ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PDI (www.pdisoftware.com), a global provider of ERP, Fuel Pricing, Logistics, and Marketing Cloud solutions for the convenience retail and petroleum wholesale industries acquired ZipLine, the industry leader for ACH payment and provider of mobile payment technology. ZipLine processes over six million transactions a month for retailers like Circle K, Cumberland Farms, Irving Oil, Giant Eagle (GetGo), and Spinx. This saved operators over $50 million last year in credit card fees that they were able to invest back into rewards and incentives for their consumers, resulting in greater customer loyalty. The acquisition strengthens the PDI Marketing Cloud Platform giving businesses everything they need in a loyalty solution, including customer engagement tools, offers, insights, and integrated digital payments.
The power of loyalty and payments is real
Bundling ZipLine’s private label debit and mobile payment application with the PDI Marketing Cloud Platform gives merchants added ability to increase the engagement of loyalty program members and drive more value to their brand. Convenience retailers using private label debit can create “sticky” customer relationships and incentivize members to make it their preferred choice. According to ZipLine’s Purchase Lift Model study, of those customers that join a private label debit loyalty program, a remarkable 83 percent became active users.
“Convenience retailers, wholesale petroleum providers, and grocers have longed for a solution that seamlessly brings together loyalty and digital payments,” said Brian Jefferson senior vice president and general manager, Retail, Marketing Cloud Solutions at PDI. “We’re excited to add ZipLine’s best-in-class ACH and mobile payment technology to deliver on this in a cost-effective, simple manner.”
Getting loyalty right with a unified set of technologies
PDI Marketing Cloud Solutions has a robust ecosystem that brings together their leading loyalty platform with customer engagement tools, data-driven insights, vendor-funded offers, and now, seamless payments. With PDI Insights Cloud (built on the SwiftIQ platform acquired earlier this year), convenience retailers and CPG brands can gain insights into coveted transaction and consumer data. The addition of ZipLine’s mobile payment gateway brings visibility to the entire customer journey from earning rewards, receiving offers and promotions, and making purchases in the store and at the pump.
“We feel confident that PDI is the perfect match for our best-in-class payment platform. The combination of both entities will strongly support our merchant partners in enhancing the guest experience and brand affinity,” said Stephen Goodrich, chief executive officer at ZipLine.
“Making loyalty easy for this industry through an end-to-end solution has been our mission from the beginning,” said Brandon Logsdon, president and general manager, Marketing Cloud Solutions at PDI. “With the addition of Zipline, we have built a holistic ecosystem that begins with a mobile transaction at the pump, includes consumer loyalty, CRM, and offers that provide total transaction visibility in the back office, enabling unmatched insights. This is extremely meaningful to our market.”
About PDI
Professional Datasolutions, Inc. (PDI) helps convenience retailers and petroleum wholesalers thrive through digital transformation and enterprise software that enables them to grow topline revenue, optimize operations and unify their business across the entire value chain. Over 1,500 customers in more than 200,000 locations worldwide count on our leading ERP, logistics, fuel pricing and marketing cloud solutions to provide insights that increase volume, margin and customer loyalty. PDI owns and operates the Fuel Rewards® loyalty program that is consistently ranked as a top-performing fuel savings program year after year. For more than 35 years, our comprehensive suite of solutions and unmatched expertise have helped customers of any size reimagine their enterprise and deliver exceptional customer experiences. For more information about PDI, visit www.pdisoftware.com.
About ZipLine
National Payment Card Association (ZipLine) helps merchants build consumer loyalty and market share with custom debit payment, rewards, and gift card programs. With a single platform for personalized rewards and branded debit payment, ZipLine’s clients strengthen their consumer relationships while saving on interchange fees.
Cowen served as financial advisor to ZipLine in the transaction.
