Customisable tech platforms gaining ground for mid-sized offline retailers
Customisable tech platforms gaining ground for mid-sized offline retailers

According to PwC, offline retailers are finding it difficult to compete with their online counterparts even after a higher market share. The major problem faced by offline retailers is to stay connected to customers 24x7, which is not possible without having a digital presence and integrating technology. Digital customer engagement is also critical for providing relevant and contextual services to consumers. A 2014 Infosys survey reported that 78 per cent of consumers said they’d be more likely to purchase from a retailer again if they provided offers targeted to their interests, wants or needs. Mid-sized offline retailers face limitations like high costs of setting up these integrated systems and lack of resources for maintaining these platforms as key business avenues.  
One Rewardz, a Mumbai-based mobile application, provides such a platform to offline as well as online retailers. It serves as an interactive, analytics driven, customisable customer loyalty program for retailers and brands. The platform is a feedback-based engagement solution that helps brands incentivise offline as well online interactions with their customers. The 24X7 connectivity combined with real-time analytics enables brands to understand consumer spending patterns. The platform provides a targeted channel for promoting special offers and deals directly to consumers through image and video notifications. The solution seamlessly integrates with the brands’ POS systems and other digital platforms.
Retailer Media spoke to Ashwin Meshram and Sunpreet Singh Bindra, Co-founders of One Rewardz to share their views about the current industry and the need for customisable technology platforms gaining importance for mid-sized offline retailers.

Can you discuss the business model of your company? Can you briefly describe how the business model is currently working and how it may be changed over time?
ONE Rewardz (formerly known as Sqy! Rewards) is a customer engagement program that serves as an interactive, analytics driven, customisable customer loyalty management platform for retailers and brands, co-founded in 2014 by – Ashwin Meshram and Sunpreet Singh Bindra. The platform is a feedback based solution that helps brands incentivise offline as well as online interactions with their customers. It provides an integrated mobile platform for end consumers to interact with various brands, eliminating the need of carrying physical loyalty cards. The real-time analytics solution analyses customer feedback and interactions on the platform, generating insights that can significantly contribute to timely business decisions.
By becoming a part of the ONE Rewardz network, brands are provided 24X7 connectivity with consumers and this helps them in boosting in-store and online interactions. The platform runs brand’s customer loyalty program, encourages customer feedback and provides detailed real-time analytics on its customers. Brands can create customer segmentations and decide what rewards to give to different customer groups. We also give insights on customer spending patterns at an aggregated as well as individual customer level to brands. We provide a platform to promote special offers and deals directly to consumers through image and video notifications and leverage social media for targeted marketing. ONE Rewardz streamlines all the notifications on one platform rather than sending multiple messages. Geo-fencing feature helps brands in increasing store walk-ins and thereby increasing probability of sale; it prompts consumers as and when they are near the brand outlets. It provides an effective platform to run cross-branded offers.
On the consumer end, they get access to all rewards at one place which can be viewed at any time, any place. Eliminating the need of carrying physical loyalty cards, ONE Rewardz provides a cohesive mobile platform to end consumers to interact with different brands. All required information about customer’s favourite brands, on-going offers and deals and their existing loyalty points are available at ONE Rewardz and accessible right on their mobile phones. It proves to be a one-stop destination for interacting with their preferred brands.

What kind of technology is used by the company?
We provide a SaaS platform for brands to interact with consumers. For analytics, we have developed a unique algorithm and insights are available to brands in simple dashboard format. Our platform can seamlessly integrate with a brand’s POS systems and other digital platforms. ONE Rewardz is free to download on Google Play and App Store for consumers. In the absence of the ONE Rewardz application, consumers get notifications through SMS and get benefits of the platform on their mobile phones.

In terms of market development, what trends do you see currently in the multi-channel marketing sphere?
Today, brands want to reach out to consumers through various touch points. Offline retailers understand the need to step onto the online zone to compete with the digitalised marketplace. Mobile is increasingly becoming the most sought after platform for Indian consumers as they are comfortable using it to perform multiple activities at a go. Customers are open towards giving their feedback and sharing their experience on social media networks. Two-way communication with brands and customised services are need of the hour.

What is the market size for consumer rewards programs in India?
According to a TRRAIN (Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India) report published in 2015, the overall loyalty spend in the country is a little over Rs.2,000 crore annually at present and it is growing at the rate of 10 per cent. Currently, there are 500 loyalty programmes being run by various B2C retailers and brands. There are two crore active users out of five crore, who have enrolled themselves for various loyalty programmes.

What is your current customer base?
We currently have over 1 million customers.

Your future plans.
We are looking at being the “engagement partner” for every B2C brand and a “one-stop destination” for all consumers wanting to interact with multiple brands. ONE Rewardz is currently active in Mumbai and plans to expand operations into Delhi and Bengaluru. Our aim is to touch every aspect of a consumer’s lifestyle and bring every interaction with the brands on one single platform. The platform is scalable and customisable to integrate various engagement functions a brand wants to conduct to interact with its customers.

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