Firm raises funds to help power mobile commerce expansion
Mobile commerce firm Clutch has raised $5.3 million during its Series B funding initiative. The company focuses on providing innovative mobile commerce services through the combination of electronic gifting, loyalty programs, and merchant rewards. The firm’s services have become relatively popular throughout the mobile commerce sector, especially among businesses that are interested in engaging consumers with smartphones and tablets. Part of the appeal of Clutch has to do with the company’s ability to combine several services into a singular platform, making mobile commerce somewhat more approachable.
Funding to help Clutch add new features and perfect those that already exist
Safeguard Scientifics, a capital and operational support provider for health care and technology companies, contributed the majority share of Clutch’s latest round of funding. The funds raised will be used to make progress in the development of Clutch’s mobile commerce platform. New business-to-business features will be introduced into the platform to make it more accommodating of the needs that businesses have when it comes to mobile commerce.
Clutch acquires loyalty program provider ProfitPoint
Clutch is not only raising money to support its mobile commerce platform, of course, as the company recently announced its acquisition of ProfitPoint, a provider of loyalty and gift programs. The acquisition is expected to help Clutch further develop its own loyalty programs and make them more valuable to businesses. Clutch has also acquired Sqoot, an aggregator of deals being offered by Goupon, Living Social, and Yelp.
Loyalty programs becoming more important as mobile commerce grows
According to Clutch, retailers that utilize loyalty programs experience a 46% increase in purchases coming from consumers. With more consumers beginning to show serious interest in mobile commerce, loyalty programs are becoming more important for retailers. These programs provide retailers with a way to ensure consumers continue purchasing products from them rather than their competitors. While mobile commerce allows consumers to be very flexible in their shopping, those using their smartphones and tablets to purchase products have shown a tendency to stick to a single retailer or a small group of retailers that can provide everything they need.
