Press Coverage

Giving Customers the "Velvet Rope" treatment
Today's customers are bombarded by offers from a wide range of companies that want their business. But when offers are targeted and truly exclusive - delivered with pinpoint accuracy to ideal buyers - they can stand out from competing offers and generate a much greater sense of brand loyalty. In this episode, we're joined by Sai Koppala and Bill Schneider from SheerID - a marketing solution that helps retailers acquire new customers through gated exclusive offers.

Sheerid Goes Global with Its Automated Student Verification
SheerID provides automated verification for careers and lifestyles that can receive discounts, such as college students, teachers, first responders, or military service members who can get online price reductions or exclusive offers.

SheerID Can Instantly Verify Student IDs for E-commerce Discounts in 191 Countries
Everybody likes to get student discounts. But not everybody who asks for one is a student, so SheerID helps ecommerce companies by verifying whether someone really qualifies for ecommerce discounts, exclusive offers, or other deals aimed at students. Today, the company is announcing it can do instant student verification in 191 countries.

Gated Offers - A Different Approach to Personalization that Gives Consumers Control
When you are a brand trying to rise above the noise that exists on the Internet today and capture the not only the attention of your target audience but also a share of their wallet, you might turn to personalization.

Consumers Love Personalized Offers, but Only If They Opt In
According to an April 2018 survey of US internet users by verification services company SheerID and Kelton Global, more than two-thirds of respondents said an offer just for them is more important than a promotion sent to everyone, and 94% would take advantage of an offer that wasn’t made available to the public at large.

Not Just For Back-To-School: Teachers Need Help Getting Supplies All Year Long
School has started again and students across the nation have brought in supplies. But it won’t be enough. It’s never enough. Parents could buy everything on a teacher’s wish list and it wouldn’t last a year. And those lists don’t always have everything a teacher needs, either. At some point in the year, the underpaid teacher will inevitably have to replace the supplies themselves.

How Lowe's Qualifies The Military For Gated Offers
Being able to make exclusive offers to members of communities — true communities, like the military, first responders, and teachers — is a compelling route to long-term engagement and loyalty.

Website Magazine: 5 Ways Retailers Can Utilize Tech to Reach Their Target Consumer
As more technologies are being developed to supplement and enhance existing point-of-sale (POS) systems, especially as e-commerce grows and security becomes integral to both the protection of the consumer and the retailer, it’s becoming more important than ever for retailers to determine which types of software and applications are integral to reaching their end goals.

Report: Teachers Spend Up to $5,000 Out of Pocket on Classroom Supplies
Classroom teachers spent an average of $468 out of pocket on classroom supplies and equipment in the last year — amounting to nearly 1 percent of an average teacher's salary in the United States. Nearly eight in 10 teachers — 77 percent — spent "at least" $200, with some as high as $5,000, according to the latest results of an annual survey from SheerID and Agile Education Marketing . The results were based on responses from 674 educators.

WPRI: Why some schools ask parents to pay for classroom supplies
It has become a common theme among schools across Rhode Island. In addition to buying new clothes, backpacks and notebooks as their children prepare to go back to school, parents in communities throughout the state are also being asked to help stock classrooms with basic supplies that used to be paid for by school districts. An Eyewitness News review of school expenditures shows Rhode Island public schools spent about $15 million on supplies during the 2016-17 school year, with districts often dedicating less than 1% of their total budgets to classroom necessities like paper, crayons and scissors. Now schools are turning to families to chip in, providing parents lists of needed supplies that can cost between $50 and $100.

Apparel Magazine: Top Innovators of 2017: The Buckle
Buckle is a proud champion of the military, and shows its support in many ways, including by sending care packages to soldiers overseas. Additionally, a percentage of the proceeds from select merchandise goes to military members and military non-profits. since 2016, combined donations have totaled more than $95,500.

Retail Customer Experience: Trump, tech, and taxes: What's in store for 2017
Whatever your feelings about President Donald Trump, one thing is for sure: 2017 is going to be an interesting year for everyone. Many are looking forward and wondering what changes may be coming their way, both from an economical perspective, and from a technological one. For America's businesses specifically, decreased regulations, potential tax alleviations, and a continued shift toward personalized shopping experiences will all be front and center come the new year.

