Q.I. Leap Raises $1.8 Million to Build Out REXEIPT Platform
Q.I. Leap Analytics has announced that they have raised a $1.8 million CAD seed funding round for their customer engagement platform REXEIPT.
The funding comes from notable angel investors such as Haig Farris and Chen Fong.
The Vancouver company’s funding will go towards commercializing REXEIPT, which is an innovative platform that helps deliver Amazon parity data to main street brick and mortar merchants by connecting them with their shopper’s SKU level data. This allows the system to combine the data of customers across several merchants using machine learning and personalize customer experience to compete much more effectively with massive online retailers like Amazon.
“You look at shopping and retail, and so much data is generated and you can do so much with it,” explains Poya Haghnegahdar, the CEO of Q.I. Leap. “When you think about it, your phone is looking at everything you do and your behaviour. It might make you uneasy, but at the same time you appreciate it.”
“Not too many companies are looking at data from a critical angle, saying ‘we can do a better job.’ It’s like trying to search Google for a bike. Even if you go into a store and buy one, Google will keep showing bike ads,” says Haghnegahdar.
That’s where REXEIPT’s anonymized customer-facing app and merchant-facing portal comes in. Almost any merchant with a POS system can institute a light software update to take advantage of the platform, letting customers capture electronic receipts and allowing the merchants themselves to associate item-level purchases to shoppers.
Engaging customers on a one to one personal level is a massively important trend in retail and advertising. Every large retailer has some level of rewards and customization, and REXEIPT wants to bring that same kind of merchant satisfaction to SMEs. The only kind of company REXEIPT cannot access are those with traditional cash registers as their main point of the transaction which makes up about 30% of independent businesses.
“Today, shoppers are extremely savvy. They want the best experiences tailored to them, and if they don’t get that from a merchant they will walk away,” says Haghnegahdar. “There is a large gap between this demand and what most merchants are offering today. Personalized offerings will soon be a must have and not a mere luxury.”
REXEIPT also functions as an extensible marketplace to let merchants further explore how they can connect with customers. This includes reward points, one-to-many offers, receipt management, gift cards and more. The best part is that shoppers do not have to provide personal information like phone numbers or emails. Shoppers only have to download an app to access services.
Rewards are a very enticing way to bring new customers in, especially at the point of sale. A recent Accenture report showed that 76 per cent of respondents wanted to redeem rewards tied to their card when they swipe to pay. An Absolunet shopping trend report also said that brick and mortar will still reign over the next year in terms of how shoppers interact with merchants.
REXEIPT is currently live in over 100 merchant locations and works particularly well in areas like fashion and grocery. Plen+y, a fashion store with eight locations, is a REXEIPT user, as well as Cupcakes, a pastry store with several Vancouver locations.
