GetPoints launched their loyalty program platform for restaurants and retailers across East Africa. “We just finished the initial soft launch in Nairobi [four weeks ago],” Scott Holley, the founder, and MD wrote in an email.
Scott founded GetPoints early this year, though only launched officially in August. “Through my prior position as CEO of an online restaurant delivery company in Nairobi, I met many restaurant owners,” Scott wrote.
He says that he “heard first hand how there was a need for an online [and] mobile app loyalty program platform to serve all the independent restaurants and retail businesses in East Africa.”
According to Scott, they “currently have 65 well-known and popular restaurants" on board. They also have "other retail businesses" on the platform. Adding that “we now have over 2,800 loyalty members who have downloaded our app”. But also adding "at least 100 new members every day".
Though the soft launch was done in Nairobi, GetPoints started from Kampala.
“We started in Kampala in August [2018] with 30 different businesses and in September with 35 businesses in Nairobi,” he said. But, they are also looking at launching in several other African countries. “We are also launching in South Africa at the end of the year.”
Beyond targeting regular visitors at restaurants, GetPoints is also looking at sports clubs, spas, and salons. “We will have more of these types of loyalty members in the coming months,” Scott said.
The startup operates a subscription fee business model. “We offer businesses a 30-day free trial and then there is a small monthly fee based on their number of loyalty members,” Scott said. Monthly plans start at $25 a month for a business location.
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While the users are rewarded based on the number of times they visit or buy from a given business. Depending on the frequency, they can get a discount or free item on their next purchase.
Scott says that GetPoints is giving business owners and managers a better way to engage with their customers as well as market their businesses.
“Advertising and marketing through TV, radio, print, and SMS are expensive and often ineffective,” he pointed out. Adding that the “GetPoints loyalty program provides business owners and managers with an online automated and seamless marketing program plus an easy to use customer database dashboard.”
“Now customers can get rid of paper and plastic loyalty cards and just use one mobile loyalty app.”
This makes sense to me. Because I got to know of GetPoints close to two months ago. That was after visiting Bistro, a restaurant in Kisementi, Kampala, and finding flyers advertising their services. At that time, I was in search for loyalty program startups in Uganda that were helping, especially restaurants and hotels to know more about their customers.
Before that, I had to carry several cards depending on which hotel, restaurant or supermarket I buy from. Having everything centralized makes it easy for one to track their points without having to do any math.
GetPoints hasn’t raised a single coin from external investors, though they are likely to consider the option in the future. “We are self-funded and will be profitable by the end of 2018,” Scott said.