The Viba Barcelona loyalty card comes into service in Sant Antoni

Viba Barcelona, the neighbourhood shopping card, is now a reality. It is now up and running in the Sant Antoni shopping hub as well as the food market and the Encants de Sant Antoni. Over the coming weeks its use will also be extended to the Mercat del Ninot, and over the following months to other retailers’ and stallholders’ associations in the Eixample district. It will then be extended to the city's other neighbourhoods and districts, from February 2019 onwards.

Agustí Colom, the Councillor for Commerce, Markets and Tourism, has pointed out how putting the Viba Barcelona into service, in addition to encouraging customer loyalty, was “a gateway to digitisation, the great challenge for local shops”. He explained how Barcelona’s shops were fighting on a par with the big retailers.

For his part, Vicenç Gasca, the Chair of the Sant Antoni Retailers’ Association, has highlighted the value that the new initiative will have for offering information on sales and customer activity in shops, so they can be analysed and new initiatives launched.

The card will be available in three formats: physical, virtual or through an app and corresponding code. Once its holder has registered through the website or app, they will then be able to enjoy the card’s advantages, by stating their national ID, under the name and surname or telephone number provided. The idea is that customers will not have to take a card with them for the advantages to apply.

How it works

The tools used for accessing the Viba.Barcelona loyalty system will be a website and an app. Shops will have access to them for applying special offers, and customers will be able to check their accumulated balances and the special offers available to them. The City Council is the owner of the global Viba.Barcelona brand, as well as the Viba.Barcelona web domain, which is registered and whose use is assigned to the Fidelitza Barcelona Association.

Clients will be able to obtain a virtual card by registering on the website www.viba.barcelona or by downloading the Viba app, which is available for both iOS and Android systems. The physical card can be obtained at information points set up at the Mercat de Sant Antoni and Mercat del Ninot.

When it comes to applying special offers and accumulated points, users will be able to identify themselves by using their card's bar code, customer ID document, telephone number or first name and surname(s).

The goal is for this card to help local shops and municipal markets by encouraging greater loyalty from their existing customers while attracting new customers. Viba.barcelona came about thanks to the initiative of Barcelona City Council and the Fidelitza Barcelona Association, which is made up by the Barcelona Comerç Foundation, the Catalan Markets’ Association (AMC), the Federation of Food-Product Retailers’ Guilds and Mercats de Catalunya Franchisees’ Associations (FEGRAM), Sant Antoni Comerç, Cor Eixample, Mercat de Sant Antoni, Mercat dels Encants de Sant Antoni and Mercat del Ninot, which created it for the project, and which will be steadily joined by other hubs and markets as they start to use the system. In addition, Fidelitza enjoys the support of PIMEC Comerç, Barcelona Oberta and the Councillor's Office for Tourism, Commerce and Markets at Barcelona City Council.

Viba.barcelona advantages

The card can be used in physical or digital format or through an app, and will bring a minimum advantage of 1% from the purchases that customers make. Shops will be able to decide on increasing that percentage, offering exceptional advantages on one-off occasions or establishing temporary special offers. Customers will subsequently be able to make savings or use advantages at the same establishment.

The card can provide benefits such as 10% discount coupons at Barcelona Serveis Municipals (B:SM) car parks, 25% discounts for Barcelona Zoo and 2 for1 tickets at the city’s museums. New additional advantages will be gradually added.

All these advantages can be seen on the Viba.barcelona app, which can be downloaded in Android and IOS formats, and from the specific website www.viba.barcelona. The two formats will enable each card holder to check their balance for purchasing at various shops, view a directory of establishments where the card can be used, offers that can be enjoyed at the various establishments at any time, competitions that can be entered and any new developments that arise.