Perx introduces Sponsored Chops and QR code integration at Point-of-Sale, innovating mobile loyalty programs

Perx, one of the leading mobile loyalty platforms in Singapore that launched in October 2011, has already managed to gain a solid traction of 56,000 registered users and has awarded over 230,000 chops to its mobile app users.

Perx recently launched its Sponsored Chops to target users by location and integrates QR codes to help merchants track sales data.

Since pitching at Echelon 2012, Perx has launched some major updates. One of it includes an integration with the two major Point-of-Sale systems in Singapore: Raptor and ePoint. The integration sees Perx launching QR codes on the customer’s receipts for some of its merchants. Freshness Burger at The Central is amongst the first merchants to featured this benefit because it offers more convenience to the staff and customers. According to co-founder Andrew Roth, this update fills the final gap on loyalty, where actual sales data, such as total amount spent, can now be tracked.

Just last month, e27 did a quick interview with Andrew Roth, co-founder of the Eduardo Saverin backed startup, on the concept of Sponsored Chops but he wasn’t ready to let the cat out of the bag just yet. However, the team is now ready to unveil the concept behind Sponsored chop. Essentially, with Sponsored Chops, a user is  given the opportunity  to receive a bonus chop at the point of sale in return for viewing a sponsored ad. Advertisers may also provide a trackable offer if the user completes a social task such as liking a fanpage or completing a survey.

The Sponsored Chops bring multiple benefits. Not only can the ads target users based on genders, current location (display ads only to people who are near where your product is sold), based on category of business, businesses can also track the conversion rate of the offer. Andrew said, “Sponsored Chops allows an advertiser to engage customers in the buying mood in highly targeted locations.“

Here’s a case study by Perx showing how the mechanics of Sponsored Chops works:

Slideshow:

Fullscreen:

What’s exciting about the whole new innovation is that it sees an amazing conversion rate from users: an 87 percent click through rate to receive bonus and view offers, 50 percent accepts the offer, and 27 percent redeems the actual reward. The pricing for the sponsored chops works based on actions and not just impressions. First, a fee per click is charged towards the merchant, and merchants will then be refunded for the cost of the chop. If the user completes another social tasks, there is another fee for the acquisition. Perx currently claims to be the only concept that helps subsidize the cost of the chops or loyalty rewards for its merchant. The high click through rate for the Sponsored Chop sees more advertisers snapping up the introductory offers from Perx.

Slideshow:

Fullscreen:

Mobile loyalty is a hugely competitive space and Perx seems to be introducing waves of innovations into the industry, keeping it on top of its game.

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Tmall Plans to Sell $9.5 Billion of Clothing This Year

Tmall, Taobao’s upscale brand-friendly cousin, sells a lot of clothing. Sure, you say, but how much is ‘a lot’ specifically? Well, Tmall announced today that this year, a lot is equal to 60 billion RMB ($9.5 billion). That’s a lot!

The company announced that number — its estimated clothing sales for this year — earlier today in tandem with the announcement of that Nike has joined the service, opening a Tmall store to offer its swoosh-branded athletic clothing. Athletic clothes apparently make up for around 30 percent of Tmall clothing sales already, and the addition of a Nike store may help bump that number up even further. Athletic clothing sales are already up 300 percent compared to last year, and clothing sales overall are up 200 percent, according to the company.

Of course, one should always take forward-looking accounting numbers from any company with some grains of salt, and 2012 is far from over. But Tmall has showed no signs of slowing during its massive growth over the past year, and we expect that at least for the next six months people will continue to clothe themselves in garments rather than adopting nudism en masse, so Tmall is probably safe in its estimation that it’s going to continue to sell an awful lot of clothes.

[via Sina Tech]

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SingTel Innov8 Looks to Developing Nations, Funds Phone-Maker General Mobile

SingTel Innov8 is in action again, this time ploughing its venture capital into – along with Japan’s Mitsui & Co. (TYO:8031) – the General Mobile Corporation, which makes mobile phones and runs mobile services aimed at developing nations. The funding amounts to US$5million, which General Mobile plans to use for future growth.

General Mobile makes a lot of phones – likely none of which you’ve ever seen before – which tend to be low-end Android smartphones like the Fox (pictured above), and feature-phones (probably running some JAVA OS) that look vaguely like old Nokia or Sony-Ericsson devices. It even makes a tablet in the form of the e-tab (see its product page). The company was founded in 2005.

The financing clearly represents an investment in mobile tech in developing nations as a whole, since Innov8’s parent company, SingTel (ASX:SGT) has hundreds of millions of customers around the world not just in Singapore but also in nations like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and across Africa. Plus, another of General Mobile’s investors is Taiwan-based MediaTek (TPE:2454) which makes processors that are commonly used in some budget smartphones.