CNET: Students can now pick up Spotify Premium for half price
Today music streaming service Spotify has announced the launch of Spotify Premium for Students in Australia (and 33 other countries, but that's less crucial). The deal boils down to a half-price subscription for ad-free music streaming and offline listening, meaning you'll only be playing AU$5.99 per month. Before you get excited and claim to be a "student of the life experience" or something, Spotify has partnered with SheerID to verify that you're an actual student before you can take advantage of the deal. You'll get 12 months at that price, before you'll need to prove your ongoing studenthood to resubscribe.

Venture Beat: Spotify expands half-price student discounts beyond the U.S., U.K., and Germany and into 33 new markets
Above: Spotify Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat Hot on the heels of the news that Spotify is launching a shiny new Facebook Messenger bot, the music-streaming giant has now revealed that it’s expanding its student-focused Premium subscription discount to 33 new markets. advertisement Spotify first introduced its half-price student subscription back in 2014, kicking off in the U.S. before expanding into the U.K. and Germany, but today’s news represents a significant increase in the student subscription availability. New markets include Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. The 50 percent discount applies to all registered students for each year of their study. But, of course, students must first verify that they are indeed students by registering here. For the initiative, Spotify says it has teamed up with SheerID, a company that specializes in verifying consumer eligibility.

Tech Crunch: Spotify’s half-priced student pricing expands worldwide
Hot on the heels of Pandora’s public launch of its on-demand streaming service, Pandora Premium, rival Spotify is looking to make its service more appealing to younger users by rolling out discounted student pricing to more countries around the world. The company announced today that its roughly half-priced version of its Premium service is now available to students who qualify in 33 new countries, in addition to the U.S., U.K., and Germany where student pricing is already offered. The new countries where student pricing is now available includes: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Internet Retailer: The skinny on Atkins’ digital coupons
Weight-loss food brand Atkins offers a salute to military members with a coupon code, but the e-retailer wants to ensure the right consumers receive the discount. Atkins Nutritional Inc. wanted to beef up the promotions it offers veterans, active military members and first responders.

The News Review: Military discounts a tap away with SCOUT Military
While serving in the U.S. Army in Oklahoma, Cody McGraw of Portland would help connect his fellow platoon members with military deals and savings. When they asked him where to find a list of the deals, McGraw had the idea for an application that would keep an updated account of stores offering discounts for veterans.

TotalRetail: The Omnichannel Experience: Small Changes That Yield Big Results
By now, it’s more than obvious that focusing on a single channel is not a long-term, sustainable business model. Even while storefronts are struggling, the organizations that master how to create a seamless experience for customers using in-store, online and mobile strategies are poised for growth.

Retail Customer Experience: Survey: Promotions, discounts foundation for most loyalty programs
Promotions and discounts are the prime force behind customer loyalty programs despite the fact 75 percent of companies are slicing margins to offer the discounts, reveals a new SheerID survey. This year more than 84 percent of companies plan to offer promotions and 64 percent will offer exclusive loyalty promotions to specific customer groups, such as teachers and military personnel.

Chief Marketer: Marketers’ Most Wanted: Teachers
In the Most Wanted series, Chief Marketer looks at some of the top demographic segments marketers need to target in 2017. This week, we look at K-12 teachers. Who: This one’s pretty self-explanatory: K-12 teachers teach students in kindergarten and in grades from 1 to 12, in public, private and for-profit schools.

The Register-Guard: Tech scene flourishes
Projects backed by Lane County’s technology leaders in recent years are starting to produce results, including improving access to affordable high-speed Internet service in downtown Eugene and deepening the pool of tech talent. “We will be one of the best places in the country for Internet access in 2017,” said Matt Sayre, director of the Technology Association of Oregon, an industry association.

Bulldog Reporter: The Price of Loyalty: Most Businesses Are Willing to Sacrifice Profit Margin to Gain Customer Loyalty
Product promotions and discounts are clearly a driving force behind customer loyalty programs—so much so that according to new research from eligibility verification firm SheerID, even though a reported 75% of companies sacrifice margins to offer exclusive discounts, over 84% of companies plan to offer promotions in 2017. On par with the industry as a whole, 64% of those companies surveyed are already offering or planning to offer exclusive promotions to customers such as students, teachers and military members.

