Local web company creates platform for community

By Donia El-Haddad

As we shift our post-COVID-19 lives into a new normal, many businesses are looking for ways to continue meeting demands and many consumers have a growing desire to support local businesses.

Splice Digital is a web and mobile development studio located in Windsor with more than 10 years of experience working with companies such as Leon’s, Puma and Atari. When the vice-president noticed the drive to buy and support local, they came up with a solution for Windsor-Essex and surrounding areas. The website www.shopmytown.ca was born with a $10,000 budget.

Brian Hendel, the creator and president of Splice Digital, said residents do not have a cumulative marketplace to access the Windsor community.

“They either have to build their own store, which is a very expensive thing, or use a behemoth like Etsy or Amazon, which then charge like 25 per cent and it’s not locally focused,” said Hendel. “So there was no real socially engaged, locally engaged platform marketplace to allow shoppers to buy local.”

The website provides a simple way for local vendors to create an online presence by offering an e-commerce platform, providing social media marketing, and driving people in. The cost to vendors is much smaller at 12 per cent of sales with one per cent of that going to a charity within the Windsor community, as a part of their fee structure.

Kent Walker, Ph.D and MBA Program Director of the Odette School of Business, said in order for the website to succeed the community would need to provide a lot of support.

“The response from the community would need to be substantial and the greater the response the greater the value it can bring not just to the sellers but also the buyers. The response from the community will depend on price, quality, and the ability to tell the stories of the local vendors and organizations,” said Walker. “But also that the health of the community is deeply tied to the health of the business sector, more important than ever during COVID-19.“

Currently www.shopmytown.ca plans to launch on May 25, 2020. Local vendors can sign up on the website.