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Next-generation GP3 loyalty programme breaks mould

Johannesburg, 22 Jul 2011

Innovative software company, GlobeTOM, developer of advanced service-oriented turnkey solutions for the telecommunications industry in South Africa, plans to roll out its comprehensive 'next-generation' loyalty platform to South African business.

Using expertise gained from the development of prepaid and post-paid billing systems for the local telecommunications market, including two of South Africa's major service providers, GlobeTOM says its 'GP3' platform is scalable, cost-effective, quick to market and capable of setting new benchmarks for customer retention programmes.

The company, one of the first software development companies in South Africa to adopt service-oriented architecture (SOA) to handle 'extreme' (exponential) transaction processing for large clients, today switches over 2 billion transactions a month.

The loyalty platform, including multi-tenant capabilities - the ability to manage sophisticated currency arrangements and multi-partner schemes - covers batch generation of vouchers, real-time charging, balance management, tracking and revenue assurance functions. Customer retention, combining customer behavioural analysis, 'rate planning' and the allocation and redemption of rewards, is integral to the service.

Accessed - and paid for on demand - as a dedicated software service (software as a service - SaaS), the GP3 platform can be accessed through a public or private 'cloud' (dedicated server).

The horizontally scalable platform - a system that expands to meet escalating demand - allows management to 'start small' and grow as required. “Effectively, a client can own, build, test and maintain a loyalty programme without risk, third-party involvement or large capital outlays,” says Philip Stander, managing director of GlobeTOM.

Implemented initially by South Africa's largest retail, practice and play group, 'MoreGolf,' to promote golf through a network of affiliated clubs, retail outlets and driving ranges, the GP3 loyalty platform stimulated a 100% increase in bookings - 17 000 in a single month within four months of implementation.

Processing a stream of golf experience transactions, the'multi-channel' characteristics of the platform consolidate point of sale interactions with Web portal transactions and customer relation management inputs from the Pro Shop retail network, driving ranges and clubs affiliated to the PlaymoregolfSA membership network.

The platform collates audited data that is 100% accurate and instantly quantifiable. “This is a key requirement for business intelligence and vastly simplified customer profiling, behavioural analysis and targeted communication,” says Stander. “It allows management to analyse data in a reliable real-time format, and build customer relationships based on relevance.”

A Web-based management interface provides customers with direct and transparent access to 'on-demand statements' on the one hand, and call centres and managers the tools to adjust reward schemes and promotions (product mix and price adjustments) on the other.

“Personalisation like this encourages point redemption and keeps customers interested and engaged,” says Stander, “and that is the ultimate purpose behind the implementation of a loyalty programme.”

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GlobeTOM

GlobeTOM develops innovative software technology solutions for the telecommunications market using object-oriented design (OOD), service-oriented architecture (SOA) and horizontal scalability principles as the foundations of its software development approach.

GlobeTOM owns its own SOA and grid technology framework for the rapid development of customer solutions that are able to scale as the demand grows while conforming to SOA principles.

Areas of speciality in the telecommunications space include network resource integration, service delivery platform development, real-time charging and balance management, network management and VAS delivery and systems integration.

Our key products include a full SOA framework (GEF), an out-of-the box prepaid platform (GP3) and SOA-based WASP technology.

GlobeTOM also specialises in the development of database solutions based on Oracle and the deployment of Linux-based systems.

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