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New loyalty program for Canadian small businesses rewards local shopping

Vicinity, a new loyalty and automation platform, helps Canadian small
businesses drive traffic and customer engagement

TORONTO, May 29, 2013 /CNW/ – Rogers Communications announced today the
availability of Vicinity, a new loyalty and automation platform for small and medium businesses
in Canada. The platform provides local retail businesses across Canada
with the opportunity to execute customized loyalty programs that
recognize, reward and communicate with customers to drive repeat
business.

“Small businesses across Canada are looking for cost effective, turn-key
solutions to drive growth in their business and establish meaningful
customer relationships,” said Fiona Lake Waslander, General Manager,
Vicinity. “Vicinity integrates easily into businesses, providing a
simple platform to drive return traffic and increase customer lifetime
value while encouraging residents to support local businesses.”

Vicinity is powered by a loyalty automation platform that integrates
with retail businesses’ point-of-sale systems, developed by US-based
company, FiveStars. The FiveStars Loyalty Automation Program enables small businesses to
drive increased customer spend per visit by rewarding and engaging
customers based on interaction with the business.

Through an exclusive agreement, Rogers will provide Canadian small and
medium businesses with access to a FiveStars’ technology under the
Vicinity banner.

With Vicinity, Canadian small and medium businesses can now build
loyalty programs that integrate with their existing point-of-sale
systems and allow them to:

  • Build cloud-based customer databases
  • Generate automated targeted offers and customer communications
  • Access professional reporting tools and dashboards to track offers,
    points and ROI

Consumers simply register for a Vicinity rewards loyalty card at a
participating local business and access their rewards profile online or
on the Vicinity mobile app available for Android and iPhone smart
phones. Participating businesses can offer a variety of rewards to
customers including points to be redeemed for service or merchandise
and targeted discounts. As additional businesses implement the Vicinity
loyalty solution, consumers can use their existing loyalty card to
collect rewards across the network of Vicinity locations.

“We know that Canadian small businesses are starved for affordable
digital solutions that make it easy to connect with consumers and grow
their business. The launch of Vicinity marks another milestone for our
overall local digital portfolio,” said Nyla Ahmad, Vice-President,
Local Digital, Rogers. “Vicinity joins Outrank and Zoocasa as part of
our growing suite of local digital services that leverage intelligent
technology platforms to efficiently bring buyers and sellers together
at the local level.”

Vicinity is available today for small businesses in Toronto and will
roll out to other Canadian cities in the coming months.

For more information about Vicinity, visit http://www.vicinityrewards.ca.

SOURCE: Rogers Communications Inc.