package costs around £1500 a month to run the campaign for a 3 month trial period, which if successful could be followed with an annual contract. 

You can see what towns and retailers are saying here:

http://www.greatgloucestershirehighstreet.com/towns-and-retailers-talk-about-wdyt/

Interested towns, shopping centres and businesses should contact Polly Barnfield, OBE.  CEO at Maybe* - polly@maybe.xyz  07778 956734

For more information please see: www.wdyt.org.uk