Xari is eliminating boundaries in marketing. The tech company, led by CEO Matthew Andreas, is making waves in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by harnessing emerging technologies to help businesses better engage and reward customers - all while driving revenue growth.
Speaking on the "10 Minute IT Gents" podcast, Andreas described the firm's mission as creating "white labelled apps for businesses," with a unique approach to interactive experiences. "What we're doing is meshing interactive experiences within that white labelled app," he said. "It's mainly incorporating rewards and loyalty, augmented reality, geo-mapping, and gamification."
Andreas explained the concept more simply: "If you picture Pokémon Go and Groupon mesh together, that's Xari."
A Seamless Customer Experience
Recent innovation at Xari has centred almost entirely on end-user experience. "We're trying to get them into the experience a lot quicker," Andreas said. Whether it is an augmented reality experience or an immediate reward, the goal is for users to rapidly gain value.
"That might be a reward that they can actually go back and redeem at our businesses, which might be sponsors, might be a business that we're directly working with," Andreas added. This focus, he said, is "the core thing we're looking to improve on and offer not only to the client but the end user."
App Trends and Technology Shifts
Xari's product development teams have their eyes firmly fixed on the future. Andreas sees a clear shift towards web apps in the industry. "Web apps is a big one," he said, describing a landscape where traditional app stores create barriers. "You've got the approval time frame really - that's the big hurdle. That can take up to a week, sometimes even longer, to get that approval from Apple and Google," he noted.
In response, more businesses and clients are requesting web apps. "It's just removing an extra step really," he said. "It avoids that sort of barrier for the end user wanting to actually download the app."
Artificial intelligence (AI) is another much-discussed area, but Andreas admitted that the company is not actively utilising it yet. "We're definitely looking at it and seeing how we can best maximise that for our clients as well," he said. AI, he suggested, is already being used by staff internally: "I'm definitely seeing that day-to-day from just in the office here and from staff abroad."
Home Base in APAC
Xari's infrastructure is rooted firmly in the APAC market, with the majority of its team and operations based in Australia. "The whole team here is here, minus one of our staff members, so we're definitely set up here from a business development and business success standpoint," Andreas explained.
Being based in the region makes it easier to communicate with clients. "It's easier to meet and greets, get to Melbourne and Sydney. We're obviously based in Aubry - smack bang on the border - and we get to Melbourne and Sydney a fair bit for meetings to be able to meet those clients. It's a lot easier to go through things face to face, whether it's whiteboard in and out," he said.
Currently, approximately 80 percent of Xari's clients are Australian-based. However, the company is examining overseas expansion, focusing on technical solutions that maintain high-quality experiences for all users. One major focus is streamlining the honouring of rewards. "How can we streamline a customer actually redeeming a reward online or in store in the most seamless way? The ideal situation is tap and paste - so it's nothing new to end users," Andreas said.
Strategic Industry Focus
When it comes to growth, Xari is staying laser-focused on three core industries: sporting organisations, events, and promotions. "If you think music festivals - we do a fair few conferences as well," Andreas explained. "We're focused on that, making sure the solutions are good for those industries. Then we'll see how we go, look to onboard or target other industries in the future."
The company's cautious approach is by design, ensuring the quality of solutions is maintained before taking on broader sectors.
Partners in Innovation
Collaboration is a central part of Xari's model. The company works with partners, particularly agencies, to increase its reach. "We've had a fair few agencies contact us and want our solutions, and basically on-sale to their client base," said Andreas. He believes these agency partnerships make the company's job easier and sees them as "a win-win-win for all three parties: the client, the agency, and obviously us."
He offered a recent example: a scavenger hunt campaign currently running in Melbourne. "That came through an agency. The agency is managing that, running that, and building out the partnerships as well. We're on board and we're obviously the tech solution behind them," he explained.
Engaging with Xari
For businesses wanting to work with Xari, Andreas painted a welcoming picture. "Primarily at the moment, it's through our social channels, our website. We're obviously very open with our contact details being online. I get phone calls, emails, LinkedIn messages… just exploring them and then we just see where the conversation goes," he said.
Typically, Xari begins with a basic phone call to tease out ideas and understand unique client needs. "Usually it's fairly unique per client. They might ask for something out of the ordinary, which we don't have in our core offering, and we look to accommodate that," Andreas said.
This openness to innovation is intentional at this stage in the company's development. "We're always keen to discuss new ideas. I think at this stage of the company, it helps and it benefits us because we can explore those avenues, see what works, see what the customer likes, and then we can basically replicate that for other clients also," he said.
With its innovative model, commitment to user experience, and deep roots in the APAC region, Xari appears well-placed to continue making headlines. As Andreas summed up: "We're always keen to discuss new ideas."
