Neil Glassman

Andres Mendoza , Co-founder, Boutique Loyalty

During the last holiday shopping season, consumers expressed a greater interest in spending at locally-owned, small business establishments — but there was a gap between their sentiment and where they actually shopped.

Boutique Loyalty is a way for community-based stores to outsource a loyalty program that pools resources for cross-marketing and customer retention. Consumers will be able to earn rewards when they search for — and purchase at — participating merchants in their own community and when traveling.

Co-founder Andres Mendoza sees Boutique Loyalty as an incentive for shoppers to buy at local boutiques and support their community’s infrastructure.

The application has entered Intel Innovators, a Facebook competition where 18-24 year old entrepreneurs share their ideas, promote them to likeminded peers and have a chance to win big money. In this conversation, Andres and I discuss what Boutique Loyalty can offer local merchants and shoppers.

Smartphone users have no shortage of choices for local-aware discovery applications. What features and incentives would have shoppers turn to Boutique Loyalty before these other, already established options?

Online Commerce: How Will You Be Filling Your Cosmic Cart? (WhizBangPowWow)
The Small Business Social Media Cheat Sheet (Flowtown)
Small Business
7 Ways To Show Your Customers You Love Them (ReachLocal)

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