#InComm Payments #SkuX #Verified Commerce

InComm Payments and SKUx Strengthen Strategic Partnership

InComm Payments and SKUx recently announced an expansion of their strategic alliance, aimed at revolutionizing how brands deliver item-level offers. Through this enhanced collaboration, they will leverage InComm Payments’ extensive retail distribution networks and payments architecture alongside SKUx’s Verified Commerce™ platform. This integration enables brands and retailers to create verified offers tailored to specific items, allowing for better targeting and enhanced shopper experiences at checkout.

A New Era for Item-Level Offers

As consumer expectations continuously evolve, brands strive to provide targeted and relevant promotions. The newly expanded partnership focuses on combining strengths: while InComm Payments boasts a robust retail presence and payment solutions, SKUx introduces a technology that guarantees product-specific offer delivery and verification. Retail partners can now confidently deliver promotions, knowing that they can accurately verify item purchases, a critical step in ensuring that offers translate into actual sales.

Mary Llewellyn, SVP of Retailer Marketing at InComm Payments, emphasized the significance of this collaboration. “Today, it’s essential for brands and retailers to deliver precise value at retail,” she stated. “By integrating our proven payment capabilities with SKUx's technology, we empower partners to engage shoppers effectively at the item level.” This connection not only helps in constructing meaningful offers but also fosters an understanding of consumer behavior and preferences.

How It Works

The arrangement enables brands to fund promotions for goods on a granular level. For instance, a consumer packaged goods brand can now support a trial launch of a new product or incentivize specific sizes or varieties, helping to monitor which products see increased sales from targeted promotions. Conversely, retailers can effectively run brand-funded campaigns with reliable reporting on redemption tied directly to eligible product sales.

Bobby Tinsley, CEO and Co-founder of SKUx, emphasized that “the item is where the brand’s investment intersects with the shopper's choice.” This reflects the philosophy behind Verified Commerce, as it bridges the gap between offer creation and purchase verification, thus enabling a seamless transaction experience for consumers.

Bolstering Trust and Transparency

With Verified Commerce, both brands and consumers gain a clearer line of sight into promotions. Brands can ensure that their marketing budgets are effectively utilized, while consumers can enjoy confidence that they are receiving legitimate offers that are applicable to the items they purchase. This initiative fosters a more trustworthy environment in a marketplace where consumers often question the reliability of promotional efforts.

At the recent Path to Purchase Institute’s In-Store Ignite conference in Chicago, SKUx shared insights on navigating the promotional landscape during a keynote address. The session, co-hosted with Gary Hawkins, founder, and CEO of Retail Mindsteps, dove into the intricacies of “Solving for Value Delivery Across a Fragmented Retail Media Ecosystem.