Swiftly®, a best-in-class retail technology company that delivers omnichannel tools for enterprise retailers, today announced the release of its new, much-requested SMB platform. This launch democratizes access to the Swiftly platform to over 15,000 small-to-medium sized brick-and-mortar retailers (SMBs) empowering them with the innovative portfolio of retail tools and solutions to own their digital customer relationship with an enterprise grade platform that has adapted to meet the needs of the small and mid-market retailer. This will bring Swiftly’s network of retailers to over 25,000 stores nationwide, representing over 12% of the grocery and convenience store locations in the US.
To accelerate the success of SMB retailers, Swiftly is making this announcement in conjunction with two launch partners— Alliance Retail Group (ARG) and Skupos. Their customers are empowered with an easy to integrate, low-cost digital platform that will offer advertisers access to the largest network of stores in the country.
While today’s retailers understand the need for digital solutions to compete against big box retailers, they have historically been limited by their lack of financial and engineering resources. This new platform not only addresses those challenges but creates solutions for SMBs in the wake of looming consolidations like that of Kroger and Albertsons, which is expected to yield greater scale with consumers and increased digital power, rivaling Walmart and other large retailers.
With this announcement, Swiftly helps to close that gap in significant ways, ensuring these retailers are not losing business to digital giants. By giving SMBs access to the technology and tools they need to drive new revenue streams with faster speed to market and little to no upfront cost, the scales tip more evenly in favor of small-to-medium sized retailers.
“As the retail industry rapidly consolidates, small to medium-sized retailers need to act now to solidify digital customer relationships and build new margin-rich revenue streams,” said Henry Kim, co-founder and CEO of Swiftly. “Competition and technical complexity make it harder than ever for brick-and-mortar retailers to stand out to consumers. The launch of our platform, and the subsequent partnerships with ARG and Skupos, are reinforcing our mission to democratize retail technology for brick-and-mortar stores across the country.”
“Our partnership with Swiftly is the answer our independent retailers need to boost their digital presence and level the competition in an increasingly challenging retail market. In partnership with Swiftly, we are putting our independent grocers on a level playing field with companies like Kroger and Walmart, so that they can own their digital customer relationships and capture valuable digital advertising revenue streams,” said Mike Bokarae, Chief Development Officer at ARG. “With industry consolidation on the horizon, time is of the essence. Our independent grocers can now leverage their advantages in speed and nimbleness and the power of the network that Swiftly and ARG represent to outmaneuver the competition.”
With today’s shopper becoming more tech savvy and with market conditions continuing to fluctuate, loyalty will continue to reign supreme. Not only are retail giants competing to capture loyal consumers but are quickly becoming the world’s largest digital advertising platforms, attracting new customers through numerous channels. However, there is still a significant opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers to regain the upper hand with customers and to grow their digital loyalty and retail media programs through innovation.
“The partnership with Swiftly showcases our commitment to accelerating growth for our partner retailers. With Swiftly, we will offer a best-in-class consumer-facing mobile app and a retail media offering to help independent convenience stores compete with the digital capabilities of 7-Eleven and other large convenience store chains,” said Jake Bolling, CEO and Founder at Skupos. “The Swiftly technology platform meets the evolving needs of our customers and brings industry-leading personalization capabilities to our offer platform to build long-term shopper loyalty and increase sales. With Swiftly, we enable a unified, digital experience that helps customers shop more efficiently and save money while making the independent convenience store brands’ most attractive sales channel.”
