Today we announced a partnership with Greenopia, a company that rates and reviews local green businesses including retailers, restaurants, service providers, and other organizations. These green listings—more than 14,000 and counting throughout the U.S.—can be accessed on the Greenopia website in conjunction with a broad range of original, green-living content. In addition, the company publishes printed guides (think Michelin guides for green) for the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco i.e. two of the three cities where Zumbox has officially launched.
This partnership combines the local relevance of Greenopia’s content with the precise, geographic nature of the Zumbox platform in an effort to better connect people with their neighborhood green businesses. We’re doing this in several ways.
First, we worked with Greenopia to develop a simple “paperless mail” application designed specifically for the Zumbox platform. It is packaged in a paperless mailing, and when Greenopia sends this piece of mail to you i.e. to your Zumbox, it automatically displays the closest and highest-rated green businesses in your neighborhood. For our launch events in San Francisco and New York, Greenopia sent these to every address in each of the two cities—to more than 3.5 million in all. Zumbox has thus become a geographic filter for Greenopia’s substantial database of information, which makes the content more valuable and relevant for you.
The second part of our partnership involves offering Zumbox to Greenopia-rated businesses in San Francisco and New York, such that they can utilize the platform to connect with local customers directly. We are providing a free trial that enables these businesses to send several paperless mailings via Zumbox to every street address within a one-mile radius of their location. This mail can include menus, coupons, and special promotions—promotions that can be offered exclusively to those fortunate enough to live within walking distance of a given restaurant or hardware store. Because it makes sense to support our local economies, especially when a business has taken steps to operate more sustainably and earn a Greenopia rating. This is made possible by the unique combination of Greenopia data and the Zumbox platform.
Greenopia is a superb example of how the Zumbox platform and geographic filter can add value to content and other types of data. As Greenopia Founder and CEO Gay Browne puts it, “Zumbox can truly become the backbone of the buy local and shop local movements.”
PRESS RELEASE
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA – October 27, 2009 – Zumbox and Greenopia today announced a strategic partnership that includes providing local, green-business information to consumers while helping Greenopia’s rated green businesses to utilize Zumbox as a method for reducing their environmental impact, saving money, and better connecting with neighborhood customers. The initiative is initially focused on the cities of San Francisco and New York.
Greenopia publishes local guides to green businesses, organizations, and service providers for San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles. Each listing features a detailed rating and review based on Greenopia’s sustainability criteria. Greenopia also maintains an online community at Greenopia.com that features daily editorial content and reviews for more than 14,000 green businesses nationwide.
“Zumbox is the solution that Greenopia and our merchants have always needed but wasn’t available,” said Greenopia CEO and Founder Gay Browne. “For those who send paper mail, it’s an easy way to reduce their environmental impact by transitioning to a paperless system. And for reaching local customers, there is no more efficient way than sending paperless mail to a mailing list or geographic radius via Zumbox. This can include menus, coupons, and other types of offers that a local business can make available to its immediate neighbors on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis. So we are very enthusiastic about making Zumbox available to merchants as a revolutionary new marketing tool. Zumbox can truly become the backbone of the buy local and shop local movements.”
Zumbox has created a web-based platform that powers the world’s first paperless postal system. For every U.S. street address, there is a corresponding Zumbox – a digital mailbox – which enables postal mail to be sent as digital files and received online with no paper and no scanning. This new category – paperless mail – represents the first practical alternative to traditional postal systems. Local businesses can use Zumbox to send mail, including special offers, to every street address within a very small geographic area for a fraction of the cost of sending it on paper and with zero waste. Consumers can control the mail they receive via Zumbox, which leads to greater efficiencies for all parties.
“This partnership makes sense in many different ways,” said Zumbox Vice President of Marketing Rob Reed. “First, Zumbox launched in two of the three cities where Greenopia has its greatest presence – San Francisco and New York. Which means that Greenopia can deliver its locally relevant content via Zumbox to those who will find it most useful and valuable. Zumbox also offers a more sustainable mail solution for Greenopia-rated businesses, thereby enhancing their green score. Finally, Zumbox provides a one-of-a-kind marketing channel for local businesses.”
As part of the partnership, Greenopia is delivering locally relevant content to residents in San Francisco and New York City via Zumbox. The company is also promoting Zumbox to consumers on its website and via e-mail to its merchants. In addition to rating, reviewing, and promoting local green businesses, Greenopia provides additional services that help these businesses and organizations succeed in the new digital economy. Zumbox represents a new service offering, which includes a free trial provided exclusively through this partnership.
