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  • Customer experience management specialist Mobecom (MBM) is set to bolster its client base with some of the biggest brands in Australia through its purchase of Neat Ideas
  • Mobecom announced a sale agreement today under which it will take full control of Neat Ideas for $1.3 million in cash and 1.5 million MBM shares
  • On top of this, if Neat Ideas hits some key revenue targets by the end of June 2022, Mobecom will make two more earn-out payments under the agreement
  • Neat Ideas is an Australia-wide rewards platform that helps businesses provide customer and employee benefits and rewards
  • Today’s deal gives Mobecom access to Neat Ideas’ full list of over 50 clients across the nation, including the likes of Coles, HBF, Officeworks and more
  • Moreover, the combined new client list gives Mobecom access to four million end users across the country
  • With the Neat Ideas acquisition, Mobecom can operate a recommendations engine platform to a wide addressable market across Australia
  • Shares in MBM last traded for 3.4 cents each on Friday, April 30

Customer experience management specialist Mobecom (MBM) is set to bolster its client base with some of the biggest brands in Australia through its purchase of Neat Ideas.

The company announced the acquisition plan this morning, under which it will take full control of Neat Ideas for a mix of cash and scrip.

Under the sale agreement, Mobecom will buy Neat Ideas for $1.3 million in cash and 1.5 million MBM shares.

On top of this, Mobecom could pay another $700,000 and 1.5 million shares in two earn-out payments based on Neat Ideas hitting key average monthly revenue targets by the end of June 2022.

Neat Ideas is an Australia-wide rewards platform that helps businesses provide customer and employee benefits and rewards. Today’s buyout gives Mobecom access to Neat Ideas’ full list of over 50 clients across the nation, including the likes of Coles, HBF, Alinta Energy, Officeworks and more.

Importantly, the combined new client list gives Mobecom access to four million end users across the country.

Why the buy?

Mobecom is an enterprise customer experience management platform with a focus on the loyalty and rewards industry.

The company’s core Mosaic software helps businesses across a range of industries customer, operate and manage their own loyalty programs — paving the way for deeper relationships between customers and brands, a better customer experience and, subsequently, greater customer retention.

According to Mobecom, the omnichannel focus of the Mosaic platform offers a seamless transition from a digital customer experience to real-world rewards.

As such, Neat Ideas’ digital rewards platform is highly complementary to Mobecom’s tech.

“Having access to over 50 enterprises and over four million consumers will allow Mobecom to accelerate its business model and cross sell each company’s products,” Mobecom Executive Chairman Iain Dunstan said.

“Our next strategic piece is to move into payments and this acquisition will give us a readymade customer base.”

The top-tier client base that accompanies the Neat Ideas acquisition includes several of the nation’s 20 biggest advertisers.

Wesfarmers, for example, spent upwards of $130 million on advertising alone over the 2019 financial year and remains the seventh biggest advertiser in Australia, according to Nielsen Ad Intel.

Supermarket giant Coles spent $90.7 million in advertising in 2019 but has since eclipsed its former parent company and now sits as the fourth biggest advertiser in the country.

Westpac spent almost $50 million in advertising over the 2019 financial year.

This is important because of the Mosaic tech’s ability to transition from a rewards platform manager to a recommendations engine.

Savvy rewards, relevant analytics

Alongside helping brands manage their loyalty and rewards programs, Mobecom’s tech helps keep track of customer purchases and preferences.

This means businesses using the Mosaic tech can analyse this data to create tailored rewards and personalised advertisements for their customers — a business model being used by major players in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space.

Afterpay’s (APT) North American arm, for example, announced this month some key partnerships with a string of top-tier fashion retailers based on its Global Trend Report, wherein the company highlights “what Americans are shopping for this spring”.

The BNPL giant has adapted its business from facilitating transactions between merchants and customers to recommending to the customers what products they should buy.

Thanks to the Neat Ideas acquisition, Mobecom can now operate this same business model to a wider market.

According to Afterpay’s latest financial report, it had 3.4 million active users across Australia and New Zealand as of December 31, 2020. Mobecom’s Neat Ideas buyout gives the company access to four million end users from some of the biggest brands in the nation.

But rather than act as a competitor to the businesses by tracking the customer analytics itself, Mobecom returns power back to the merchants as they build their own recommendation engine through the Mosaic platform.

Shares in MBM last traded for 3.4 cents each on Friday, April 30.

MBM by the numbers
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