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BlueDot outlines Open Rewards program for Keller to boost local spending
Summary
A BlueDot representative described Open Rewards, a citywide app-based incentive program that would let the City of Keller fund short-term promotions directing consumer spending to participating local businesses. Board members asked about funding, redemption, caps and technical details.
BlueDot representative Sofia Zane presented the company’s Open Rewards program at a Keller Economic Development Board meeting, describing an app that lets cities fund short-term, city-specific consumer incentives and track usage by business and user.
The program is designed so consumers create a free account in the Open Rewards app, earn rewards by linking a credit card or uploading receipts, and then redeem rewards either as an immediate payout (Venmo, PayPal, Zelle or mailed check) or as a local redemption depending on the city’s settings. “Open rewards in a nutshell is a citywide rewards program to incentivize your local shoppers to spend money at their local businesses,” Sofia Zane said.
Board members and staff discussed how participating businesses are defined, how funds are deposited and managed, and controls such as per-user caps and program time frames. Board members asked whether the program can use a points system rather than direct dollar values and whether businesses must do any operational work to participate. Zane said points are possible but may require development time; she said most participating businesses do not need to sign up or change operations to benefit, and that sponsors (the city or other local sponsor committees) fund the rewards pool.
On funding and mechanics, the presentation said each participating city deposits a budget into BlueDot’s account; BlueDot then disburses payouts to users as they request them. Zane described options for redemption and the app’s discovery and business-profile features. She said cities can set reward percentages and runtime parameters (for example, 10%, 15% or 25% promotions) and can cap rewards per purchase or per user and set expirations. “For the regular businesses, most of the time, our businesses actually don't have to do anything for the program,” Zane said.
Board members raised operational questions: whether wallets across different cities can be combined (the app maintains a separate wallet per community but cities can choose whether to allow cross-community usage), how the dashboard reports metrics such as number of users, visits and estimated economic impact, and whether the CRM portion of BlueDot can populate the city’s business database and plug into the city website. Zane said the CRM and rewards are separate investments but that the CRM is purpose-built for economic developers and can be integrated with city web assets.
Staff also asked about cost. Zane and staff said the CRM has a monthly fee (staff quoted prior pricing at about $395 per month for a database under 1,000 businesses) and the Open Rewards activation price is charged for the time the city runs the program; staff estimated a two-month run would be under $800 for the platform fee plus the reward budget.
The board did not take a formal vote on implementing Open Rewards at the meeting; members asked staff to return with cost options and launch timing if the board wishes to proceed.
Keller staff said the presentation materials and the app are available for board members to review and that staff will circulate additional pricing and integration details to the board before a decision is scheduled.
