Developing the Speedway mobile app was "complex" because of the company's large, active daily user base, said Beck Besecker, Marxent's chief executive. "This definitely could be a high volume-use app," Besecker said.
Speedway has more than 3.5 million active Speedy Rewards loyalty program members, company officials said. The free mobile app, available for both iPhone and Android, has been downloaded by more than 100,000 users since late October.
“We serve a need for people on the go, so at a basic level our objective was to take all the key features that customers use on our website and put them into the palm of their hands,” said Christi Frizzell, Speedway’s manager for customer relationship.
The Speedway app gives customers instant access to gas prices, store locations and directions. It also provides Speedy Rewards members access to their account information, transaction history and a digital version of their rewards card. In addition, the app gives Speedy Rewards Pay Card members a mobile payment option.
Unlike short-term marketing apps that Marxent has created for brands such as Heineken, Emerson Industrial Automation and Moosejaw apparel, the Speedway app is a “permanent asset” for the company, Besecker said.
Speedway is the nation’s fourth largest company-owned and -operated convenience store chain, serving about 2 million customers a day, according to parent company Marathon Petroleum Corp. Last year, Speedway sold about 2.9 billion gallons of transportation fuels and an additional $2.9 billion in merchandise, officials said.
Marxent builds custom mobile apps and specializes in mobile augmented reality, in which computer-generated content is superimposed over an actual object that’s being viewed through a smartphone or tablet camera.
The venture-funded startup founded in 2010 has raised $1.4 million in capital. The company has about 15 employees, including eight locally, at offices in Kettering and St. Petersburg, Fla.
Marxent recently moved its local engineering and operations office from Beavercreek to 3100 Research Blvd. in Kettering.
“Marxent is an innovative development company who also has experience in working with loyalty programs,” which both reward and encourage loyal buying behavior, Frizzell said.
“We were impressed with Marxent’s ability to understand our needs, bring best practices to the conversation and help us design an app that would meet the needs of our customers. Their approach was simple and their processes are solid,” she said.
The app took about seven months to develop. Speedway and Marxent officials declined to discuss the project’s cost.
The explosive growth of smartphone and tablet computer use among consumers is driving many businesses to develop mobile apps and websites. Besecker said it is “inevitable” that payments and loyalty programs will move to mobile devices.
“People always have their phone with them and the days of carrying around a card or key tag are numbered,” Frizzell said.
Area retailers including the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. also have launched mobile apps that link to customer loyalty accounts.
There were nearly 322 million mobile subscriptions in the U.S. in June, more than the country’s total population of 311.6 million people, according to CTIA - The Wireless Association, a nonprofit wireless communications industry trade association.
Consumer spending in the mobile app market will total $56 billion by 2016, according to Forrester, a research company.
Speedway’s customers have responded positively to the app, according to company officials and online reviews. “Customers like the app and are using it on a regular basis, which is our No. 1 metric,” Frizzell said.
Marxent focused on creating a good user experience for customers navigating the app, Besecker said. The app also needed to connect with Speedway’s business systems in a seamless way, and be fast and reliable, he said.
Speedway already has rolled out some enhancements to the app and plans to introduce new features such as digital coupons in 2013, she said.
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