HomeWorld Business: SheerID: Exclusive Promos Grow But Fraud Looms
SheerID, which provides a solution that verifies whether consumers taking part in a promotion are qualified to do so, said its research suggested that the growth of targeted discounting, while strong, might be hampered by fraud. The company released a survey involving 76 companies in the United States that looked at exclusive promotions, their bottom line impacts and their effect on loyalty programs.

Retail Dive: 5 technologies reshaping retail in 2017
New technologies continue to reshape retail interesting and unexpected ways. For example, the phrase “conversational commerce” was fairly unknown in retail entering 2016, but throughout last year, the sector took major steps into the conversational commerce era with new solutions using artificial intelligence and chatbots to interact with customers.

Puget Sound Business Journal: Great companies can be built outside of Silicon Valley:’ Voyager Capital hires Bay Area venture capitalist
Voyager Capital – one of the Puget Sound region’s oldest and most active venture firms – is bringing on a Silicon Valley venture capitalist to allow the firm to make more investments in the Seattle area. James Newell leaves Menlo Park, California-based Institutional Venture Partners to join Voyager as a partner. Newell has more than a decade of experience working as an adviser and investor to technology startups including Casper, DoubleVerify, General Assembly, Sauce Labs and Zerto.

Retail Dive: 7 trends that will disrupt and define retail in 2017
These are the best of times for retail. The industry is coming off a record-setting holiday shopping season that formally kicked off with Black Friday online sales of $3.34 billion — an all-time high, up 21.6% year over year. In all, holiday spending surged 3.8% to $196.1 billion in 2016, the strongest rate of growth since 2011, research firm Conlumino found.

Beaumont Enterprise: Teachers turn to crowdfunding to boost learning
Joanna Moore asked for playground equipment, Malia Gutierrez for iPad minis, and Marissa Phillips for phonics lessons. These weren't wish lists for Santa. They are requests from local teachers posted to the crowd-funding website, DonorsChoose.org, which teachers across the country often turn to to raise money for extra materials and supplies for their students.

The Green Sheet: SheerID dignifies military via discounts at golf events
Online customer verification service SheerID recently partnered with military outreach initiative Birdies for the Brave to provide discounted tickets to active, retired and veteran military personnel, and their families, for select PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Web.com Tour events.

Website Magazine: System Verifies Military, Segment Statuses
Tableau, Costco and Symantec are just a few companies using new technology that expedites promotional campaigns, prevents fraudulent purchases, captures and retains consumers and uses analytics to analyze consumer-purchasing trends.

The News: Jones prefiles teacher tax-credit bill, sheriff fee correction
Teachers digging deep into their own pockets to finance their classroom supplies is a regular part of the school year for pre-K-12 educators, but a bill prefiled by state Rep. Jeff Jones, R-St. Simons Island, seeks to provide some relief. …Read More

Military Press: SheerID and Birdies for the Brave Partner on Military Ticketing
Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative proudly supported by the PGA TOUR has partnered with SheerID, a point-of-sale verification provider, to verify status of active duty, Reserve, military retirees, dependents, and veterans interested in obtaining complimentary and discounted tickets offered at select PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, and Web.com Tour events.

Fort Bragg Patch: Military Rates and Complimentary Tickets for PGA Tour
Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative proudly supported by the PGA TOUR has partnered with SheerID, a point-of-sale verification provider, to verify status of active duty, Reserve, military retirees, dependents, and veterans interested in obtaining complimentary and discounted tickets offered at select PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, and Web.com Tour events.

Outside Magazine: The Best Places to Work: 2016
49. SheerID (Eugene, Oregon) Oregon-based software company SheerID verifies the identities of online bargain hunters who use sites like Amazon. Desks at the office are made from repurposed doors, the company keeps lots of snacks around, and employees can work flexible hours or telecommute if they need to. …Read More

Military Wives Saving: Birdies for the Brave Partners With SheerID Offering Military Discounts and More
Birdies for the Brave, a national military outreach initiative proudly supported by the PGA TOUR has partnered with SheerID, a point-of-sale verification provider, to verify status of active duty, Reserve, military retirees, dependents, and veterans interested in obtaining complimentary and discounted tickets offered at select PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, and Web.com Tour events.

