Trends: Just scan to be rewarded

Too many cards in your wallet? Next time, just point your phone for your loyalty reward chop.

EVERYONE loves a good deal, whether buying groceries eating out, getting a car wash, or getting a haircut.

This is why loyalty cards are so popular these days, especially loyalty stamp cards which essentially enable retailers or merchants to reward regular customers with a free service or product after a certain number of visits or purchases.

But the downside of such cards is that there are just too many to fit into one's purse or wallet. One can easily lose them too.

With Chopink, such problems will no longer exist, says Werebits Sdn Bhd’s marketing manager Ho Heng Yew.

MOBILE APP

This is a cloud-based cardless loyalty system that uses a mobile-phone based app instead of loyalty stamp cards. The app can be downloaded on Android and iOS platforms. Werebit is a mobile app developer that is supported by Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd.

How Chopink works can be summarised in just three simple steps, says Ho. All we need to do is to download the free Chopink app on our Apple or Android smart phones, ask for the QR code from the merchant when paying, scan the QR code with the Chopink app on their smartphone and we will receive the loyalty stamp.

“ChopInk brings all your loyalty cards into your iPhone. It includes Buy 10 Get 1 Free and discount cards. You won’t need to carry so many cards in your wallet. No more forgotten and lost cards. It is quick and easy: After paying, point Chopink at the QR code from the merchant and you are chopped,” he explains.

For retailers, Chopink can be the pivotal tool to turn irregular customers into frequent buyers. Despite the popularity and use of paper-based loyalty stamp cards as a marketing tool and reward programme, these are difficult to track and often, are lost or misplaced by customers. Retailers will also not be able to identify who their loyal customers are.

Ho says: “Loyalty stamp cards is a favourite marketing tool for small and medium sized retailers but, due to the analog nature of these cards, they get mixed results. Our goal is to give retailers a simple yet innovative solution to transform occasional customers into frequent buyers while helping them identify their regular and inactive customers.”

ENGAGING CUSTOMERS

With ChopInk, retailers will be able to see who their regular customers are and maintain a repository of their contact information for use in future marketing campaigns and reward programmes. They can decide what and how much they want to give away for their reward programme and how many loyalty stamps it will take for customers to receive rewards. Chopink will also work with individual businesses to tailor loyalty programmes to suit current needs. Retailers can run multiple programmes through Chopink and include rewards for multiple products or services at once.

“With the highly competitive nature of the retail, and particularly food and beverage (F&B) businesses here, it is vital that retailers know how to engage customers effectively on an on-going basis. It is also important that they can go beyond capturing market share to retaining it,” says Ho.

Already, a number of retailers in Penang and Klang Valley have signed up with Chopink. Among them are Gloria Jean’s Coffees and Wings Musicafe.

The app allows the user to view the nearest merchants with the Chopink system, in terms of distance and even provides a map to locate the outlets.

“What retailers need is a capable platform to manage their loyalty programmes, the analytics to help them measure success and low-cost technology to make it happen. Since mobile technology is becoming ubiquitous, it is the obvious choice for us to deliver the Chopink service via smartphone apps,” says Ho.

Werebits is a five-man outfit and Chopink was developed over a period of six months by the team headed by Chopink co-founder Teon Ooi.