Hospitality start-up Bellr has partnered with Vonu Export to launch a digital rewards program across the country.
The Vonu VIP program will be accessed through the Bellr App and will connect participating on- and off-premise venues with Vonu’s network of boardriders clubs and their members. The program will reward members with exclusive promotional offers and a cashless purchase solution through their smartphones.
It is set to launch in 150 participating venues from selected coastal regions across the country from 1 September.
Vonu’s Senior Brand Manager, Blake Vanderfield-Kramer, said: “The Vonu strategy was built on supporting hero venues and retailers in targeted coastal regions and rewarding members of our boardriders clubs for helping to bring the brand to life within Australia.
“Working with the Bellr team, we’ve been able to create a loyalty program that’s tailored to our followers. We needed to be innovative in the way we brought this partnership to life, and the Bellr technology allows us target both the on- and off-premise environments and enable venues and retailers to self-promote the brand. This was crucial in helping us find a platform perfectly suited to our needs.”
The Bellr App, which was originally called SHOUTback, helps venues to deliver a comprehensive CRM solution, as CEO Mitchell Stapleton-Coory explained: “Every sales environment uses a CRM to manage the customer relationship and encourage repeat business. What struck us however was the lack of existing digital options for the brick and mortar industry that were geared towards the same outcomes.
“Venues are in a tough spot these days, dealing with digital disruptions and saturated markets. We wanted to give them a channel which they could use to dynamically promote themselves, on their terms.”
Bellr hopes to unlock a new category in subscription-based technology products for the venue space, having coined their technology as a PRM (Patron Relationship Management) platform. Stapleton-Coory said that collaborations with brands like Vonu are designed to complement the company’s core business of allowing venues of all kinds and sizes to promote themselves with more freedom and autonomy.
When TheShout spoke with Stapleton-Coory earlier this year, he said that the plan was to create an App, which would help venues engage with a growing millennial audience.