PRWeb: Bunion Bootie To Team Up with SheerID to Provide Exclusive Discounts to Military
As a response to overwhelming interest in Bunion Booties by active duty military and other members of the military community, Bunion Bootie has introduced an exclusive Military Discount Program, protected by SheerID. Eligible active duty service men and women, veterans, retirees, and military spouses qualify for a 10% savings on each and every order placed with Bunion Bootie.

Scholastic: Teacher’s Discount
Every teacher who buys Crayons, tissues or printer paper knows that money doesn’t go very far. SheerID can help with a verification program that allows teachers to buy at a discount. Think of it as an online warehouse club for education and you get an idea as to its potential. Norton is one of the vendors that provide a discount to educators as verified by SheerID.

Total Retail: 5 Ways Retailers Can Use POS Technology to Reach Their Target Consumer
As more technologies are being developed to supplement and enhance existing point-of-sale (POS) systems, it’s becoming more important than ever for retailers to determine which types of software and applications are integral to reaching their end goals. While Google’s recent emphasis on e-commerce indicates that the big players see growth in online sales and revenue, well-known e-retailers like eBay, Etsy andPiperlime, a division of Gap, are opening showrooms, pop-up shops or developing other strategies that make them relevant in the brick-and-mortar space.

Eugene Weekly: Biz Beat 3-28-2013
SheerID is a new national business based in Eugene providing merchants and service providers with opportunities to offer discounts to verified active duty military personnel and their families, and other targeted groups. David Shear, Marci Hansen and Jake Weatherly are co-founders. “We are a team of marketing geeks, programming whiz kids and creative account advisors who are transforming the world of ecommerce,” reads the company’s mission statement at sheerid.com.

Venues Today: SheerID Automates Discounts for Military and College Buyers
When a theater or a sports team offers a discount to senior citizens or military veterans, what was intended to reward a customer sometimes can take more effort than it is worth. “So many venues that offer special discounts or free tickets to military service members and families or students, most, if not all, of those tickets, in terms of customer experience, means that you come here on the day of the event, wait in line at the box office, show an ID and gain access to a special price,” said Jake Weatherly, co-founder and CEO of SheerID.”

Fibre 2 Fashion: SheerId to explain segmenting & technology at Apparel Tech
SheerID, point-of-sale verification provider for retailers and consumers at Apparel Tech Conference West on how combining pinpoint-segmenting with verification technology can result in increased incremental revenue for apparel retailers.

Security Director News: Fathead uses SheerID technology to safeguard military discount
If perpetrators of retail crime are good at anything, it’s identifying vulnerabilities and exploiting them. Targeted discounts, used by retailers to extend their brand to new or existing customer groups, are precisely the kind of initiatives that are potentially exploitable.

Fortune: A VC Explains Why It Takes So Long for Startups to Raise Money
This week Diane Fraiman, a partner at Voyager Capital, offers a look at the dynamics at play during the fundraising process. A fatal mistake when raising money is not giving yourself enough time. You have the disruptive model in a very large market and the team who can articulate the value. But do you have realistic expectations about how long it will take to raise that first institutional round?

Retail Technology Review: SheerID launches free active duty military verification for retailers
SheerID, point-of-sale verification provider enabling merchants to offer discounts to special interest consumer groups, has announced its free active duty military verification solution created to help retailers and companies give back to the men, women and families who sacrifice for their country every day. The free, fraud-proof technology verifies active duty military without requiring a service member to share a social security number or any sensitive information, or become a "member" of any community.

TotalRetail: Why Consumers Abandon Shopping Carts During the Holidays
There has been an influx of reports predicting that this year’s holiday sales will continue on an upward trajectory. PwC forecasts that 2016 holiday spending will reach its highest peak since the Great Recession, at about a 10 percent increase from 2015 holiday sales. The National Retail Federation (NRF) projects that holiday sales will see a 3.6 percent overall increase over last year, totaling $655.8 billion in sales. The NRF also predicts that the biggest increase will be in web sales, with a projected growth range of 7 percent to 10 percent.

Military Press: SheerID Launches Free Active Duty Military Verification for Retailers
SheerID, point-of-sale verification provider enabling merchants to offer discounts to special interest consumer groups, today announced its free active duty military verification solution created to help retailers and companies give back to the men, women and families who sacrifice for their country every day.

