Uniqodo vs Talon One vs Voucherify vs Qixol: is there a ‘best’?

Deciding that you need a promotions platform is the first step to improving your promotional experiences and outcomes. But it can be hard to pick the right tool for the job. Realistically, there is a lot of crossover and overlap in the market, and it can be challenging to determine which platform is right for your brand.

To help you understand the similarities and spot the differences, we’ve put together a head-to-head comparison of the top promotional tools moving into 2021. Here, we’ll explain where specific tools excel and where they don’t, as well as offer straightforward information, advice and use cases. 

Ready? Let’s get started. 

1. Uniqodo

Full disclosure: Uniqodo is our own product. We obviously highly rate its capabilities and think it deserves top billing on this list. But we also understand that it’s important to explain the full spectrum of choices.

Like the others on this list, Uniqodo can be used as a self-service, SaaS promotions engine, with all of the expected out-of-box capabilities. However, Uniqodo is unique from the other tech mentioned in this list, and that’s because it is a Promotion Management Platform. It is part SaaS, part consultancy, combining a sophisticated Promotions Engine with bespoke engineering, to deliver tailored promotion solutions and activation to answer any challenge, and fit with any combination of technical and business requirements. 

Whilst many of our clients start out with similar requirements — to get control of their promotions to stop them from being shared or leaking into unintended places, which any good Promotion platform will offer — the true value of Uniqodo is our ability to customise our solution to drive material impact across acquisition, engagement, conversion and loyalty. Uniqodo does more than just add features to the platform, it future-proofs any client’s needs with ongoing bespoke development solutions. 

Uniqodo has four core elements to their service:

• Control — preventing code misuse to help you target your promotions to the right people at the right time to maximise engagement.

• Discovery — with control comes the ability to embrace new partnership opportunities or integrate fully with your communication channels that help reach new and existing customers.

• Advanced — taking any available data e.g. customer, product and trading data, to create more sophisticated promotions that deliver on business objectives. Plus advanced codes that help you deliver engaging promotions.

• Activation — curating a customer’s promotional journey from code discovery through to redemption to better signpost and message promotions for increased conversion. 
  
  

Here’s what else Uniqodo can help you do:

• Retain full control over your promotions: With single-use, unique codes, you remain completely in control over your offerings. Whether you want to issue promo codes to specific users, ensure your campaign remains within budget, or target your campaigns to a specific audience, Uniqodo can help. It can make implementing partnership marketing even easier with established integrations with the leading publishers as well as innovative solutions to distributing promotions via social, influencers, content partners and more. 

• Set advanced validation criteria and parameters: Uniqodo allows you to automate distribution parameters and advanced validation criteria so that you don’t have to create each promo code individually. An example of a parameter might be sending a discount code via email each time an item is abandoned in a shopping cart, or a loyalty promotion each time a customer spends over a certain amount. Advanced validation criteria allows you to change up your promotion types, create time-sensitive discounts and gamify your campaigns. 

• Deliver a promotions experience tailored to the customer: Not only does Uniqodo’s advanced promotion criteria allow you to offer varying promotional offers, it also means you can personalise your messaging to each customer. Uniqodo provides an end-to-end solution that curates and delivers a full promotions journey for a customer from code delivery all the way through to activation, smoothly and efficiently. 

• Track analytics and outcomes: Uniqodo allows you easy access to your statistics and the ability to analyse your campaign success. View your data in an easy-to-read dashboard. You can also set up A/B testing for messaging and promotions.

Overview:

• Pricing model: Uniqodo offers various pricing plans depending on your needs. Set prices include: Supported at £1,000 a month, and Managed at £3,000 a month. If that doesn’t quite meet your needs, or you need a more bespoke solution, Uniqodo also offers enterprise level custom pricing. Get in touch for more info. 

• Single-use codes: Yes  

• Promotion types: All

• Integrations: Most CRMs and eCommerce platforms. Uniqodo’s speed of integration is another great benefit. With Uniqodo, you can sidestep lengthy API integrations and be up and running, pulling data from various sources, within hours — not days, or even weeks. 

• Best use case: Broad, any eCommerce business

2. Talon One

Talon One bills itself as a fully equipped and customisable promotions solution within an all-in-one platform. It offers automation capabilities and gives brands the ability to create and launch campaigns based on existing customer data. In addition, Talon One features a flexible, straightforward API configuration and a single user interface. 

With Talon One, you can connect tools such as Braze and send real-time data to in-house tools or your existing BI systems. Once the software is up and running, brands can promote coupons, referral discounts and loyalty programmes. There are no limitations on any features or API calls.

Like the others on this list, Talon One also allows you to:

• Maintain control over your codes: Their platform offers permissions-based access to prevent mistakes and in-company fraud.

• Set specific validation criteria: You can manage campaigns and set ‘rules’ based on data from a past customer session or customer profile attributes.

• Generate useful reports: Talon One allows you to track campaign performance data directly within the software or integrate it with an existing BI tool.

Overview:

• Pricing model: Variable, plans for Starters, Professionals and Enterprise uses

• Single-use codes: Yes  

• Promotion types: All

• Integrations: Most CRMs and eCommerce platforms

• Best use case: B2C and B2B brands

3. Voucherify 

Voucherify positions itself as an API-first platform, which makes it a ‘developer-friendly’ promotions engine. This functionality means that developers can build targeted campaigns by integrating plugins and applications. Voucherify also bills itself as enterprise-level ready, making it a choice worth considering for large businesses. They also state that they can offer fast integration times. 

