Portland’s Perka gets a little Fast Company love

It’s always nice to see local companies written up on a national scale in publications like Fast Company.

This time it’s Perka, a Portland company that recently came out of stealth mode. What do they do? They make your wallet slimmer—in a good way.

The system works like this: Perka develops an individual marketing solution for each merchant–like buy nine lattes and get the tenth free, for example. The company provides them with an iPod Touch to keep at the counter to register transactions. When a loyal customer walks in the shop, he or she pulls up a smartphone with the Perka app loaded, or sends a text, to notify the shopkeeper he has entered the store. The iPod Touch at the store contains Joe’s loyalty history, his name, and even a rough view of his ordering history.

So now, there’s no more having 20 two-stamp punch cards floating around in your car and your wallet. It’s all on your phone. As simple as a check-in—which is something you’re already probably doing. Plus, you get even more discounts.

Pretty cool right?

The Perka app is free for both iPhone and Android. And there are a number of locations around Portland test driving it, like Blitz, Floyd’s, and Flying Pie.

For more information, read the Fast Company article on Perka. Or simply visit Perka.

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy View all posts by Rick Turoczy