Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District (BID) has traditionally been known as a premier shopping and dining district right outside downtown Denver. But the area—16 of the most-walkable blocks in the city—has been booming with new construction of luxury hotels, residential mid-rises and office buildings. No longer solely a dining and shopping destination, Cherry Creek North caters to professionals and families. A residential area that is now home to millennials, young families and downsizing baby boomers surrounds the BID. These neighbors enjoy walking over to Cherry Creek North.
The Challenge
Cherry Creek North needed a revitalized website that showcased its new direction. It needed to point out how the neighborhood was a fun and attractive place to live, work, shop, play and stay. The site needed to be more user-friendly and easier for staff to manage. It needed to provide a more convenient way for customers to purchase gift cards. Without an online program, customers were forced to visit the BID office to buy gift cards, limiting sales.
The Redesigned Website
We created a visually appealing site that is intuitive for visitors. Users can browse through the full list of shops and restaurants or search by categories. Each business has its own profile page, which includes a map pinpointing its location in the neighborhood. We went a step further and listed nearby businesses to make it easier for visitors to plan their trips.
“We have over 500 businesses in 16 blocks, and we needed a good way to show where they’re located, how they’re categorized and what they offer,” says Jenny Starkey, director of marketing and community relations for Cherry Creek North BID.
Boosting the Gift Card Program
We also created a separate, easy-to-find page touting Cherry Creek North’s gift card program. For the first time, customers could buy gift cards online, by filling out a user-friendly form that synced with the software the BID was already using for the program. To further promote the gift cards, we added a map that showed which businesses participated in the program. Since going online, gift card sales have increased.
Cherry Creek North is also a showcase for small businesses—70% of its businesses are locally owned. The BID is active in the national Small Business Saturday program but wanted a way to highlight small businesses year-round. We created a Small Business Spotlight section in which a Q&A with a local business is featured every two weeks. The most recent spotlight is prominent on the homepage.
Throughout everything we created for Cherry Creek North, we kept staff time and efficiency in mind. Our software allows merchants to submit information easier and for staff to quickly make changes with just a few clicks. Staff no longer have to manually add or remove businesses from each individual page. Now a click or two will update a business on the category page, the parking map and gift card participation map.
“It’s really easy to be able to update something in one place on the backend of our website,” says Kate Lynch, marketing and communications specialist for Cherry Creek North BID. “To have all of this information automatically populate has really increased our efficiency and saved us a lot of time.”
We were able to create a site for Cherry Creek North that caters to both customers and staff, while highlighting the vibrant lifestyle of the community.
“Having a website that is so rich with visuals and so many different possibilities has helped convey the vibe and the attractiveness of our neighborhood in a way we didn’t think we could do before,” Lynch says.