Release Notes
Release Date: December 2018

Release Notes: Winter '18

Release highlights in this article

Boosters

Release notes are now organized into groups of features called “Boosters.” Here is a description of each Booster. As always, if you’re looking for a specific feature set, please use the “Search” function.

 
 
 

Program Booster: A variety of features help merchants build a custom CRM solution, loyalty program, or email club and measure results in real time.

 
 
 

Tech Eco Booster: The industry’s best platform includes more than 30 point-of-sale integrations, online ordering solutions, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, as well as countless social boosters and a published API found at developers.paytronix.com.

 
 
 

Known Guest Booster: Offering more than a dozen ways to join a program provides merchants with higher impact and material results.

 
 
 

Visit Booster: A campaign center and suite of promotions, including BOGO, combo, and subscriptions, let merchants act fast to motivate visits.

 
 
 

Hospitality Booster: Branded mobile apps, microsites, and customer service pages enable merchants to quickly answer guest questions and adjust accounts.

 
 
 

Engagement Booster: Built-in messaging tools allow brands to focus on delivering results instead of managing data across platforms. Email, push, pull, SMS, and surveys with configurable permissions facilitate both agency and local-store marketing.

 
 
 

Local Store Booster: The features provide for marketing and fundraising at the local-store level.

 
 
 

Strategic Hyper-Booster: Merchants benefit from a combination of strategic talent and access to more analytical tools, including custom dashboards courtesy of the Data Insights team.

 
 
 

Program Booster

Automatic Unsubscribing for Mobile Numbers That Have Changed Ownership

Because mobile numbers get dropped and transferred with regularity, mobile carriers provide a data set of numbers that have seen a change in ownership. Those that match the numbers in the Paytronix system automatically get opted out of receiving SMS communications. This process is performed nightly.

 
 
 

New Navigation for Analytics: Dashboards

A right-hand navigation menu has been added to the Analytics toolset, offering the ability to quickly navigate from one dashboard to another. Standard dashboards appear at the top of the navigation, and Data Insights dashboard titles appear below. Both sections are arranged alphabetically.

Dashborad

 
 
 

Known Guest Booster

Text-to-Join at the POS

To join the program, guests can give their mobile number to the cashier at an Aloha terminal. After a number has been entered into the POS, the guest instantly receives an SMS message confirmation and must reply with an email address. Once the system receives the email address, the guest is completely enrolled in the program and can begin earning rewards right away. Meanwhile, the brand has gained an opted-in SMS and email guest.

 
 
 

Frictionless Enrollment with NFC Payment - iOS

When using NFC payment, guests can now receive a push message asking them to sign up for your program. All the relevant personal information is pulled from their phone, and their program account information is added to their wallet.

Push -nfc

 
 
 

Visit Booster

Campaign File Drops

This feature enables campaign creation via file upload. For example, say a marketer has identified 23 targeted guest segments and wants to send a customized campaign to each. All 23 campaigns can be efficiently crafted and then triggered at once by uploading files that contain the desired parameters.

 
 
 

One-to-One Challenge

This feature enables marketers to customize challenges for each individual guest. Many of our clients’ marketing teams like to run visit challenges as part of their regular marketing calendar. With the One-to-One Points Challenge, guests can be targeted based on their individual visit behavior. Whereas one guest may be asked to visit three times to earn a reward, a more active guest may be asked to visit five times. Typically, this feature will be used by clients that have dedicated data analytics teams to generate the challenge parameters for each guest. Then, the information can be uploaded to the system in one file.

 
 
 

Standardized RFM Banding

This feature, which was previously the exclusive domain of Data Insights, is now available to all loyalty clients. RFM stands for “recency,” “frequency,” and “monetary value.” Guests are automatically segmented into bands based on how recent their last visit was, how frequently they visit, and how much they spend when they visit. Banding is calculated on a quarterly basis.

Today, banding is available through Account Filters to establish conditions that include or remove accounts based on what band they are in. The bands include:

Platinum – These guests are your top 10% of customers based on visits and spend.
Gold – These guests are in the 76th to 90th percentile based on visits and spend.
Silver – These guests are in the 51st to 75th percentile based on visits and spend.
Bronze – These guests are in the bottom 50% based on visits and spend.
Fresh – These guests were enrolled for the quarter that is being processed (usually the most recent full quarter).
Lapsed – These guests were enrolled for the full quarter being processed but did not visit or spend. This is also the band for accounts with no activity in either the quarter being processed or the previous quarter.
Gone – These guests have had no activity for the last two quarters processed. This remains the account band for cases of no activity going as far back as four quarters before the one being processed. Quarters only count if the account was enrolled for a full quarter.
Really Gone – These guests have had no activity for the five quarters before the quarter being processed or earlier. Accounts must have been enrolled for a full quarter to qualify.

