Lugano Card to go digital
Major crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic have brought great suffering to the high street, but along with suffering comes opportunities. A new initiative will be to increase the digitization of services to its citizens - with interesting solutions, rather innovative and destined to remain.
It started in the summer with the libro.lugano.ch platform which proved to be particularly popular (see below) and which then landed a few months later on a dedicated app, MyLuganoApp already launched. And the Lugano Card so loved by residents (more than fifty thousand circulating) in a renewed and rethought form.
But first, a refresher on what the Lugano Card is. It is a card that allows residents (in the red version) and non-residents (in the blue version) to enjoy discounts in all Lugano realities that adhere to the initiative (currently over 250) from municipal beaches to shops. It costs ten francs and must be renewed after five years. ‘we are also working on an analog version for digital non-natives - said the municipal secretary of Lugano Robert Bregy, who acts as project coordinator. - However, it will continue to exist during the transition moment in which the new version and the old card will coexist’.
Who it will be for?
The City only intends to leave when it has a sufficient number of partners on board, and this is now being worked on. ‘A task force has been created by hiring three unemployed people who are on their way from individual stores to explain how the new MyLuganoCard will work, and who will help them with the IT aspects when needed’.
Should a shop wish to join it will have a free digital showcase on the app that it can manage on its own, in particular by showing its products: ‘We are advising merchants not to upload the entire catalog, but to make a sort of best of - perhaps with promotions or seasonal offers’. The user, on the other hand, will have the possibility to book the goods and organize the collection: ‘It’s a soft solution for those small businesses that have big problems managing an e-commerce by themselves - said Bregy.
The concept has already been presented to the umbrella trade associations (Federcommercio, Commercianti di via Nassa, Club del centro, GastroLugano), given that the private economy is the main recipient of this initiative: ‘Their feedback has been positive and we have received an enthusiastic response as they see the concrete effect on the local economy. But now it is necessary that individuals respond’.
How it will work?
With the old Lugano Card you would as an example enter the Lido & show the card on entry giviong you a discount. With the MyLuganoCard, if you go to the Lido, you will pay the full price, but the equivalent of the discount will be exchanged for loyalty points that can then be used in any activity that participates in the initiative, from the restaurant to the shop, at the Lido itself: ‘an interesting tool because it keeps the money in the area’, emphasizes Bregy.
To activate the MyLuganoCard on the MyLugano app, it will still be necessary to pay - let’s call it that - a small activation fee, but this will be immediately converted into loyalty points that can be spent: ‘At the end of each month we will sum up the points distributed and points collected in each shop, by sending an invoice if there is an excess or by charging the defect’. There will also be a version of the card for tourists and non-residents (called MyLuganoPass) which will also entitle you to various concessions, at the discretion of individual economic activities.
Two hundred thousand have booked
From its inception to date, the site libro.lugano.ch, put the initiative online. Over two hundred thousand bookings and purchases of bathing establishments, events, social, cultural and entertainment activities: ‘It worked beyond our expectations - says Robert Bregy. - We were afraid that users would have a hard time getting used to it but there were no problems. The system has allowed many to take advantage of the free time offers in complete safety and in the best possible way’