Front Flip is ready to bring its virtual scratch cards to vendors across the country.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based startup today announced the nationwide availability of its customer engagement platform, which is designed to help businesses attract, engage, reward and retain customers through the use of “scratch cards” on mobile phones. Following pilots in select U.S. cities, Front Flip is now able to register businesses from anywhere in the country via its online portal.

“We’re targeting national and regional brands, as well as multiple- and single-location businesses,” Sean Beckner, Front Flip’s co-founder and CEO, said in a press release. “Based on the overwhelming successes of our first customers and pilots, we expect our rapid growth to continue with this nationwide launch.”

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The pace of Front Flip’s expansion has exceeded what Beckner projected when SPN visited with him for a story in December. 

“The market is ready for a change. Daily deal programs aren’t building customer engagement or rewarding loyalty — in fact, they have rather the opposite effect,” Beckner said in the release. “Front Flip’s mission is to help businesses engage with their customers in a fun and exciting way both inside and outside the store by increasing understanding and building customer loyalty.”

“Based on the overwhelming successes of our first customers and pilots, we expect our rapid growth to continue with this nationwide launch.” – Sean Beckner

Front Flip, which is backed by Kansas City’s Archer Capital and other angel investment, launched in the Kansas City area in November. It has since expanded to Austin, Chicago, Columbia, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio and St. Louis. Front Flip counts Boston Market, Firehouse Subs, Hooters, Jack Daniels, Pizza Hut and Wendy’s among the national chains and brands currently piloting its platform. 

Per a press release, Front Flip saw more than 120,000 user downloads during its 150-day pilot period. In the first 75 days, the number of scans at businesses on the platform surpassed 100,000. The next 75 days brought more than 200,000 new scans. The average Front Flip user scanned an in-store Flip Code more than two times at one or more of the 725 retail locations initially on the platform. 

How Front Flip works

The app, available for both iPhone and Android, aims to help merchants establish repeat business and reward frequent customers. To use Front Flip, customers download the app on their smartphone and register an account by submitting their gender, date of birth and zip code. From there, users can scan customized, branded QR codes that Front Flip supplies to participating businesses. Those QR codes unlock digital scratch cards — think lottery scratch tickets for mobile devices — that, when “scratched,” reveal whether the user has won a prize. A user then has 30 minutes at that location to redeem the ticket and collect the prize.

With the platform, users get perks for their patronage of businesses. Businesses, in turn, collect data on customers when Front Flip is used. That enables further engagement by the businesses, which can send push notifications — ideally used to reward loyal customers or invite back customers who strayed — to Front Flip users once a month.

Credits: Screenshots and photo of Beckner from frontflip.com.