CRM&Bonus buys Zipper, an M&A that was born on LinkedIn

Acquisition of a social selling company in Florianópolis for BRL 25 million will be mostly in shares

Alexandre Zolko, founder of CRM&Bonus, was intrigued when he received a message on LinkedIn from Gustavo Gadotti, co-founder of Zipper. When introducing himself, the partner of the social selling company – as the model of engaged sales in a social network or messaging application is known – said that the companies were already retail partners. “What do you mean?” asked Zolko. The conversation turned into M&A.

CRM&Bonus has just acquired Zipper for R$ 25 million, which will be paid mostly in shares. It is the second acquisition in 15 days – at the end of July, Zolko bought ChefsClub.

The buyer is one of the largest retailer loyalty program operators in Brazil. She is the one who sends SMS alerting the customer that he has a bonus to win at Vivara, Kopenhagen or Arezzo and that helps to engage sales by reactivating expired bonuses at weaker retail moments.

Zipper, on the other hand, puts tools in the hands of salespeople, so that they can use the apps in customer relationships, also taking advantage of giftback programs. “It’s not just sending a message, but putting the salesperson in touch with the customer. We digitize the entire physical stock of the store in a catalogue, which makes selling to WhatsApp much easier,” says Gadotti.

The salesperson sends the catalog with the bonus link for redemption and, with data intelligence, is able to identify the preference for product category and consumption frequency of that customer. “If you bought a sneaker five months ago at the store on Rua Oscar Freire, the giftback could be the trigger to enter the store’s digital catalog and look at another style of footwear,” says Zolko. “The objective of both companies is to make the retailer sell more. There is a lot of alignment in the business and between the teams, for us to deliver this in an integrated way to retail.”

The origin of the companies is also similar. Zolko created CRM&Bonus to engage sales from TVZ, the family’s network. Gadotti and his partners also created Zipper for a family demand, by promoting the sales of the Paula Torres footwear brand.

“What makes a store have more or less sales conversion in loyalty is the social sellling, it is not depending on SMS and having a strengthened sales team”, says Zolko. “Why seller and not ecommerce? Because then he is paid like in the store, not by a lower percentage as happens when he sends the code on Instagram, for example”, amends Gadotti.

In the integrated CRM&Bônus and Zipper solution, Adidas has multiplied by four the sales conversion rate of the loyalty program, they guarantee.

About 75% of Zipper’s customers already use the CRM&Bonus service, but only 3% of the CRM base uses Zipper. For Zolko, an opportunity even in times of volatile economy and high inflation. “When the market is good, people love bonuses. When the market is bad, they need the bonus.”

Zipper’s partners (in addition to Gadotti, Rafael Gazola and André Silva) will move from Florianópolis to São Paulo, integrated into the CRM office. The 25 employees worked from a home office – a model that Zolko admittedly detests.

It is the first transaction of CRM&Bonus with shares, in a transaction that considered the value of the acquiring company at R$ 1 billion – a valuation that it reached in the round co-led by Softbank and Riverwood in October last year.

“It’s a way for them to come to compose our big dream, which is to get to the IPO on Nasdaq”, says Zolko. Before that, the company should do a series B round next year and accelerate internationalization – like the new operation in Mexico.

Source: Value Pipeline