ICO Analysis: RainCheck ICO Review

RainCheck ICO Review: An extensive evaluation and examination of RainCheck ICO, aimed at disrupting the online-to-offline commerce sector.

This article reflects the author’s personal viewpoints and does not constitute investment advice. Please exercise caution when investing in cryptocurrencies as the market is highly volatile and poses risks of financial loss.

Overview

Raincheck is an online-to-offline (O2O) commerce platform designed to help retail brands track and impact online product discovery leading to physical in-store sales. On the user side, Raincheck allows sourcing for products online and notifies users when the product is available in nearby stores at a relevant time. Users are also informed of applicable offers and rewards.

Raincheck plans to complete the O2O loop by integrating a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) loyalty and payment network into their existing commerce platform. The goal is to involve all data points and stakeholders in the online-discovery and offline-purchasing process.

Here are the key issues Raincheck aims to address:

Absence of Offline Data Analytics: Research indicates that 85% of people browse for products online and make purchases in physical retail stores. While it’s easy to gather online consumer data, current technology lacks the ability to collect data once users leave the online store.

Broken Customer Loyalty: Existing loyalty programs have shortcomings; many users don’t use their loyalty points because they can’t accumulate enough for a significant reward. Loyalty programs can also pose liabilities for businesses.

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Interview with Founders

We conducted an in-depth interview with RainCheck’s Founder & CEO, Cameron Wall. We raised critical questions about RainCheck based on various metrics. Check out the interview below:

Application

Raincheck aims to offer users a personalized shopping experience while enabling businesses to track digital marketing spend offline, where most sales occur. This is achieved through their patent-pending commerce platform, allowing businesses to monitor online-to-offline sales cycles and provide card-linking loyalty capabilities for users’ debit/credit cards.

Card-linking involves linking users’ payment cards (debit/credit cards) directly to a merchant’s loyalty program, digital offers, and cash-back bonuses.

Here is a general overview of the Raincheck platform:

The Raincheck platform consists of 10 interconnected modules that operate on multiple instances, each designed to be as open as possible for wide third-party acceptance. All instances are based on the AWS Cloud Environment. It’s important to note that Raincheck’s platform uses a centralized structure, leveraging Amazon’s AWS cloud server. The integration of blockchain functionality will come in the next phase, focusing on the payment processing network.

Tokenization of Payments Data

Integrating offline sales data with online data requires incorporating payment network data into the framework. Raincheck plans to tokenize personal data associated with payment cards (debit/credit cards). This token-based system will capture offline-to-online data at the product (SKU) level, a rarity in the industry. Here’s an example:

Merchant-Level Promotion: Spend $200 at merchant ABC tomorrow and receive $20 cash-back.

Product (SKU) Level: Buy product CDE tomorrow and get 20% cash-back or 30 loyalty points.

Tokenizing payment card data and integrating it into a traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will create a more personalized system for end consumers. Here’s how the token-based system fits into the bigger picture:

Stakeholders

The core functionality of the Raincheck platform enables tracking, measuring, and rewarding users from online product discovery to physical in-store purchases. Here’s how stakeholders benefit from using the Raincheck platform:

Users: Shoppers can earn rewards by discovering online products and later purchasing them (online or in physical stores) through rebates, discounts, and cash-backs.

Retail Businesses: Businesses can gather crucial consumer behavior data from O2O sales, previously unattainable, for marketing analysis.

Payment Processors: Companies like Paypal and Stripe can capture offline sales generated from online discovery, increasing revenue streams through commissions or fees in the O2O cycle.

Financial Institutions: Banks can design more personalized card schemes for customers by accessing SKU-level data.

Channel Partners: Distributors like online publishers can represent new revenue channels for businesses.

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Technical Overview

The Raincheck platform comprises the existing centralized commerce platform (powered by AWS server) and a decentralized component – the Loyalty & Rewards platform built on the Stellar Network. Stellar, chosen for its high-throughput, decentralized blockchain with low latency and strong security, serves as the foundation for Raincheck’s loyalty system. Here’s the technical breakdown of Raincheck’s platform:

Unique Selling Point

Raincheck stands out for several reasons:

Patent-Protected Technology: Raincheck’s technology is patent-pending, serving as a strong barrier to competition in the market.

End-to-End Data Points Bridging the Online and Offline World: Raincheck focuses on the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) level, enhancing data collection from online product discovery to offline store purchases.

Team

Leading the team is CEO Cameron Wall, with a background in mobile and web development for global enterprises. William Lin serves as the CTO, specializing in cloud-based backend and front-end development. Peter Bremner heads the business side, bringing strong corporate and government connections.

The team includes 8 other members focusing on blockchain development, artificial intelligence, and mobile development.

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Advisers

Raincheck boasts a diverse advisory board with expertise across various technological and business layers of the platform. Leveraging a wide range of experts enhances the project’s credibility.

However, there’s a lack of prominent advisors for Raincheck.

Traction

Raincheck has made progress through a pilot program, mobile applications, browser extensions, and achieved awards.

1. Pilot Program

In 2017, Raincheck conducted a successful pilot program in Australia with 6 retailers on board and approximately 2,675 users. The pilot phase provided valuable insights, confirming users’ tendency to save online products for future purchase and the significance of physical stores in sales acquisition.

2. Mobile Application

Raincheck’s mobile app is available on both Google Play and Apple Store. User reviews and install rates indicate moderate traction, with room for improvement in user attraction.

3. Mobile Extensions

Raincheck has browser extensions for Chrome and Safari, but the low user count on these extensions suggests limited traction.

4. Awards

Raincheck has received awards from Visa and Accenture, showcasing industry recognition and credibility.

Token Economics & Utility

Token Metrics

Raincheck plans to distribute 35% of the total pre-mined token supply during the ICO, with the rest allocated to strategic partners, team, advisors, and rewards pool. The token utility includes