LoyalBlocks Becomes flok: Moves Beyond Loyalty with New Automation and Communication Technology for SMBs
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 07, 2016 -- flok (http://www.flok.com), formerly LoyalBlocks, officially announced its new name and unveiled its expanded marketing solution for SMBs. Building on its original loyalty app, flok’s new technology offers automated engagement and communication tools such as 1-1 push message campaigns, real-time chat with customers, intelligent engagement flows through push, chat and email as well as mobile payment and purchasing options.
flok is also releasing the results to its recent survey conducted among 1,200 consumers showing that 70% of patrons prefer a more personal connection and relationship with their favorite places, rather than receiving the occasional “freebie.” Survey infographic of all results can be viewed here.
“Customers want more than ‘free’ – they want the businesses they frequent to know them,” said Ido Gaver, co-founder and CEO of flok. “Based on continuous feedback from our users, we realized the opportunity for SMB growth goes beyond loyalty. Our mission is to help SMBs grow, and in order to grow they need to strengthen customer relationships and increase profits.”
Gaver continued, “The new flok platform now not only powers loyalty incentives to drive repeat visits, but creates an interactive, personal conversation with customers that encourages sales at the place of business and on-the-go.”
“Guests may leave home without their punch card, but rarely will they leave their smartphone at home,” said Diane Holzschuh, owner of Marie’s Beauty Salon & Supply and flok customer. “Our customers love the amazing opportunities flok offers and it has increased our sales – over a six-month period almost 20% of our salon services were paid by guests who used the flok app.”
Originally known for its “automated punch-card app,” flok has become a complete end-to-end customer engagement and sales engine that is positioned to take advantage of the explosive growth potential in mobile commerce. According to website Statista, “In 2018, U.S. mobile retail revenues are expected to amount to 130.12 billion U.S. dollars, up from 56.67 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.” And, a recent eMarketer forecast projects that, “95.1 million Americans ages 14 and older, or 51.2% of digital buyers, will make at least one purchase via a smartphone in 2017.”
“I recommend all of my clients incorporate the flok platform into their marketing programs,” said Sean Webster, marketing and business development executive at Hi5 Creative. “Since implementing flok with one of my clients, JB’s Pour House, the restaurant has seen significant improvement in brand awareness and repeat visits. The push notifications and the new email feature add a personal touch that keeps the business top-of-mind to the customer. And, since everything is on the customer’s mobile phone, we can finally track things like Facebook Check-ins, Completed Punch Cards and Customer Visits.”
The expanded flok platform enables SMBs to cultivate personalized relationships with their customers, promoting repeat patronage, reactivating lost customers, increasing visit and purchase frequency, and generating effective feedback loops that end with a satisfied customer, instead of public shaming on social media. flok’s technology works to keep customers engaged using contextual push messages, emails, social media posts and app content, while it automatically tracks, manages and uses data points on all customers – their last visit, their birthday, their unredeemed rewards, their location, their age.
Providing mobile commerce functionality, flok now encourages remote purchases of discounted products, “reverse punch cards,” where the customer purchases a package of products or services in advance at a discounted rate and more. Merchants can choose to manually deliver messages and rewards through push, email and real-time cha, or rely on flok’s “Cruise Control” functionality that engages customers automatically, at just the right time with just the right message.
“Small businesses today are hurting,” said Ido Mart, COO of flok. “The traditional methods of marketing a local business have lost effectiveness, and competition with national chains is fiercer than ever, as corporate giants move to dominate the local arena. flok provides small business owners with powerful tools that level the playing field, allowing SMBs to use their greatest advantage: their size. By regaining control over their customer relationships, small businesses can ensure that every customer interaction leaves the customer happy while still meeting their marketing goals: more visits, more purchases, more social media exposure and a better online reputation.”
Mart continued, “flok’s ‘Cruise Control’ feature presents the largest opportunity for a busy merchant - the opportunity of doing very little to achieve very much. All a business owner needs to do is define their goals, and flok works in the background to effectively engage customers, triggering the right kind of interactions at just the right time.”
About flok
flok connects merchants and their customers, powering lasting and rewarding relationships. With thousands of businesses signed up to its platform across the U.S., flok’s marketing platform facilitates interactive conversations, loyalty rewards, automated engagement workflows and unique mobile purchase experiences. Plans start at $19 a month, making flok an extremely affordable customer engagement solution that does not require any on-site hardware installation.
Based in New York City, with offices in Tel-Aviv, flok is backed by top-tier venture firms including General Catalyst Partners (Warby Parker, Snapchat, and Boxee) and Gemini Israel Ventures (Primesense, Outbrain).
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/getflok
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/flok
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getflok
Web: http://www.flok.com
Contact:
Ido Mart
flok
idomart (at) flok (dot) com
Janine Savarese π
Savarese Communications
+ 1.732.978.4809
Janine.savarese (at) savaresecommunications (dot) com
flok | 10 w 18th street, New York NY 10011
Janine Savarese, Savarese Communications, http://www.savaresecommunications.com, +1 (732) 978-4809 Ext: 301, [email protected]
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