Bristol Pound: Connecting Eachother (2017)

Client-led brief exploring issues around Bristol Pound, Bristol's closed currency.

Figure 1: This is the prototype that was made to present our final idea

Nicholas Hemley from Bristol Pound, Bristol's very own closed currency, set the challenge:

"We believe that the two key challenges to achieve this are engaging with Bristol more inclusively (i.e. all sectors and demographics) and implementing the necessary processes and technology to allow for sustained growth.  We are looking for innovative ideas to help us achieve these goals."

In order to tackle this issue we wanted to understand what would better connect all three stakeholders, which are Bristol Pound, the businesses with a Bristol Pound account and the customers with a Bristol Pound account. In light of this I posted various quantitative surveys on the Bristol Pound Facebook page in order to get an idea of the demographics concerning the customers who have an account with Bristol Pound. This was to see who our main target audience was so that we could develop our ideas to suit them. I also sent quantitative surveys and emails to approximately 40 businesses that use Bristol Pound, that asked questions about their opinion of it, as well as to show us who would be interested in having an interview with our student team. With those that completed the survey I sent a follow-up email asking for a qualitative face-to-face interview to get a more detailed and personal response to Bristol Pound, so that we could gain greater insights.

What we found from the original surveys was that the majority of customers who use Bristol Pound are middle-aged white males. This was confirmed through the individuals that we had interviews with who run independent businesses that use Bristol Pound. The second insight that we found was that the majority of businesses we sent the survey to did not fill it out or did not reply to the email. However, the few individuals who did were very enthusiastic about Bristol Pound and so were also happy to have an interview with us.

Finally, we got our most insights from interviewing the enthusiastic individuals who run businesses that have an account with Bristol Pound. Firstly, that although they understand Bristol Pound and are huge advocates for it, not many other people do despite many having an account with them. As the concept of Bristol Pound is such a novel idea, it can be hard for individuals to be comfortable with it without actively seeking the understanding of it.

As well as this, we wanted to ask these business owners' questions on the challenges they face in the day-to-day running of their businesses irregardless of Bristol Pound. This was done in order to see if there were any challenges Bristol Pound could create a solution for that would make it stronger against the Pound Sterling. What we found was that independent businesses struggle against chains and larger businesses due to their lack of buyer power and large-scale marketing ability. Buyer power describes the ability to buy stock in bulk, normally for a discounted price, which means that it can then be sold cheaply in-store. However, as independent businesses do not have the funds to do this, they have to raise their prices. One owner that we spoke to expressed his grief over this is it meant that his customer's feel like his pub is trying to take money from them, when in actual fact he wants prices to be cheap but simply can not afford to. Our interviewee explained that this made his business feel weak and unsupported.

Following these three insights, as well as feedback from Nicholas on various ideas, we settled on making Bristol Pound into a "community support service" for the businesses that have an account with them. This service would be a combination of multiple additions to the Bristol Pound app and website, largely centered at the businesses who have an account with Bristol Pound. The three additions that we presented to Nicholas were: A review system, so that after customers have made a transaction a pop-up asks them to review their experience out of five starts, similarly to how Uber ratings work, and then they have the option to also leave a written review.

These reviews then work towards our second addition, which is 'Spotlight', this is one business chosen by Bristol Pound as the 'best Bristol Pound business of the week'. These two features would give these independent businesses free promotional value that they otherwise would not be able to get. It would also essentially act like 'Tripadviser', in that the public can view the ratings and comments, however, due to the core values of community that Bristol Pound has, I think individuals would view the Bristol Pound reviewing system as more reliable.

Our final addition is a 'business forum', which can only be unlocked if you are a business who has an account with Bristol Pound. Here is a place where independent businesses can talk openly on various threads, ranging from challenges they are facing with using Bristol pounds,  to challenges that they are facing in their day-to-day running. They can also use this platform to organize events, such as community meet-ups. I think this is the most important feature that we presented, because it would give the independent businesses the support network that they need to thrive. This would also incentivise businesses who do not have an account with Bristol Pound to get one, as there are not many other platforms that could provide this sort of free service.