Similar to the other options on this list, brands that use Voucherify can base promotions on customer attributes, including purchase history and profile information. Voucherify can also pull relevant customer data from your existing CRM and features dynamic geolocalisation. 

 As with Talon One, Voucherify’s features allow users to:

• Maintain control over codes: Voucherify features budget control, security and fraud prevention mechanisms.

• Run campaigns with advanced validation criteria: With Voucherify’s Rules Engine, you can limit your offers to specific customers, time frames and order volumes, among other measures. 

• Track data and generate reports: Voucherify provides real-time data syncing, and its flexible webhooks enable advanced tracking capabilities.

Overview:

• Pricing model: Variable. Very limited (1 user/1 project) startup plans begin at €59 per month.

• Single-use codes: Yes  

• Promotion types: All

• Integrations: Most CRMs, eCommerce platforms and mobile platforms

• Best use case: Larger businesses and enterprises

4. Qixol

Qixol is a stand-alone promotions engine with a scalable, cloud-based architecture. Its platform allows brands to enhance the promo capabilities of existing software and apps by integrating into Qixol Promo using a simple API. 

Essentially, Qixol lets online retailers run brick-and-mortar-style promotions. This tool has been designed to enable brands to give customers a consistent experience across various channels. Along the same lines, it allows brands to centralise management of their promotions and enable promo check-in across their ePOS, website and call centre.

As with the other promo engines on this lists, Qixol allows you to:

• Maintain control over codes: With Qixol, you can access your promo data in one central place and set up and launch promotions, ranging from simple percentages off to more advanced multi-buy, BOGO or mix-and-match offers.   

• Set advanced validation criteria: Criteria options include basket attribute, bundles, product and timeband.

• Track and analyse data: All basket and product data is tracked and stored at low granularity, and you can analyse the data you collect within your existing BI software.

Overview:

• Pricing model: Variable, based on the number of baskets 

• Single-use codes: Yes  

• Promotion types: All

• Integrations: Most CRMs and eCommerce platforms

• Best use case: Omnichannel businesses, traditional retailers and eCommerce brands

Who comes out on top? 

You might have picked up on the fact that all of these tools offer very similar basic functions: single-use code generation, control over codes, the ability to set validation criteria and tracking and analytics. So, which option is right for your brand? 

If all you want is a self-service tool, every product listed here is more or less interchangeable. If you’re looking for the basics and nothing more, your decision might come down to use case or price, and it might then be beneficial to wait for one of these providers to release a promotional offering.

However, if you’re looking for a promo engine that operates on a whole different level — and one that’ll help you elevate your business to a different level as well — Uniqodo might be a better fit. 

Why Uniqodo is in its own category

Although we still offer the self-service capabilities provided by other providers, Uniqodo is far more invested in outcomes, and delivers far more value than a simple SaaS provider. 

Uniqodo believes that flexibility is everything when it comes to promotions. That’s why it’s essential to go above and beyond the standard promo capabilities provided by a CRM. To find success in an ever-changing consumer landscape, you need to be able to change and customise your promo strategies and campaigns, and deliver a promotions experience tailored to your customers. Figuring out how to get really creative with a self-service, out-of-the-box tool is possible, but it’s usually not easy. And if you’re reading this, you probably don’t want an in-house development project either — that’s why you didn’t build your own tool in the first place. 

To deliver the flexibility essential to your success, Uniqodo offers development support, consulting services and even promotions-as-a-service. Uniqodo’s Managed Promotions Platform adds value at every stage and is a powerful alternative to off-the-shelf solutions or in-house projects. This is what makes Uniqodo a great choice, and one that is broadly different from any other option on this list. 

Delivering bespoke, best-case outcomes

Here are just a a few brief examples of the business-driven outcomes Uniqodo can provide:

• Hyper-specific promotions: To increase table bookings, a national restaurant chain might want to entice customers with a great dining deal — but not all of its locations would necessarily require the same level of marketing. By deploying an advanced promo strategy, the chain could offer a set of discounts, which they can dynamically vary for individual locations based on capacity on a specific date. A fairly well-visited location might offer customers a 10% discount on their overall bill on Wednesday evenings, while another location that’s only usually at 20% capacity on weekdays might offer a two-for-one on all mains.

• Driving engagement and incentivising repeat purchase: If a luxury hotel & resort brand wants to increase brand awareness and drive conversions, they need to entice customers to stay with them. But not only that, they need to deliver an experience that delights the customer and ensures they return. The smart way to do this is to offer promotions on room rates to capture a potential customer’s interest, and then after this is redeemed, promise a further promotion at the guest’s next stay. This strategy allows you to reach customers you may not have got the attention of before, deliver a great experience, and secure a loyal customer that is sure to make repeat bookings in the future.

• Multi-stage validation: Setting criteria that customers have to meet in order to qualify for a promotion is a great way to encourage purchasing, especially for products or services that aren’t converting well. For retailers, this could be that customers must add one product from three different product lines to their basket in order to qualify for a promotion.  Another example is a travel company could offer an exclusive offer that takes certain factors like destination, hotel brand, price, time period and number of guests into account in order for potential customers to qualify for a promotion.  

As you can see, the difference between any old Promotions Engine and a Promotion Management Platform can make or break your broader business strategy. After all, each brand is different, with different needs, goals and desired promotional outcomes — and simply put, an out-of-the-box tech tool usually translates to an out-of-the-box strategy. 

But partnering with a team who can offer personalised, bespoke capabilities and a cutting-edge tech tool? That’s the key to unlocking your promotion success.