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Posted By

Aaron Mireles

PODCAST HOUSTON FINTECH STARTUP TAPS INTO NEW TECH TO MODERNIZE 'DAILY JOURNEYS'

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn’t innovated their payment technology
since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

Original Post | Innovationmap

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn't innovated their payment technology since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

P97, founded in 2012, exists to use innovative technologies to simplify and energize daily journeys, Frieden explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

The fast-growing company — which has nearly 200 employees, most of whom work from Houston — has raised over $100 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase, most recently closing a $40 million series C round earlier this year. This funding has supported P97 as its expanded its technology, even expanding outside of gas station payments and into other sectors, like consumer packaged goods, mobile app development, and alternative fuel sources.

Part of what P97 is focused on too is adapting new technologies, including biometrics, and applying them to the payments world. Voice-enabled payments is something in particular that Frieden is working on.

"One of the things we’re most excited about is voice enable payments through our partnership with Amazon's Alexa," he explains. "The landscape of payments at gas stations underwent this next revolution, and we're using cutting-edge speech recognition and artificial intelligence to allow drivers to pay for fuel just using their voice.

"It makes the process faster and more efficient, and is completely hands-free," he continues, explaining that biometrics are also safer compared to card transactions. "From this time I say, 'Alexa, buy gas,' six seconds later, the gas would be turned on and any loyalty rewards I have would be applied, all from the comfort of my car."

Frieden shares more about the future of P97, payments, and the energy industry as it intersects with P97 — including the future of alternative fuels — on the podcast. Listen to the interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.

Let this sink in: this year, mobile will finally surpass TV as the medium attracting the most viewer minutes in the U.S. That means smartphone users are now spending more than three hours and 35 minutes per day on their mobile device. That number will only increase as more media, shopping, social interaction and other aspects of consumers’ daily lives offer mobile functionality. 

If you haven’t started reaching consumers on their phones, the time for mobile is now. Here are just a few of the ways you can start using mobile to your advantage:

Invest in Customer Loyalty

As consumer culture increasingly goes mobile, loyalty programs via apps are quickly becoming the preferred option over the plastic reward cards we’ve grown accustomed to using. In fact, 73% of smartphone users say they’re interested in saving loyalty cards on their mobile phones. Not only do mobile apps allow customers to conveniently store and access their loyalty information, but they allow you to attract, reward and retain them by delivering targeted digital offers at every step of the purchase journey. Research shows that businesses with loyalty programs are 88% more profitable than competitors without them, and up to 15% of a retailer’s most loyal customers drive 55-70% of its sales. 

Provide Mobile Pre-Ordering

Mobile ordering (or pre-ordering) is a way for customers to remotely order and pay for food on their phone for future pick-up. This also allows customers to view the full breadth of your menu or inventory, in order to consider purchasing more items. Already, mobile ordering is one of the most popular and convenient ways for restaurants to increase their revenue, as customers often purchase more when they order ahead. By 2020, ordering ahead will drive $38 billion at fast casual or quick service restaurants (QSR) in the US, accounting for more than 10% of total QSR industry sales. By providing a mobile app with pre-ordering functionality, you can provide customers with another channel to engage and purchase products, while increasing offline revenue. 

Offer Cloud-Based or In-Store Payments

The appeal of mobile is in its name—mobility. Consumers today don’t want to be tied down by archaic payment methods and systems. That’s why cloud-based mobile payments that allow customers to pay at the pump, or in close proximity to your store, are quickly growing in popularity and convenience. By integrating your mobile app with an mPOS, you can offer customers the option to pay quickly and conveniently using their phones, while also encouraging in-store traffic and purchases. 

Consumers now start and end their days with their phones, checking in with the mobile world before they even get in or out of bed. It’s important to remember that mobile marketing is not a new strategy, but a continuation of your existing digital strategy. You’re meeting consumers where they are, to turn the many mobile moments they experience daily into commerce moments. 

P97 helps you engage your customers at the right time and place, with a digital marketing platform for increasing customer loyalty and revenue. With app-based loyalty programs, POS integrations, and mobile ordering capabilities, you can drive sales whether customers are at the pump, in your QSR, or going about their mobile day. Get started by scheduling a demo today.

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