Thanx Launches to Fix Customer Loyalty

Thanx, which empowers merchants to identify, engage, and retain their best customers, launched today nationwide. The company also announced partnerships with MasterCard and Visa as well as Series A funding from Sequoia Capital.

Thanx tracks and rewards consumer purchase activity without additional hardware or point-of-sale integration, allowing merchants to launch retention marketing campaigns customized for their businesses. Once enrolled, consumers pay as usual and automatically receive personalized rewards via real-time notifications to their mobile phones, eliminating the hassle of check-ins, loyalty cards, and added steps at checkout. Thanx merchants report 30percent to 50 percent increases in transaction size and visit frequency, as well as drastically improved customer satisfaction.

"Thanx allows merchants to create one-to-one relationships with their best customers, as we make interactions more personal and rewarding on both sides," said Zach Goldstein, founder and CEO of Thanx, in a statement. "Existing loyalty programs are a hassle, which is why consumers become inactive and merchants don't see results."

Previously, Thanx relied on data partnerships with a coalition of credit card processors such as First Data, thus allowing only certain merchants to create programs through Thanx. By working directly with MasterCard and Visa, transactions at all U.S.-based merchants can use Thanx's automated retention marketing tools. Thanx's existing platform works seamlessly with Apple Pay, rewarding consumers whether they pay with their plastic cards or by phone.

"We know consumers expect a simple, seamless experience when it comes to using promotions, as do the retailers that are sending and redeeming them," said Leigh Amaro, global head of card-linked services at MasterCard, in a statement. "That's why MasterCard partnered with Thanx. Its card-linked technology helps eliminate hassle for our cardholders and drives loyalty for our merchant partners by allowing any credit or debit card to serve as a merchant-specific loyalty card."

Rewards programs with Thanx are fully-customizable merchant to merchant. Consumers can redeem mobile coupons on their phone or receive cash back directly to their payment card.

With this launch, Thanx expands beyond basic loyalty by debuting automated retention tools, such as Winback Campaigns, which automatically re-engage lapsed customers via targeted promotions. Merchants using Thanx and deploying Winback have retained 98 percent of their program members.

"With one-click marketing tools such as Winback Campaigns, Thanx automates the otherwise data-intensive task of identifying churned customers and reigniting those relationships," said Kane Russell, head of marketing at Thanx, in a statement. "Even the best loyalty programs in the world struggle to harness their data. But Thanx proactively identifies opportunities for our merchants and does the heavy lifting on their behalf."

Thanx's partnership with Sequoia Capital takes the company's funding to more than $6 million, with previous investment led by SoftTech VC.

"We aim to partner with industry-changing companies. Thanx makes the loyalty experience more accessible to merchants and delightful for consumers," said Bryan Schreier, partner at Sequoia, in a statement. "Data and personalization are integral to online retail. Thanx brings these super powers to brick-and-mortar businesses."

The infusion of capital will enable Thanx to expand its suite of automated retention marketing tools. Thanx will also continue to add to its San Francisco-based team with a focus on growing engineering and sales.

---

Related Articles

Thanx Partners with Olo

Thanx has teamed up with Olo to provide integrated digital ordering and actionable cross-channel marketing for restaurants.

Paytronix Expands Integration with NCR to Help Predict Consumer Behavior

The loyalty platform provider makes its solutions available to more customers through NCR's Cloud Connect.