Print
Email
Print Edition Stories
MHT's Galen Moore: Mass. companies building to be sold
Raytheon unveils updated exoskeleton robotics suit
Founded by TellMe Networks founder Angus Davis in 2009, Swipely originally proposed to be a kind of Mint.com for compulsive sharers, letting users post reviews of products they'd bought. As it turns out, Davis said in an interview, "Most people don't like reviews."
Swipely is planning to announce a complete makeover today, shifting its focus from reviews toward cash back and loyalty programs. The new version rolls out in limited release to Rhode Island users. With 75 Ocean State merchants, Swipely users – who number in “the thousands,” in total, Davis said – will receive cash back on their first visit, and loyalty points every time they buy. They'll also be able to see their own shopping history rendered as a map, or by category, and see updates from a list of most-visited stores – like an automatic Facebook news feed of their favorite establishments.
It's part Mint.com’s purchase tracking, part Groupon’s deal broadcasts, part Foursquare’s loyalty rewards. But unlike Mint, the service focuses exclusively on retail shopping and dining out. Unlike Groupon, there’s no pay in advance. Unlike Foursquare, there’s no check-in. Davis said he believes the new Swipely will help merchants connect offline spending with online tracking. "That's why we started Swipely," he said.
With 17 employees currently, Swipely has ramped up a sales effort to bring on new merchant participants. That’s been costly, Davis acknowledged, but necessary to bring offline shopping into a digital service. "Everybody loves the juice, but they hate the squeeze," he quipped.
Davis said he's comfortable with the cost of the sales effort, adding that the company is profitable on a per-customer basis. To connect off-line sales to online analytics and marketing, startups will have to bear that cost of customer acquisition, he said.
Under its new model, which has been operating in a friends-and-family pilot, the company has booked its first revenue, which comes in as a fee paid by merchants for each Swipely user who buys, Davis said. “We have our first check framed on the wall,” he said. He declined to discuss pricing specifics.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
