Member Article

Zappify expands its team and product range

The entrepreneurs behind the Zappify virtual business card and a contactless track and trace system for retail and hospitality venues have added to their suite of products and recruited a key member to the team.

Keith Robinson and Paul Smith launched the contactless business card as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, and followed it with a free track and trace system for hair salons, pubs, cafés and restaurants as they reopened last July.

The virtual business card replaces the need for individuals to carry a traditional business card. Users swap their contact details in person or over video conferencing platforms, email and messaging apps on their smart phones via a unique QR code or personal URL.

The Zappify Cov-ID track and trace platform has been used by over 300 businesses and has amassed 48,000 registered consumers across the UK and overseas.

Its success earned recognition at the Spirit of Manchester Awards 2020 for an outstanding contribution by a business during the pandemic.

Now Keith and Paul, who are based in Bury, have developed a corporate system which enables companies and organisations to manage virtual business cards for all of their employees. It means they can control branding, add or remove starters and leavers, update contact details and collect usage data.

Keith said: “The new system has been under development for several months and we’re excited to launch it on to the market. We’ve been extremely pleased with the feedback we’ve received so far. The system enables companies and organisations to securely administer their employees’ virtual business cards.

“In addition, it brings significant cost savings for most businesses and avoids a huge amount of printed cards being produced and ultimately discarded.”

The corporate virtual business card displays the logo, key company information including web links and social media handles, and each employee can personalise theirs with a photo or short video introduction.

Among those adopting the new system is polymers company HEXPOL TPE, based in Middleton, Greater Manchester. The firm is also rolling it out across its offices in Sweden and Germany following successful trials in the UK.

HEXPOL TPE marketing manager Jill Bradford said: “Zappify’s virtual business card is contactless and paperless, which is a win-win for us. It’s also super-easy to use. We’ll be rolling it out across our European companies.”

Following the expansion of the Zappify portfolio, marketing professional Amy Conlock has been recruited to oversee the brand and content development.

Amy said: “I’m delighted to be working with Keith and Paul on such an exciting and innovative business.

“The growth potential is enormous, and it’s very rewarding to have seen Zappify’s progression in extremely challenging economic conditions. The environmental benefit of paperless products is more important than ever, and the pandemic has brought into focus the value of going contactless.”

Keith said: “The virtual business card system is a modern digital marketing tool – it’s so much more than a traditional business card.

“We are continuing to develop further products for Zappify’s individual and business users, based around the same mobile, paperless and contactless technology.

“Having Amy on board at this exciting time will help us expand our user base and is a great boost as we develop the brand and add to the platform’s functionality.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Griffin Partners .