Como vs Sidedoor

Como is a customer engagement and loyalty platform for food and beverage and retail businesses. It brings together customer data from systems such as POS, online ordering, apps, websites and Wi-Fi. Businesses can build loyalty programs around points, digital punch cards, cashback, tiers, referrals and mobile Wallet, then personalize gifts and coupons using member profiles, preferences, purchase histories or occasions such as birthdays and spending thresholds.

Businesses can customize their branded app’s colors, fonts and layouts, display news and offers, and share catalogs or menus. Campaigns can run through SMS, push notifications, in-app messages and email, with audience selection, A/B testing and reporting. Comillia uses machine learning to segment members, predict behavior from activity history and target offers. Rule-based automated campaigns and a campaign wizard that suggests campaigns based on business goals are also available. Customers can order through a business’s app, website or social media pages at 0% commission. Como’s POS API exchanges information for loyalty registration, benefit redemption and club payments; the company lists more than 90 POS integrations. Pricing is available on request.

Sidedoor is a bookings and venue management platform with distinct guest-facing and operator-facing apps. Guests can browse participating venues, request guest-list entry, reserve tables and check in with QR codes. Free membership includes guest-list bookings, priority queue skips at participating venues, reward points and five free keys. Venue tools include reservations, guest lists, ticketed events, gift vouchers, email marketing, analytics and business intelligence. Venue staff can use native Android and iOS apps offline. The operator platform offers role-based access by venue and module, administrative audit logging and lock-screen protection on shared devices. Sidedoor says its hosting and databases are encrypted, passwords are hashed, optional two-factor authentication is available, and Stripe processes card payments without Sidedoor storing full card numbers or CVV codes. Connected services include Alliance iPOS, Google Business, Stripe and an open API; Square and Epos Now are listed as coming soon. Developers can use REST API documentation and tokens. Venue plans include Starter at £99 per month, Pro at £299 per month and Max at £499 per month; paid guest memberships are annual.