Perka

Perka is a digital loyalty marketing platform that was launched in April 2011. An alternative to traditional paper and plastic card-based incentive programs, Perka provides interactive loyalty marketing solutions for businesses. The technology that Perka is built upon works on mobile phones via app or SMS (text messaging) and allows merchants to reward customers for frequent purchases. Perka also serves as a direct-marketing platform and analytics tool.[1] Perka fits into the category of mobile loyalty, a modern type of loyalty program. In summer 2018, Perka was rebranded to Clover,[2] its sister company.

Perka, Inc.
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Loyalty marketing
Available inEnglish
Headquarters
Portland, Oregon and New York City
,
United States
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Alan Chung, Robert Bethge, Robert Coury, Joe Stelmach, Jay Harlow
Employees60
URLclover.com
LaunchedApril 2011

The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and in New York City.

Market position

In 2013, Perka was listed in Fast Company's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the local category.[3] Expansion both domestically and internationally - including Canada, the U.K., Latin America, Australia and Africa - has registered Perka as a notable company in digital marketing.[4] With the introduction of enterprise features in mid-2013, including a full API, Perka integrates with national brands such as Virbac’s More Smiles Program, regional brands such as The Melt, and more than 1,000 other businesses.[5] First Data, the global payment processing company, acquired Perka in October 2013. Perka now operates as an autonomous subsidiary and is run by the same executives and product-development team as when the company was founded.[6]

A major difference from other loyalty software relates to what actions can earn customers rewards. Some offer rewards for visiting a store - without the requirement of making a purchase - while others, including Perka, reward customers only when a purchase is validated at the point of sale.[7] Originally designed primarily for coffee shops with a "buy 10 get 1 free" model similar to Starbucks' rewards program which is one of the most prominent digital loyalty programs in the US,[8] Perka has since expanded and now offers a flexible points-based version that is geared toward more diverse types of businesses.[9]

Founders

CEO Alan Chung is a serial entrepreneur with twenty years of experience creating software companies. Chung was formerly the CEO of Zenbe, a web-based email suite which was acquired by Facebook in 2010.[10] Prior to Zenbe, Chung founded iAmaze, an early web application development tool which was acquired by AOL in 2006. Before that, he co-founded Lighthouse Design which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1996.

Other founding partners include Robert Bethge, Rob Coury, Jay Harlow and Joe Stelmach.[11]

References
  1. Rip Empson, "Bringing Punch Cards Online, Perka Launches A Nifty Loyalty Platform For Small Businesses", TechCrunch, 5 October 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. "Perka". Facebook. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  3. "Most Innovative Companies 2013", Fast Company. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  4. "Perka Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of Fast-Growing Mobile Marketing and Customer Loyalty Platform", The Wall Street Journal Archived 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
    - Jessica Bruder, "A Customer Loyalty Program (From Some of the Folks Who Brought You Groupon)", The New York Times Small Business Blog, 21 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  5. Map
  6. Kara Swisher, "First Data Acquires Cardless Customer Loyalty Startup Perka", Wall Street Journal, 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  7. John Patrick Pullen, "4 Apps for Increasing Customer Loyalty", Entrepreneur, 6 November 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  8. Susan Berfield, "Starbucks Expands Its Loyalty Program to Grocery Stores", Business Week, 21 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. "Perka Rolls Points-Based Mobile Loyalty Service for Retail Business". Yahoo Finance. Marketwire. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  10. "Facebook acquired start-up assets for mail overhaul", Cnet Archived 23 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Julie H Case, "Here Comes a Regular", Fast Company, 19 October 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
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