Challenge

Stratapult worked closely with AutoGas to research, strategize, design, develop, and implement their patented cross-marketing promotion concept called Quantum360^SM.  "We realized initially the strategic partnership with AutoGas would require strong collaboration between Stratapult, AutoGas and their clients,' said Tom Brown, President of Stratapult. "Our development team was ready for the challenge and the opportunity to provide an innovative business solution that offers value to both AutoGas and its customers."

This promotion concept is based on the idea that fuel retailers can possess the tools that will allow them to leverage their retail and fuel distribution operations by cross-marketing the sale of consumer products with individual savings or DIGITAL REWARDS^â, that are redeemed at the fuel pump. The following objectives governed the development of the solution:

• Provide an efficient and integrated solution to create, distribute, monitor, settle and analyze DIGITAL REWARDS^â.
• Supply an intuitive and easy-to-use product.
• Give retailers and vendors a 'friendly' business model.
• Facilitate vendor and retailer partnerships to build consumer loyalty.
• Utilize advanced technologies and architecture to drive competitive advantage for retailers.
• Implement the solution quickly via a phased release approach.
• Utilize the core competencies of AutoGas and Stratapult in a successful and strategic alliance.

Solution

Stratapult collaborated with AutoGas marketing experts to develop an effective business model to deploy this strategy.  Subsequent to the business plan, Stratapult also worked closely with the AutoGas technical team to design and develop a highly efficient and automated solution. The partners selected Microsoft .NET as the target platform and architecture to meet the mission critical technical requirements.

The Quantum360^SM solution features a hosted, networked, XML and web-enabled promotion management service that captures, distributes, tracks, redeems, and analyzes promotion deals on behalf of the retailer, sponsoring vendors, and other participating "community" retailers.  Additional key elements include an offer creation wizard, integrated promotional settlement through Carolina Services ePS^â, a web portal with customizable alerts, watch lists and reporting, plus a wide range of promotion types and retail management utilities. With a dedicated team approach on both sides of the solution and the integrated benefits of Microsoft .NET software, the time to market was greatly reduced.

Impact

While currently in the pilot deployment phase, the Quantum360^SM concept and solution implementation have been very well received by virtually all potential participants. At the retail point-of-sale and at the retail outlet fuel sites, sales have increased significantly by at least 25%.

"As a leader in bringing innovative and collaborative solutions to market, AutoGas has found a natural partner in Stratapult" said Randy Nicholson, President and CEO of AutoGas. "By leveraging one another's core competencies, this strategic alliance has enabled us to provide seamless, end-to-end solutions to our customers.  Stratapult's extensive expertise in Internet technologies enables us to quickly market solutions that are light-years ahead of the competition while at the same time, offering reliability. Most importantly, our dynamic relationship (down to the individual level) allows AutoGas to adapt quickly to changing market forces while maintaining a cohesive strategy. The bottom line as always is results.  Stratapult continues to deliver practical solutions in the face of tight deadlines."