We’re now 9 weeks into the launch of our very first Local Use Case (LUC). You already knew our strategy and you had some insights about our marketing and sales activations in Tours.
Tours : our marketing laboratory
Our strategy is based on having a balance between merchants and users, you can read more about it here. Therefore this first exercice was the opportunity to test multiple marketing actions and see its results. Wether it is about branding, conversions or advertising we learned a lot for the next cities.
🚲 EKOON — Eco-marketing
At Retreeb we’re not only innovative in our vision and our business model, we are also innovative in the way we send our messages to the public. With EKOON we were able to reach the people of Tours in a different way.
The two futuristic add e-bikes turned everyone’s heads, for a good reason. Instead of only relying on the usual outside screens (which consumes a lot of energy) we went for this solution that is not static, as it can move anywhere in the town depending on our target audience. Take a look 👆.
💶 The purchasing power
Solidarity, ethics and sustainability are some of the foundations of our company. Yet, we are conscious that we are going trough tough moments and a big part of the society, as seen its purchasing power degrading.
So, to support this issue, we came up with this idea : a Retreeb display with 5€ vouchers.
The objective is simple : use our network of merchants, to show what Retreeb is, all while helping the people who download the app.
🤝 Solidarity Coffee
Something we’re very proud of is our solidarity coffee. It can be installed anywhere and has a strong message. 1 App download = 1 coffee donated to an homeless person.
The idea behind is to give the people who participate, the “Retreeb experience”. Showing that by adopting a payment solution that’s free for them, they can do a good deed and allow us to finance good causes.
🌍 And lot of ethical creativity
To support these major marketing activities, we challenged the brains of the entire team to come up with some other great ideas.
- Reverse graffiti : also an ecological way to leave a recognizable footprint.
- Store stickers : it’s the best way to identify from the outside (and inside) a Retreeb merchant. And they are proud to display their stickers.
- Social Ads : of course, to address a younger target we need to catch them where they are. The people of Tours learned about Retreeb in the palms of their hands.
- Local “influencers” : better than working with single influencers, we decided to work with well known local Instagram pages. For example with Sortir à Tours — a page that gives you info about the main events in the city.
- Retreeb party and more !
The key figures
Two simple figures are very important to us, as it reflects our work and how the company is growing : the number of merchants, and the number of users. Of course, the merchants being our starting point, simply because in order to get user traction a large network is essential.
🏪 80 merchants
The Retreeb network now counts around 80 merchants! Strongly meaning that store owners of today are committed to offering their customers a sustainable solution.
A large variety of stores are now accepting Retreeb as a payment method. Clothing stores, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, libraries, comics store and even VR experiences. Today, you can spend more than a day in Tours with only your Retreeb App.
👥 More than 1500 retreebers
In less than 9 weeks we went from 0 to more than 1500 users. Aiming specially for students, but the retreeb app is for everyone, some of our biggest fans and ambassadors are older.
This number, on the other hand, is proof that people are more eager to consume in a better, responsible and sustainable way. Today, Retreeb is one of their payment choices and, its in our hands to make it their favorite one.
Retreeb’s core : the associations
🌿 Social or environmental
Any project that meets our criteria can see itself being added to the App, once the team approves its funding. Today, we already have 4 projects in the gallery which are being financed. Wether it is a social, animal or environmental cause, you can choose one directly in-app. This is a feature that is very much appreciated by the users. You can check every project in our website here : https://www.retreeb.com/ethical-projects
✅ Our first fully funded project!
We’re very proud to announce our very first fully funded project, Social Luggage Storage Room, had a goal of 3k€ to construct 16 individual wooden lockers for the people of Tours in precarious situations. This project is now helping them to storage their belongings without worrying about it getting stolen. The project is being carried out by a Touraine cabinetmaker active in the local community, making this story even more special. Of course, Retreeb has contributed financially for the funding of this first project, the inhabitants of Tours were also able to help to achieve this goal.
Retreeb official partnership with the city of Tours
A very important step for the company as this was the biggest “approval” by the local authorities, allowing us to gain even more traction from the merchants.
This partnership was possible because of common shared ambitions by the two parties. Retreeb joins the “Solidarity and sustainable merchants of Tours” network. Meaning that any merchant that wants to join this network will be able to adopt Retreeb as an official payment solution to meet the criteria.
🎓 The University Students’ Unions
They are vectors of evangelization among students, with each association helping to onboard several hundred students. Economics, Health, Sports, Retreeb can adapt to any case and share the same values.
What is especially motivating about this, is the fact that, we achieved this by taking the spot of a well-known French payment (and P2P) company that is the leader in this field. 🚀
