AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Jul 30, 2014) - Shelfbucks Inc., the leading Beacon promotion platform for retail stores, today announced that it has finalized an agreement with GameStop Corp. to deploy its Beacon-based solution in the company's retail locations, bringing an enhanced shopping experience to the company's national gaming customer base. The agreement represents one of the retail industry's first and largest Beacon platform solution deployments.
Under the agreement, Shelfbucks will roll out its platform to GameStop stores in its test markets, including Austin and College Station, Texas beginning in August of this year.
"As part of GameStop's plan to enrich its in-store customer experience, our focus is on enhancing consumer interaction through the use of innovative technologies and business solutions," said Charlie Larkin, senior director of the GameStop Technology Institute (GTI). "By placing Shelfbucks Beacons right on the shelves of our stores, we can deliver personalization at a much higher level, ensuring that our customers always have access to relevant product offers, including product ratings and reviews, when and where it matters to them most."
Shelfbucks uses unique Beacon devices, installed on retailers' store shelves, to provide an enhanced shopping experience for customers. A shopper browsing a product area interacts with Shelfbucks Beacons using a smartphone, and can immediately access expert content, promotional offers, ratings and reviews, and relevant data on nearby products. Shelfbucks helps eliminate the need for additional online research and showrooming, while saving shoppers time and delivering a superior shopping experience.
The Shelfbucks Beacon deployment is a major development for the GameStop Technology Institute , a new business unit the company introduced in March of this year to focus on discovering and delivering business innovation and technology solutions to better address the needs of today's empowered consumer.
Shelfbucks CEO Erik McMillan explained that the Shelfbucks platform will provide GameStop with unprecedented data on customer preferences, buying habits and related information.
"GameStop's deployment of our Beacon platform enables GameStop to use real-time data to meet the needs of its customers," he said. "GameStop will be able to deliver its existing gaming content and promotions directly to shoppers looking to make a purchase decision at the store shelf, helping the company deliver an online experience inside its physical stores."
Mr. McMillan added that the Shelfbucks Beacons deployed in GameStop locations are manufactured by Gimbal Inc ., the leader in contextual awareness and proximity mobile engagement. Gimbal Inc. was recently spun off from Qualcomm.
"Our partnership with Gimbal, the world's largest, leading Beacon manufacturer, ensures the reliability, scalability and security of our platform, which is a requirement to meet the deployment needs of GameStop and other leading retailers," he said.
The Shelfbucks solution will interface with a consumer facing app developed by BestFit Mobile Inc. , a leading mobile strategy, design and implementation firm. Utilizing its proprietary ProxDK framework, BestFit Mobile will build the program's consumer app, as well as an associate-facing iPad application, which will enable GameStop employees to better engage with customers and personalize the shopping experience.
Founded in 2013, Shelfbucks garnered national attention as winner of the 2013 DEMO Conference in the enterprise solutions category. The company was named to Austin's "A-List" of 2013 startups with the greatest growth potential, as well as Capital Factory's "Top 10 Startups to Watch" at the 2014 SXSW conference. Shelfbucks is currently in discussions with multiple leading retailers about its Beacon platform and solutions.
About Shelfbucks Shelfbucks is the leading in-store Beacon promotion platform which allows shoppers to interact with products on store shelves from their smartphones via Beacon, BLE and Bluetooth Smart Beacons. Shelfbucks enables retailers and brands to measure real-time in-store shopper demand and deliver personalized special offers, coupons and expert content to shoppers' iPhone or Android smartphones to impact purchase decisions. Shelfbucks helps retailers and brands build a loyal relationship with in-store shoppers, while increasing incremental category sales, profit, and return visits. Shelfbucks is the first platform to allow retailers and brands to build a relationship with the growing number of GenY shoppers, who aren't reading print newspaper circulars, reading direct mail, or clipping paper coupons. Shelfbucks also helps retailers reduce price matching and showrooming to increase in-store sales opportunities. Additional information on Shelfbucks is available at www.shelfbucks.com . Watch industry leaders speak on digital coming to the in-store experience @ www.shelfbucks.com/faq .
Contact: Scott Phillips Scott Phillips + Associates, Inc. Email Contact 312.943.9100 x28
