This holiday season, shoppers in the city of Alpharetta can receive a little more bang for their buck if they choose to shop locally. The city has formed a partnership with local shopping app, Rately, to offer shoppers rewards this holiday season when they visit certain retailers in Alpharetta.
The app is free to download—both for shoppers and for retailers—and uses iBeacon technology to track how many times users visit participating stores and restaurants. These users are then able to receive rewards based on their loyalty. The app has already been adopted by 90% of downtown Alpharetta’s retail district.
The implementation of the program seems like a natural progression for Alpharetta, a city which has made great efforts in recent years to foster a technologically-friendly environment with organizations like GATN and the creation of the “Fiberhood” at Avalon. With this newest technological component, Alpharetta will be able to join in on the increasingly popular trend towards digital shopping experiences.
What we wanted to do is create a way to connect the dots both online and offline- Tom Klein, co-founder of Rately and digital innovation company, Digital Scientist.
Rately is just the latest project added to Digital Scientists repertoire, whose past clients include NAPA, AT&T, Office Depot, World Financial Group, and Thomas Reuters. According to Klein, what really differentiates Digital Scientists from other digital branding marketing agencies is their holistic approach:
Instead of just building a mobile app, we tend to build things that feel like new businesses. So, the marketing behind it, the concept, and the architecture.
Tom comes from a strong background in marketing, co-authored Enterprise Marketing Management: The New Science of Marketing, and has managed and consulted big name brands like Yahoo!, Chanel, and Heineken. His twin brother and co-founder, Bob Klein, brings a more technology and software-focused skill set to the company with experience implementing enterprise software packages, like IBM’s Websphere Commerce, and serves on the TAG Mobility Society Board.
Together, the Kleins’ knowledge of both marketing and technology have served them quite well in the city of Alpharetta where Digital Scientists is based. A small portion of this success may even be do in part to their location, Klein shares.
Your location is what you make of it. We’ve been very visible in Alpharetta. It’s been easier for us to have a bigger presence, even though we’re not a big company.
