Two B.C. tech companies that specialize in tracking the habits of loyal customers are merging as part of a deal worth $4 million.
Vancouver-based 3TL announced January 29 it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire all of RewardStream’s issued and outstanding shares as part of a friendly takeover.
3TL has developed a platform allowing companies to see how their loyalty rewards programs track on social media.
CEO Rob Craig said his own company was looking at developing technology that could track customer-purchasing data, too, but it made more sense to acquire RewardStream.
“These guys have been doing this for years, and they’ve been doing it for banks and credit unions and telcos and big brands,” he said.
Users sign in to 3TL’s platform through their social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) and earn rewards when posting or tweeting about experiences with certain brands or businesses.
In December, the company unveiled new receipt-scanning technology at Guildford Town Centre that gave the mall the ability to track foot traffic and buying habits of customers who earn points by taking pictures of their receipts with their smartphones.
RewardStream, meanwhile, tracks purchasing data through its own loyalty rewards platform.
If a customer refers a friend to a certain client — say, a mobile carrier —
RewardStream tracks which customers are most successful at converting people into new subscribers. The company’s platform then tracks the monetization process of converting new customers.
Craig said there are no plans to cut jobs or cut costs following the merger. Instead, he wants to “beef up” the combined team once the transaction is finalized in the coming months.
“It’s pretty exciting because it’s a situation where one-plus-one can make four,” he said.
RewardStream CEO Rob Goehring said the plan is for him to stick around with the new company but they’re still in the midst of figuring out in what capacity he’ll serve.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity in this burgeoning consumer-to-consumer marketing space and we’ve been getting tremendous traction (in the referral and customer loyalty markets),” he said.
“The combination — not withstanding both of us being in Vancouver — is also very nice. But it also brings two great teams together, some great technology platforms, adjacent and complimentary target markets and efficiencies in sales and marketing.”
The combined company would number just over 40 employees, according to Craig. While 3TL is based in downtown and RewardStream’s office is along the Broadway corridor, Craig said they’re still in the midst of working out some of the kinks in the merger.
But, he added, the plan is to combine the teams as soon as possible.