In addition to hardware, General Mobile generates revenue from partnerships with mobile telcos in developing nations, as well as from its app store.

General Mobile’s CEO, Paul Wu, said of this funding round:

With this round of investment, we have on board world-class strategic partners across all the fields to help accelerate our worldwide service deployment as well as enabling us to provide a more complete set of services and solutions.

The CEO of Innov8, Edgar Hardless, said that the investment recipient “addresses the strong demands for mobile application and services seen by emerging market mobile users.”

The post SingTel Innov8 Looks to Developing Nations, Funds Phone-Maker General Mobile appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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Apple Brings iTunes Store to New Regions in Asia

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has announced that its iTunes Store is now available in a number of new countries, thus bringing both local and international music to those markets. The new regions include Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, and Sri Lanka. You can find more details via the Apple announcement below.

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[RUMOR] Apple to launch iTunes Store in India and selected Middle Eastern countries next?

An anonymous source working within the record industry has informed us that along with the countries announced today, India and a few Middle Eastern countries have started showing up in iTunes Producer, a tool used by the recording industry to upload tracks to iTunes.

Apple’s announcement today about their iTunes Store launch in Asia may come as a disappointment to Asian music fans in countries that are not included in the first 12. Good news is, Apple is not stopping yet in rolling out localized iTunes Stores for the rest of the Asian countries and event the Middle Eastern region. A new source has approached e27 showing industry signs that India and selected Middle Eastern countries may be on the roadmap for their very own iTunes Store as they have started showing up in iTunes Producer, a tool used by the recording industry to upload tracks to iTunes.

According to our source, this previously happened for all the Eastern European countries and Latin American countries shortly before their announcement as new markets on the iTunes Store. With Wall Street reacting somewhat unenthusiastic towards Apple even after the iOS 6 keynote, it is clear the pressure is on Apple to maintain its historical growth which is no mean feat given the size Apple is already at. Opening up iTunes in key Asian markets as well as the huge Indian market and smaller developing Asian markets gives Apple a tremendous head start over the competition, as well as potentially disrupting the local music stores since in many of these countries consumers were still stuck in the old model of buying an entire CD album.

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[RUMOR] Apple to launch iTunes Store in India and selected Middle Eastern countries next?

An anonymous source working within the record industry has informed us that along with the countries announced today, India and a few Middle Eastern countries have started showing up in iTunes Producer, a tool used by the recording industry to upload tracks to iTunes.

Apple’s announcement today about their iTunes Store launch in Asia may come as a disappointment to Asian music fans in countries that are not included in the first 12. Good news is, Apple is not stopping yet in rolling out localized iTunes Stores for the rest of the Asian countries and event the Middle Eastern region. A new source has approached e27 showing industry signs that India and selected Middle Eastern countries may be on the roadmap for their very own iTunes Store as they have started showing up in iTunes Producer, a tool used by the recording industry to upload tracks to iTunes.

According to our source, this previously happened for all the Eastern European countries and Latin American countries shortly before their announcement as new markets on the iTunes Store. With Wall Street reacting somewhat unenthusiastic towards Apple even after the iOS 6 keynote, it is clear the pressure is on Apple to maintain its historical growth which is no mean feat given the size Apple is already at. Opening up iTunes in key Asian markets as well as the huge Indian market and smaller developing Asian markets gives Apple a tremendous head start over the competition, as well as potentially disrupting the local music stores since in many of these countries consumers were still stuck in the old model of buying an entire CD album.

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12 Asian countries can now buy or rent the millions of songs, movies and others on their own iTunes Store

Hot off the heels of our report, the iTunes Store is now officially available in 12 Asian countries.

Apple has today announced the launch of the iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and nine additional countries in Asia featuring  local and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels. The iTunes Store features local artists including Jay Chou, Girls’ Generation and Andy Lau, international artists including ADELE, The Beatles and Jason Mraz, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang. Customers can choose from over 20 million songs available to purchase and download on the iTunes Store.

Apple is bringing the iTunes Store to music fans in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Customers can also rent or purchase movies from the iTunes Store, with many available in stunning HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Some comments from users in the Philippines indicate that the pricing in some of the countries may be cheaper than the US iTunes Store.

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12 Asian countries can now buy or rent the millions of songs, movies and others on their own iTunes Store

Hot off the heels of our report, the iTunes Store is now officially available in 12 Asian countries.

Apple has today announced the launch of the iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and nine additional countries in Asia featuring  local and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels. The iTunes Store features local artists including Jay Chou, Girls’ Generation and Andy Lau, international artists including ADELE, The Beatles and Jason Mraz, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang. Customers can choose from over 20 million songs available to purchase and download on the iTunes Store.

Apple is bringing the iTunes Store to music fans in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Customers can also rent or purchase movies from the iTunes Store, with many available in stunning HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Some comments from users in the Philippines indicate that the pricing in some of the countries may be cheaper than the US iTunes Store.

