Alliance Retail Group, Skupos Team With Swiftly to Help Indies Compete With Industry Giants

In conjunction with Alliance Retail Group (ARG) and Skupos, Swiftly, a retail technology company that delivers omnichannel tools for enterprise retailers, has released its SMB (small-to-medium-sized brick-and-mortar retailers) platform. ARG and Skupos retailers can now use an easy-to-integrate, low-cost digital platform that will offer advertisers access to the largest network of stores in the country.

The launch broadens access to the Swiftly platform to more than 15,000 SMBs, providing them with a portfolio of retail tools and solutions to own their digital customer relationship, and Swiftly’s network of retailers grows to 25,000-plus stores nationwide, representing more than 12% of the grocery and convenience store locations in the United States.

While today’s SMBs need digital solutions to compete against big-box retailers, they have historically been limited by their lack of financial and engineering resources. Swiftly’s new platform not only addresses those challenges, but also creates solutions for SMBs in the wake of looming mergers like that of Kroger and Albertsons, which is expected to yield greater scale with consumers and increased digital power, rivaling Walmart and other large retailers. By giving SMBs access to the technology and tools they need to drive new revenue streams with faster speed to market and little to no upfront cost, Swiftly is aiming to level the playing field.

“As the retail industry rapidly consolidates, small to medium-sized retailers need to act now to solidify digital customer relationships and build new margin-rich revenue streams,” said Henry Kim, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Swiftly. “Competition and technical complexity make it harder than ever for brick-and-mortar retailers to stand out to consumers. The launch of our platform, and the subsequent partnerships with ARG and Skupos, are reinforcing our mission to democratize retail technology for brick-and-mortar stores across the country.” 

“Our partnership with Swiftly is the answer our independent retailers need to boost their digital presence and level the competition in an increasingly challenging retail market,” noted Mike Bokarae, chief development officer at ARG. “In partnership with Swiftly, we are putting our independent grocers on a level playing field with companies like Kroger and Walmart, so that they can own their digital customer relationships and capture valuable digital advertising revenue streams. With industry consolidation on the horizon, time is of the essence. Our independent grocers can now leverage their advantages in speed and nimbleness and the power of the network that Swiftly and ARG represent to outmaneuver the competition.”

“The partnership with Swiftly showcases our commitment to accelerating growth for our partner retailers,” said Jake Bolling, CEO and founder of Skupos. “With Swiftly, we will offer a best-in-class consumer-facing mobile app and a retail media offering to help independent convenience stores compete with the digital capabilities of 7-Eleven and other large convenience store chains. The Swiftly technology platform meets the evolving needs of our customers and brings industry-leading personalization capabilities to our offer platform to build long-term shopper loyalty and increase sales. With Swiftly, we enable a unified, digital experience that helps customers shop more efficiently and save money while making the independent convenience store brands’ most attractive sales channel.”

Retailer-owned ARG, the largest self-negotiating grocery ad group in the United States, passes 100% of vendors’ trade funds to its members with a transparent fee-based business model. The Hendersonville, Tenn.-based group consists of more than 1,000 independent supermarkets in 25-plus states. Collectively, its annual retail sales exceed $8 billion. 

With a focus on independent stores and small chains, which make up nearly 80% of the market, the Skupos platform enables both retailers and brands to compete through better understanding and serving their customers. A growing network of 15,000-plus customers across all 50 states rely on Skupos to boost sales volume and increase their customer base. The company has offices in San Francisco and Denver.