Via ShopCity.com
City of Corona To Help Residents Shop Local On ShopCorona.com
CORONA, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Corona, population 150,000, located in the "Inland Empire" region east of Los Angeles, is committed to ensuring local businesses succeed online.
The Economic Development Department, led by Judi Staats has partnered with ShopCity.com, provider of an innovative "bricks and clicks" platform designed to stimulate local economies, to launch and promote ShopCorona.com.
"Our goal is to have every business claim their profile page and start posting their products and services in the ShopCorona.com marketplace, creating a one-stop shop for everything in Corona," says Colin Pape, CEO of ShopCity.com.
The website engages the local community by enabling residents and visitors to post reviews, shop online, download coupons, buy gift certificates and browse restaurant menus. By creating and enhancing the connections between local businesses and shoppers, the City hopes to keep local dollars spent close to home, securing its tax base in a difficult economy.
When Department Manager Judi Staats and Project Coordinator Daniel Rittatore approached ShopCity last summer about the ShopCorona.com domain name the company owned, the two parties quickly realized they were on the same page.
"The ShopCity platform offered our businesses and shoppers all of the tools we wanted to provide for them," says Rittatore. "By partnering with ShopCity, we were able to save tens of thousands of dollars and launch a dynamic 'shop local' program in a fraction of the time using an internet address that doubles as a reminder to 'Shop Corona.'"
The City of Corona will be actively promoting the site through its "Inner Circle Corona" email newsletter and website which is distributed to more than 50,000 households twice a month.
Pape was impressed with Corona's web-savvy team that were heavily focused on using social media platforms Twitter and Facebook as well as email marketing to connect the community. "Team Corona really gets web 2.0, and their goal of transparent local government through technology is visionary."
The campaign goes into full-swing on February 1st. Merchant participation is now being solicited with the help of local business groups and sales partners. Visit www.ShopCorona.com or www.ShopCity.com for more information.
About ShopCity.com
ShopCity.com strengthens local economies by connecting businesses and consumers online through its network of community marketplaces that include ShopNewYork.com, ShopBoston.com and ShopMiami.com.