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iTunes store arrives at 12 Asian countries, lets users buy music and movies

Starting from today, consumers in 12 Asian countries can finally purchase local and international music, as well as rent or purchase movie from the iTunes store.

These countries are: Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. 

Users can enjoy a selection of 20 million songs drawn from major and indie labels. The movies, many available in HD, come from studios like 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros Pictures.

Previously, music and movies were available on iTunes in a limited amount of countries. It took years for Apple to finally open up their extensive collection to Asia, due to the need to secure distribution rights.

Music discovery startups from Asia could benefit from this move, as they can now beckon their users to purchase content on iTunes by including a link on their app or service.

Press release

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Social Game “Majimon” Has Campaign With Energy Drinks

NHN Japan [J] is doing a tie-up campaign for their smartphone social RPG “Majimon” involving Suntory Beverage and Food Limited’s [J] “Vitamin Water Speed In” as well as “Energy Gear Water.”  The time period is from May 29th until June 18th.

In this campaign, when users input the 16 digit ID (serial number) on targeted products with a campaign seal into a special web page, they can get original monsters and recovery items in the game.  The special page can be accessed from within the game, and with each ID entered, you can get the recovery item “Vitamin drink” and a lottery ticket.  You can play the lottery one time with four tickets, and 10,000 players will receive the original monster “Biworune.”

Android version here

Translation authorized by VSmedia

Social Game “Majimon” Has Campaign With Energy Drinks

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US based Science acquires Indian Startup, Pinpuff

US based Science has acquired Pinpuff, an Indian startup that calculates your “Pinfluence” – a measure of your popularity, influence and reach on Pinterest and also decides the monetary value of your pins and traffic your pins generate (“Pin Worth”).

Post acquisition, PinPuff founder will move to Los Angeles.

“Pinpuff was one of the first technologies to identify Pinterest’s potential as not only a great place to share, but to motivate users to follow each other. The more people unearth great finds, the more likely Pinterest is to drive them beyond the platform to seek out more information or even, ultimately, purchase what they discovered.

Now that Pinterest is nearly as ubiquitous as Facebook and Twitter, and other platforms like The Fancy and Svpply are rising through the ranks, we can tap into the technology that Pinpuff has built to create a true gauge of reach – one that goes beyond clicks, page views, and static traffic numbers, one that measures the power of influence.” [Science Inc CEO, Mike Jones]

Interestingly, the founder of Pinpuff (a iAccelerator portfolio company) shares his comparison of Indian vs. US tech culture:

“I’ve been introduced to a whole new approach to building, launching, and running companies which is totally different and way more effective than how it is done back in India.

The validation cycle is too long back in India. You can slog for a year or two without knowing if your company will be a success or not. Here in LA, it’s a much more rapid cycle. The team at Science have (sic) a deep passion for analytics, social, and eCommerce. Now that we’re a part of Science and have the opportunity to work with so many of their e-commerce businesses, I believe we can help solve the challenge of creating impactful ROI from company’s marketing spend.” [via]

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[Rumor] First 7 Asian countries to have access to full iTunes Store revealed

With the secret Apple launch event reported last week happening tomorrow, e27′s inside source reveals more about the first seven Asian countries to receive access to their very own full  iTunes Store.

The seven Asian countries to see their own full iTunes Store will be Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong. This move by Apple will allow users in these countries to have access to the millions of songs, movies and television shows in the iTunes Store.

Apple has been working for weeks behind the scene to plan for the launch event happening in Hong Kong tomorrow. The event will see representatives of major music labels in Asian attend to witness the rumored announcement from Apple executives. The possible launch of iTunes Store in Asia was also covered by Singapore’s local media, The Straits Times, with their writers pointing to the March update of the iTunes Parental Preferences option to include countries in Southeast Asia and the changing of the Singapore iTunes Store currency to Singapore Dollars last week as a sign that this could be a reality.

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[Rumor] First 7 Asian countries to have access to full iTunes Store revealed

With the secret Apple launch event reported last week happening tomorrow, e27′s inside source reveals more about the first seven Asian countries to receive access to their very own full  iTunes Store.

The seven Asian countries to see their own full iTunes Store will be Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong. This move by Apple will allow users in these countries to have access to the millions of songs, movies and television shows in the iTunes Store.

Apple has been working for weeks behind the scene to plan for the launch event happening in Hong Kong tomorrow. The event will see representatives of major music labels in Asian attend to witness the rumored announcement from Apple executives. The possible launch of iTunes Store in Asia was also covered by Singapore’s local media, The Straits Times, with their writers pointing to the March update of the iTunes Parental Preferences option to include countries in Southeast Asia and the changing of the Singapore iTunes Store currency to Singapore Dollars last week as a sign that this could be a reality.

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