Seasonal support on the buses

CHRISTMAS will be coming early for local businesses courtesy of Commerce Ballarat.

Two new initiatives are set to launch this month as part of the group’s seasonal offerings including a Christmas shopping bus tour and an expanded voucher competition.

The bus tours will take place on Saturday, 26 November and Saturday, 3 December and Commerce Ballarat CEO Jodie Gillett said they’ll benefit businesses and customers.

“It’s always been important to spend locally, but now even more so after the last couple of years which have been pretty tough,” she said.

“Businesses need as much as they can get, and we thought we’d make it easier for customers to do that by offering them a chance to jump on a bus and get driven around to our wonderful, unique retailers.

“They can do their shopping while having a bit of fun and making it a social day out.”

Registrants for the all-day bus tours can choose between two unique trips featuring more than 10 businesses each. The tours are capped at about 15 people.

A staple of Commerce Ballarat’s seasonal offerings, the Christmas Competition is set to return, offering shoppers who spend more than $30 at participating stores the chance to win one of three vouchers worth $1000.

Ms Gillett said with more businesses involved, the Christmas Competition is bigger than ever.

“We thought, do we want a competition with just 10 businesses, or should we try to get a lot more involved?” she said.

“We went out to our retailers and got a fantastic response, so we’ve got 35 businesses. All you need to do to have the opportunity to win is spend $30 in one of those stores, and place your receipt in the box provided.”

The competition will launch on Monday, 21 November before closing on Monday, 12 December.

An additional $500 prize can be won by posting a picture to Instagram of your shopping experience with a participating store with the tag #ShopToWinBallarat.

Tickets for the Christmas shopping bus tours are $30 and can be booked at bit.ly/3UdyQ8v.