Glasgow customer loyalty start-up Swipii nets £2m funding

Swipii, the Glasgow-based developer of customer loyalty schemes for small retailers, is aiming to roll out its service to more firms after securing a £2 million cash injection.

Swipii co-founders Louis Schena, left, and Chitresh Sharma. Picture: Contributed

The company, co-founded by Chitresh Sharma and Louis Schena in 2014, has set a target of having 4,500 merchants on board next year as it seeks to help more retailers take on the high street giants.

In addition, it hopes to grow its user base from 410,000 to some two million within the next 12 months.

Sharma, the firm’s chief executive, said: “Swipii works with a large number of businesses, including barber shops, beauty salons and coffee shops and often they suffer from poor levels of customer data collection due to a lack of time and resources, which leads to the second problem of no follow-up communication to help increase repeat visits and drive customer loyalty.

“We want to give the power of systems such as Tesco’s Clubcard to small and medium-sized retail businesses at a price that delivers a better return on investment and significantly increases revenue for their business.”

According to Swipii, customer visits increase by as much as 44 per cent when a loyalty programme is present, with 80 per cent of a company’s revenue coming from 20 per cent of its loyal customers.

The firm, which employs 43 people across its offices in Glasgow and London, has also signed a contract with Cordia, Scotland’s largest provider of catering services, to encourage and reward school pupils to eat healthier options at lunchtime. Following a three-month pilot scheme in Glasgow, 30 secondary schools in the city have Swipii on their premises.

Schena, the company’s chief operating officer, said: “We are all really excited to be launching Swipii across schools in Glasgow and delighted to be working alongside Cordia on this project. They are a great example of a catering provider showing innovation and keeping up to date with relevant technologies.”

The company is now in talks to install its platform at a further 200 schools. It also has partnerships with six universities across the UK.