Gabro Blockchain startup to open its office in Dubai and expand into MENA
Gabro emerged within the Blockchain space to solve the problems and hurdles created by loyalty programs.
UNLOCK talked with Andy Chen, Chairman, Gabro to better understand the dynamics of this new Blockchain startup.
As Andy explained “78% of loyalty members are dissatisfied with their loyalty programs as they need to remember so many accounts and passwords, carry all these plastic cards, paper coupons, in addition to the blackout period and expiry dates. It is very difficult for customers to redeem the points.”
As present nowadays, loyalty programs present many burdens for its users as it is costly, time consuming and difficult to use as points are hard to be redeemed.
Gabro is set to revolutionize the loyalty industry by removing these pain points caused by the existing loyalty programs. It is a decentralized platform that uses blockchain tech to enable its customers to exchange and transfer their loyalty points from various verticals and merchants using Gabro token.
The model that Gabro tech uses is simple, as they are trying to create an open platform that does not replace loyalty programs. In fact, the user can bring his loyalty points to the platform, and freely trade them between different programs. If you do not have enough hotel points for example, you can use your air miles to increase your hotel points instantly.
As Andy said “Gabro’s digital wallet 2.0 will enable the user to manage all the programs points with one app, one set of password, and you can give your idle points to your friends or swap it with another program or even sell it.” In this way, the numerous passwords requested by the various loyalty programs, the expiration of idle points and the hefty fees of swapping are removed.
Furthermore, this platform integrates not only users but also merchants. They are incentivized to push their users to join the platform, as Gabro will share the proceeds of any transaction that might result in profits such as redeeming points.
According to Andy, this strategy works as various big merchants have already signed up with them.
On competition, Andy perceives the market to be too big and able to accommodate multiple parties. In fact, all points issued by all loyalty programs in all industries account to a significant 500 billion US Dollars.
It is also interesting to note that Gabro generates its income not only from the exchange platform but also from their B2B transactions where merchants pay Gabro to use its analytics platform that provides insights on customer trends and preferences. This is used as a direct marketing channel where merchants can send up to 10 million customers targeted marketing campaigns via their phone.
Gabro sees the MENA region as the land of opportunities as it has many similarities with the Asian market. Gabro is attracted by the buzzing economy in the MENA region, the diversity of its culture and the love of shopping and gathering loyalty points.
This is why Gabro announced their token sale during a Blockchain Forum in Dubai.
Andy Chen also confirmed that Gabro tech’s token GBO will also be listed in Dubai exchange DBEX in Mid-October.
Before the conclusion of Gabro’s token sale, Andy was positive as he explained “I am not worried about the crypto’s down period, as our proposition targets the general public and our business model resonates with a lot of people.” In fact, the token sale ended on the 30th of September and Gabro was able to achieve more than 96% of the hardcap.
Chen considers the banks to be a major source of income as they like to buy loyalty points and give it to their credit card users. He mentions “We can talk to banks or insurance companies to buy our Gabro tokens and give them to their loyal customers. “
