ShopKeep POS, a provider of point-of-sale systems that run on the iPad, is launching a partnership with Perka, a Portland, Ore.-based loyalty program for small businesses at this weekend’s Coffee Fest Chicago 2012. The partnership will enable Perka to use the ShopKeep POS system to manage customer payments and transactions.
The venue was chosen due to Perka’s concentration of small coffee and bakery shops, one of the target audiences of Coffee Fest, according to ShopKeep founder and CEO Jason Richelson.
Perka is a cardless loyalty system that works on iPhones , Android-enabled wireless devices and via SMS text messaging on other mobile devices. The program enables merchants to customize loyalty programs, enabling customers to earn “perks” at different levels. The basic program costs $35 a month. A more advanced program, with additional functionality, is available for $85 a month.
The ShopKeep POS platform, which costs $49 per month, enables users to ring up payments, print paper receipts, open the cash drawer, accept credit cards, PayPal and mobile payments, manage inventory, update pricing and have real time access to sales information on site or from remote locations. The partnership will enable Perka merchants to automatically update “perks” at the point of sale.
ShopKeep POS works with about 2,000 small merchants, according to Richardson, a former small merchant himself. Most of those merchants have thin staffs, so any automation enables them to operate their businesses more efficiently.
“This makes it very simple to get adoption of a loyalty program,” said Richelson, explaining that small merchants have so much to do just to keep the business running that they don’t have the time to manage two different systems – one for payments and one for loyalty. “We’ve made it easy. Our system enables a merchant to run the store with virtually no training for cashiers. We have signup rates that are unheard of. Our user base is growing by double digits every month.”
Perka has been enjoying growth as well, a trend that Richelson said should accelerate with the partnership. “With the Perka app, once you walk into the store, the cashier is alerted you are there and has your name on the iPad.”
Merchants can sign up for monthly subscriptions with ShopKeep POS and Perka and set up custom loyalty programs through a personal Perka advisor. Customers check in using the free Perka smartphone app or via SMS text messaging. The ShopKeep POS system will alert the cashier to the customer's arrival, provides the customer's name and displays the frequency of visits. At checkout, will customers receive a loyalty program credit. The Perka app will alert customers how close they are to their next perk.
First-time Perks subscribers will receive a 30 percent discount if they sign up for both systems by the end of June.