Clutch Unveils First Mobile Commerce Platform to Unite Shopping, Loyalty Programs and Gifting

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clutch, the mobile commerce company, today unveiled its platform that uniquely unites shopping, loyalty and gifting to deliver the most relevant offers to consumers and the most targeted customers to merchants. Its consumer-facing application by the same name, which is available now for free in the Apple App Store or at www.clutch.com, eliminates the need for multiple apps, enabling consumers to manage gift and loyalty cards, daily deals, coupons, offer searches, purchases, shopping comparisons, social gifting and mobile payments all in one place. The first 1,000 consumers who download and register the Clutch app will receive a selection of pre-loaded digital gift cards from adidas, FTD, Maui Jim and SpaFinder worth $25. Clutch currently supports hundreds of leading brands and merchants and aggregates more than 100,000 deals, offers and rebates daily.

“Clutch brings all of these functions into one interface and enables consumers to actually purchase products from a wide array of merchants.”

Clutch Capitalizes on Mobile Commerce Growth and Gift Card Industry Shift

According to Forrester Research, mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, growing at a 39 percent annual compound rate. This significant growth is shifting the $100 billion physical gift card market towards mobile. In fact, more than half of retailers (61 percent) plan to use mobile gift cards and 43 percent of customers prefer to use the mobile medium for gift cards, according to Transaction Wireless and Aberdeen.

Capitalizing on this market opportunity, the Clutch app simplifies mobile shopping for consumers while exploiting a lucrative niche within the growing $484 billion pre-paid retail gift card, loyalty and cash replacement card markets (source: Mercator Advisory Group). Unlike the point solutions available today, Clutch eliminates the need for both physical cards and multiple apps for storing data. Its proprietary recommendation engine stimulates consumer spending by offering relevant deals to each user based on their personal, time and location data, while strengthening brand relationships by capturing valuable information and leveraging targeted marketing opportunities.

“Mobile shopping today is fragmented. Consumers must juggle a blizzard of shopping-related apps with narrow functionality including separate apps for rewards programs, coupons, daily deals, shopping searches, shopping lists, mobile wallets, price comparisons and gifting, among others,” said Andy O’Dell, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Clutch. “Clutch brings all of these functions into one interface and enables consumers to actually purchase products from a wide array of merchants.”

Additionally, by requiring users to register cards upon purchase, the Clutch app provides visibility into those consumers buying the cards along with the recipients. This gives brands a 1:1 connection with their high value consumers and solves the core problems card issuers face – breakage and escheatment of funds.

Free Clutch App Gives Consumers the Perfect Mobile Shopping Experience

Clutch is the only mobile app where consumers can get the best deals, give the best gifts, and share it all with friends and family in a single place. Its proprietary recommendation engine provides users with highly relevant and timely shopping offers, tailored for them based on time, location and personal data including gift lists, loyalty programs and offers. Consumers can also make purchases within the app, which integrates with Apple’s Passbook, with just a few taps.

In addition, gift giving is made simpler and more intimate with Clutch. Integration with Facebook enables users to quickly access their friends’ wish lists for smarter gift purchasing decisions. When purchasing an eGift card through the app, consumers can personalize it with a video, photo and/or message for each gift recipient, making the experience less transactional.

Clutch Empowers Merchants to Grow Revenues with Relevant and Timely Offers and Reduce Escheatment

The Clutch platform integrates shopping, gifting and loyalty solutions with users’ real-time location, preference and friend data. This empowers merchants to provide relevant and timely information to customers to help them get better offers and give better gifts. Merchants benefit from a direct-to-consumer marketing channel informed by rich data across retailers, gift lists created by the app user and their friends, past responses to offers and geo-location information. Additionally, because of Clutch’s registration process, gift card buyers and recipients are no longer anonymous, allowing brands to identify and engage more of their customers.

“The scope of the mobile commerce functionality offered by Clutch is what really differentiates it in the marketplace,” said Andrew B. Morris, a principal in the mobile commerce practice at inCode Consulting Group and a chairperson of NRF’s Mobile Blueprint Committee. “Clutch’s seamless integration of mobile wallet, mobile shopping and social media is a truly unique value proposition for both consumers and merchants. There are some very interesting possibilities here.”

The Clutch management team is composed of executives who have played vital roles in a number of successful entrepreneurial ventures and worked with some of the largest brands including Coca-Cola, HONEST Tea, eBay and Nike. The privately-held company has secured an undisclosed amount of funding.

About Clutch

Clutch provides the only mobile platform that unites shopping, loyalty and gifting, delivering the most relevant offers to consumers and the most targeted customers to merchants. With its proprietary recommendation engine, the Clutch mobile app enables consumers to get the best deals, give the best gifts, and share it all with their friends and family in a single place. For more information, please visit www.clutch.com, follow Clutch on Twitter @ClutchShopping or like Clutch on Facebook.