Getting mobile
Looking for information on what’s going on in downtown Moncton? There’s an app for that.

IN MAY, Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc. launched a mobile app platform to showcase the New Brunswick city’s downtown area and services. The app will connect anyone to the amenities and services Moncton’s downtown has to offer through the convenience of their mobile devices.

Downtown Moncton, a non-profit organization serving the interests of building and business owners located in the city’s downtown core, worked with Toronto-based mobile technology company Zonetail Inc. to develop the app. Downtown Moncton executive director Anne Poirier Basque says the app took four months to develop and she hopes it becomes a “go-to” tool for visitors and residents alike. “I want this to be the first place people look for information on downtown Moncton,” Poirier Basque says. “It’s a tool for us to promote our restaurants, businesses, events and festivals.”

Considering how much people depend on their phones and tablets these days (from texting and sending emails to getting driving directions) there’s a good chance the app will be popular. It will include information on restaurants and businesses, but will so have other useful items like bus schedules and the location of downtown parking locations. The app is also available in French and English, an important feature in a fiercely bilingual city like Moncton.

With digital technology so omnipresent in today’s society, it’s crucial that businesses use tools like mobile apps to create awareness and get customers through their doors. That’s especially true for the millennial demographic. “It’s not so much my generation that uses these apps, it’s my kid’s generation,” Poirier Basque says. “That’s how they get their information.”