Keycode Advertising Information

Overview:

Keycode is an advertising company that specializes in driving online window-shoppers into retail stores and online shopping sites on a “pay-for-sale” basis. The company operates as both a pre-shopping portal (Keycode.com) and as a large syndicated savings network – feeding a network of over 600 additional pre-shopping websites. Keycode’s business model was developed to enhance the popular use of the Internet as a “pre-shopping” tool and to allow retailers to advertise promotional offers to millions of active shoppers more cost effectively than conventional mass media or pay-per-click search engines.

Company History:

Keycode, a California based privately held company, was formed in June of 2000 and has been operating profitably since early 2003. The company has a proven track record of success and has impacted sales for many well-respected specialty retail companies including New York & Co., Payless Shoesource, Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, Casual Corner, Petite Sophisticate, August Max, Lenscrafters, S&K Menswear, Reebok, World Kitchen, Sears Portrait Studio, and Shoe Carnival among others. Keycode has provided promotional advertising for over 25 specialty retail chains (operating over 15,000 stores in the U.S.) and for over 500 online merchants.

Consumer Reach:

Through direct access with its affiliated syndicate publishers, Keycode can distribute promotional offers to over 15,000,000 active shoppers each month. Keycode’s online marketing efforts generate tens of thousands of transactions each month for its clients. The average net in store revenue generated by Keycode shoppers is $187 per transaction.

Fee Structure:

Keycode invoices clients based on a pre-negotiated percentage of the net sales generated by the program; there are no start-up, initiation fees, or deposits required. Program sales are tracked by the specific promotional codes (often referred to as “keycodes”) assigned to the approved offers. In order for the shopper to use a promotional offer printed from Keycode.com, the “keycode” must be scanned or entered manually into a POS system during checkout. At the end of each month, clients simply tally the number of keycodes that were recorded in their POS system for the month and the net sales volume. The net sales dollars generated by the Keycode program are recorded, verified, and reported by each retail client prior to the issuance of a monthly invoice.

What makes the Keycode advertising opportunity appealing?

1.) No Risk:

Keycode’s pay-for-sale model was developed specifically to eliminate the financial risk associated with traditional advertising for retailers. Though there are a myriad of advertising options available today, very few afford retailers the ability to generate massive exposure and significant volumes of new sales without any upfront outlay of cash. Since Keycode does not require any up-front fees, clients pay nothing until a keycode offer is actually used by a shopper.

2.) Low Cost:

Keycode’s sales commission is typically between 7%-10% of the net sales achieved by the program and can be as low as 2%-5% for Big Box mass merchandisers. The company’s fee structure was designed so that the combined cost of the promotional discount and the Keycode fee will prove to be approximately half the upfront cost of advertising alone through national direct mail, television, newspaper, or radio programs when all costs are considered.

3.) No Long-Term Commitment:

The Keycode agreement is typically an open-ended one (1) year agreement that may be cancelled, by either party, after 90 days. Cancellation requires a 30-day written notice.

4.) Flexibility:

Built into the Keycode system is the flexibility to change any aspect of the promotional offerings at any time. Should a client desire to decrease promotional costs or change the minimum spending requirements on any of the published promotional offerings, they may do so at any time. When a change order is submitted to Keycode, it is updated throughout the entire Keycode savings network immediately. Most changes can be completed network-wide within 24 hours.

5.) High Value Marketing Data:

Keycode captures and records the pre-shopping values regularly entered by its users. This unique data gives Keycode clients new insight into the “pre-walk-in purchasing intent” of shoppers. This purchase intent data provides invaluable marketing background for Keycode clients that can be used to refine future offers, maximize margin, and steadily increase average transaction amounts.

6.) Up-sell / Wallet Share Increases:

Keycode developed a patent-pending method for customizing promotional offers based on real-time shopper values. Through extensive research Keycode found that shoppers respond extremely well to “up-selling techniques” when offers are presented in variable tiered formats based on specific shopper values. Keycode’s offer presentation technology was specifically developed to increase customer value substantially by displaying greater incentives for significantly larger levels of spending no matter how much the shopper originally intended to spend. Using the Keycode process, many clients have successfully increased their average transaction size by 75%-250%.

7.) Dramatically Improved Redemption Rates:

Compared to the average net redemption rate of direct mail promotions, 1%, the average redemption rate of shoppers using the Keycode process is 15-30 times greater – on average 15%-30%. Several clothing retailers experience consistent redemption rates as high as 46%. Net redemption rates of 30%-46% is statistical proof that Keycode marketing consistently attracts highly active shoppers and effectively converts them into customers.

8.) Using our money to promote your offers:

Recognizing the importance of “visibility” on the Internet is paramount to retail success in the modern era. Keycode spends tens of thousands of dollars per month promoting our clients’ various promotional offerings. Additionally, Keycode’s staff is dedicated to creating, developing and maintaining the best pay-for-sale distribution network on the Internet today. None of these advertising or “exposure” costs are charged to Keycode clients as they are an added benefit of the program.

9.) Easy Implementation:

Getting started with a Keycode promotional campaign is very simple. The only items needed are A.) a list of store locations, and B.) a minimum of three and no more than eight tiered offerings with corresponding bar, UPC or alphanumeric codes. You may also choose to supply logos and graphics for a home page placement though we are capable of generating the images needed for our ad placements independently.