Tracking consumer habits while they physically shop may be the next tool on the horizon
A boon for brands wanting to create real-time personalized promotions and offers may be on the docket according to Geekwire.com who reports today that Upside Commerce is raising more cash for its unique marketing platform. The product is in its pilot stage but the basic premise is that multiple proximity triggers including GPS, beacon, sound and light will help marketers reach customers in the physical store itself, offering incentives and rewards delivered to their mobile device. The anticipated effect for marketers will be the ability to provide not only proof of sale but a proprietary source of consumer behavior - a real boon for retailers.
Upside Commerce will use the fresh cash to further develop its technology that pulls in data from a variety of sources — social media, online advertising, etc. — to help marketers reach customers, particularly those in physical stores.
“We give brands the ability to engage consumers when and how they want to hear from their favorite brands by offering them highly personalized, real-time product incentives and rewards delivered to their mobile device. We facilitate a closed loop by publishing brand stories and promotions across multiple online, in-store and out-of-store touch points using multiple proximity triggers including GPS, beacon, sound and light. By combining affinity with proximity, we provide not only proof of sale but the most transformational, proprietary source of combined consumer behavior, location and transaction data in the market," explained Upside Commerce CEO Jeff Sampson.
The Seattle startup just reeled in an additional $1.2 million, which is part of a larger $2.5 million round that Upside Commerce plans to close later this year. Investors include WolfCreek Partners, SmithTown Bay, Bernt Bodal, and SocialStarts
The tool would make money off a pay-for-performance model, charging a cost-per-action on validated sales in stores, which Sampson said ends up being around 90 percent cheaper than alternative services.
He added that Upside Commerce differentiates from competitors by facilitating a “closed loop.”
The company, which is piloting its product with several brands, employs ten people and plans to double its headcount by the end of 2016.