New digital platform seeks to transform local shopping – The Chestnut Hill Local

Local shopping directories have a history of falling flat in Philadelphia, but one entrepreneur believes he has cracked the code with a new approach to digital commerce – and he’s starting in West Philadelphia, Chestnut Hill and East Falls.

Broderick Byers, CEO of iSwop (I Shop With Our People) Networks, a developer of Community Commerce applications, is leading the PHL Shops Local initiative – an all-in-one shopping guide that integrates video content, social media, AI, and GPS to create virtual shopping tours focused on specific neighborhoods. The platform, which uses what he calls Smart City technology, creates a digital experience that includes digital coupons, promotional videos and information about specific sales – helping participating merchants compete with larger retailers.

Byers, who lives in Mt. Airy, is keenly aware of the abundance of small businesses and shops in Chestnut Hill. 

“People in Chestnut Hill are already going to the Chestnut Hill Merchant Mile (the stretch from McNally’s Tavern to Cresheim Valley Drive). That’s where they shop,” Byers told the Local. “What we’re trying to do is use technology and video and social media to promote the Hill corridor to consumers outside of Chestnut Hill.” 

But perhaps the best part of the program, Byers said, is that it won’t cost retailers a dime. 

With support from U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, Byers secured funding to shoot promotional videos of local businesses in Chestnut Hill. With leftover money from that grant, the money carried over to the current project.

Part of the goal is to onboard local businesses for free, with subsidized rates available for enhanced features like video production and social media assistance. In exchange for the listing, businesses are encouraged to participate in the Commerce University Network, an educational component of the project designed to enhance small business marketing capabilities.

While Byers continues to onboard local businesses, he’s pursuing additional funding with the support of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and the private sector. Since he started in 2018, he’s secured $240,000 in funding to research, conduct feasibility studies and develop the technology. He is seeking additional public funding in the first quarter of 2025. 

In funding the West Philadelphia section of the project, State Sen. Vincent Hughes “has committed $175K for the next grant and possibly more in next year’s budget,” Byers said.

Byers has yet to receive the same level of funding for Northwest Philadelphia.

How it works

The platform distinguishes itself from search engines like Google through its detailed, curated approach to local business information – which helps small businesses compete with retailers with well-funded websites that can pay for search engine optimization.

“Google works if the business owner has more or less paid for a search,” Byers said. “If you Google something, like ‘shoes, in Chestnut Hill,’ you’re going to get a bunch of ads, and if you are a small business and you did not buy any ads, then you’re going to be at the bottom of the list, which means you’re not going to be found.”

Courtney O’Neill, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Business District, said many retailers could benefit from such help – and hopes Byers can pull it off. 

“I definitely appreciate anyone who’s coming to the table with ideas to highlight our small businesses. So I’m eager to learn more about how this is going to help,” she said. “Last year I worked with Broderick, he was able to secure a grant, and we had an opportunity to film a couple of our businesses and do like a little feature on them, and that was great.”

Leftover money from the business video grant has been put towards developing the Chestnut Hill section of the project. 

New update to an old idea

Byers, whose background is in cable television and marketing, created an earlier version of the platform with funding from the city Commerce Department back in 2018. At the time, city officials had asked him to investigate why previous shopping directories had failed to gain traction. Through his research, Byers discovered that many shopping guides were modeled as digital phone books, a platform he says is “not sustainable as a business.” 

So, at the direction of former Director of Commerce, Harold T. Epps, he used his research to launch ShopPhilly1st, an online shopping guide for local small businesses that was categorized by neighborhoods and product types.

Now, Byers’s new platform expands on that early idea with an updated, much more powerful digital product. In this version, shoppers will find a robust digital tour of the neighborhood via a QR code printed on PHL Shops Local cards that would be distributed by individual retailers. 

In his Chestnut Hill prototype, for instance, the current tour includes Night Kitchen Bakery, Foliage Plant Boutique and Hideaway. 

Jeffrey Sklar, a chiropractor at Wissahickon Spine Center in Chestnut Hill, is a kindred spirit. Noting a need for stronger neighborhood promotion of local retailers, he created the Chestnut Hill Merchant Mile Facebook group to foster connections between local businesses. The page serves as a directory for all goods and services sold in Chestnut Hill on and off the avenue, with business owners posting about specific items and sales.

After meeting Byers through a mutual friend, Sklar discovered their shared vision, Sklar and helped Byers establish connections with local merchants.

“One of the things I have noticed by practicing in Chestnut Hill for the last few years is that people come from all parts of Philadelphia – and outside Philadelphia – who have never been to Chestnut Hill,” Sklar said. “They find, ‘Wow, this place is beautiful’.  I’m actually sometimes acting as an ambassador to say, ‘Oh, well, while you’re here, why don’t you take advantage of maybe Weavers Way or some of the other local shops’.”

While Byers had hoped to launch the Chestnut Hill and East Falls tour before the holiday shopping season, the project is now targeted for the first quarter of 2025.

“With Small Business Saturday, and with Christmas shopping, there seems to be a lot more interest in people wanting to keep their money in their own municipalities, in Philadelphia, say, as opposed to going to Amazon,” Sklar said.