Kirkcaldy businesses are launching two enterprising ideas to encourage people to shop local this Christmas.
Traders have created the town’s first online Christmas market to allow shoppers to buy local from the comfort of their homes.
A Festive Fiver promotion from this Friday will also see some businesses offer discounts of £5 for those who wish to shop in person.
In another first, Kirkcaldy has produced its own gift card which can be topped up and used in a number of town centre shops.
The Kirkcaldy-branded card is a prepaid Mastercard, which can be loaded with £5 to £500 and spent on everything from coffee to carpets.
More than 40% of Kirkcaldy’s traders are independent and they hope their enterprising ideas will persuade shoppers to help them overcome some of the difficulties of the past few months.
Cara Forrester, of community social enterprise group Love Oor Lang Toun, said every little helps when it comes to supporting local shops.
“The town’s businesses have had a rough year and would really appreciate the support and loyalty of the community.”
Labour councillor Neil Crooks added: “For years businesses and the public have talked about developing the Kirkcaldy pound and the Kirkcaldy gift card is a take on that.”
The online market runs until December 31 and can be found at www.shopappy.com/kirkcaldy
The Kirkcaldy gift will launch on Thursday and can be purchased at www.kirkcaldygiftcard.com