Standardized

 
 
 

Hospitality Booster

Mobile Apps: New UI for Gift Reload and Auto-Reload

With this update for both iOS and Android, guests can set automatic thresholds for reload from the app, just as they already could via the web. Plus, guests can easily manage their saved payment information, scan credit cards, and change auto-reload thresholds.

 
 
 

Tech Eco Booster

Enhancements to NCR Silver and Silver Pro Integrations

You no longer have to rely on making changes to your point-of-sale categories to run customized promotions for new items on your menu.

 
 
 

Editing Store Attributes Through API Call

Additional information about your stores can be entered into the system through the many guest interfaces that the Paytronix API powers. The new endpoints are “GetStoreDetails” and “EditAStore,” and you can find more information about them here and here.

 
 
 

Engagement Booster

Communication Preference Center: Frequency

Guests were previously limited to either subscribing to or completely unsubscribing from your brand’s email communications. This feature gives them control over the frequency with which they receive emails from your brand, and as a result, reduces the number of unsubscribes. Guests can select from the following options:

“Resume full communication” – This option is for guests who previously indicated a communication preference but now want to remove any restrictions and receive full communication again.
“Once per week” – This option is for guests who want to receive one email per 7-day period. The 7-day period will start from the time they save this preference.
“Twice a month” – This option is for guests who want to receive one email per 14-day period. The 14-day period will start from the time they save this preference.
“Once a month” – This option is for guests who want to receive one email per 28-day period. The 28-day period will start from the time they save this preference.
“Take a break: Snooze all communication for 2 weeks” – This option is for guests who want to stop all communication for a 14-day period. The 14-day period will begin when they save this preference. Guests who select this preference will automatically receive emails again after 14 days have passed.
“Unsubscribe me from your email list. I understand I will still get email updates about my order status.” – This option is for guests who no longer want to receive marketing communications from a brand.

When guests have reached their preferred email threshold for the time period, the system will automatically exclude them from email campaigns. For example, if a guest who selected “Once per week” received an email on Tuesday, the system would not send another email to him or her until the following Tuesday.

Guests can navigate to the preference center by clicking on “Unsubscribe” in any email sent from the system. Another option is visiting the guest web page and clicking on “Communication Preferences.”

Comm _pref

 
 
 

Other Acknowledgements

Third-Party Library Software

  • Apache Software Foundation:  This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/), including: Apache Commons, Apache httpClient, Xerces, log4j, Jakarta Commons, Apache Jakarta-Oro, APR snprintf library, Apache FOP, and Apache Batik.
  • Exolab Project: This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by the Exolab Project (http://www.exolab.org), including: Castor.
  • Sun Microsystems, Inc.: This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. (http://www.sun.com), including: Java Cryptography Extension (JCE), Java Communications API, and Secure Sockets Extension (JSSE) – which also includes code licensed from RSA Data Security.
  • SourceForge.net: This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by SourceForge.net and distributed under the Common Public License, including WTL and distributed through a ZLib License for tinyxml.
  • Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd, Clark Cooper, and Expat maintainers:  This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd, Clark Cooper, and Expat maintainers including Expat XML Parser Library.
  • Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler: This product (Paytronix) includes software developed by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler including ZLib Compression Library.
  • JCIFS smb client in Java.  This product (Paytronix) uses software developed by Michael B Allen, distributed by GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, including jCIFS SMB client in Java.  Paytronix has made modifications to this software.  Pursuant to the GNU LGPL, we are posting the changes to the code made on our website.  Please see www.paytronix.com/download/jcifs/jcifs.tar.gz
  • Mort Bay Consulting: This product (Paytronix) includes Jetty Web Server developed by Jan Bartel and Greg Wilkins and other contributors.
  • Hypersonic SQL.  This product (Paytronix) includes products developed by Hypersonic SQL.  This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors “as is” and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed.  In no event shall the Hypersonic SQL Group, or contributors be liable for an direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.  This software consists of voluntary contributions made by individuals on behalf of the Hypersonic SQL Group.  Copyright © 1995 – 2000, The Hypersonic SQL Group.  All rights reserved.
  • The HSQL Development Group.  This product (Paytronix) includes products developed by The HSQL Development Group.  This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors “as is” and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed.  In no event shall the HSQL Development Group, HSQLDB.org, or contributors be liable for an direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. 
  • Eclipse SWT.  This product (Paytronix) contains products developed by Eclipse SWT.