AWS: AWS Educate Now Available to U.S. Veterans
Last May, Amazon pledged to offer 10,000 service members, transitioning military personnel, and military spouses free membership to AWS Educate as part of Joining Forces, the initiative that works hand in hand with the public and private sectors to ensure that service members, veterans, and their families have the tools they need to succeed throughout their lives. AWS Educate helps individuals learn the skills needed for in-demand cloud computing jobs through AWS service credits, online career pathways, provision of micro-credentials, and the AWS Educate Job Board.

Examiner: Fathead announces everyday military discount
Fathead, the leading brand of officially licensed sports and entertainment wall graphics, today announced the launch of an everyday discount for military members and their families. This exciting new program, valid for 20% off all Fathead product, everyday, is open to United States active and retired service members, veterans and members of their immediate families. Fathead is partnering with SheerID, an automated verification solution, to validate military status.

CIO: 10 last-minute holiday strategies for e-tailers
While most online retail businesses spend months planning for the holiday season, if you are not one of them, take heart. There are plenty of things owners (or managers) of online stores can do between the middle (or even the end) of November and the end of the year to help drive traffic to your site and increase sales.

Eugene Magazine: Featured Entrepreneur
Jake Weatherly, David Shear, and Marci Hansen met while working for a software company. But Jake and David had dreams of creating their own company. It wasn’t long before they quit their jobs and found themselves spending countless hours at Agate Alley Bistro brainstorming and trying to poke holes in their idea. Once they had an idea cemented, they worked through an accelerated business incubation program at Beaverton’s Open Technology Business Center.

The Military Wallet: 2016 Veterans Day Freebies, Retail Discounts, and Specials
Veterans Day is a time to celebrate the service of those who have sacrificed so much to keep us safe. While military members don’t serve for recognition, it’s nice to know that many companies and organizations set aside a day to honor their service. This page lists a variety of Veterans Day offers for our nation’s servicemembers – past and present. These offers include free haircuts, free oil changes, free car washes, retail discounts, and much more. Please see the following resources for more Veterans Day offers:

Techie.com: How mobile is changing the world in 2013 and beyond
We asked industry leaders, movers, and shakers, and founders of some of the most innovative mobile companies the question: “How is mobile technology changing the world?” The answers tell a story of innovation, disruption, and a whole new business model that unchains consumers and businesspeople alike from not just the desktop, but from the office entirely.

Military Times: The list: Veterans Day discounts coming your way
Your military strategic skills may be required to map out a plan to take advantage of the many Veterans Day deals and discounts: Depending on your location, you might be able to squeeze in a free haircut and a free flu shot between your free breakfast and your free lunch. We’ve collected some of the offers available and will update this list regularly over the next week. Do you own or work for a business offering a good deal? Send us a note at the email address at the end of the list.

Internet Retailer: SheerID Marks Record Volume in 2012
SheerID, point-of-sale verification provider enabling merchants to offer discounts to special interest consumer groups, ended 2012 having achieved several company milestones. As of Q4 2012, SheerID is the most comprehensive point-of-purchase verification vendor, the only company enabling businesses to customize discounts and savings for special interest consumer groups, such as students, teachers and the military, and to verify their eligibility.

Military Wives Savings: Veterans Day Deals and Discounts 2016
Special thanks to SheerID for sharing these Veterans Day deals and discounts for 2016. Calling all Veterans, Active Duty Military, Guard, Reserve, Retired … Veterans Day is your day, and rightfully so. Thank You for your service and sacrifices ♥ Here is a list of all the Veterans Day Freebies and Deals for you taking place this year! Don’t forget, some establishments require proof of service … such as the following: U.S. Uniform Service ID card, U.S. Uniform Services Retired ID card, current LES, show up in uniform, American Legion or VFW member card, or DD Form 214.

KVAL 13: Silicon Shire: 'Eugene is a real hub for tech companies'
A Eugene web-design manufacturer hopes it means more jobs for the high-tech sector. KVAL’s Tom Adams joins us with more on the “Silicon Shire”.

Luxury Daily: Preparing for the digital holiday rush
From one busy shopping season to another, we are now past those busy back-to-school weeks and Halloween, which means that retailers everywhere are gearing up for an even busier season that often brings in more revenue than any other: the holidays.

San Diego Military Wife: Honoring our Veterans: Businesses Get Exclusive to Give Back
With Veteran’s Day only days away, both large and small organizations across the country have partnered with verification company SheerID to extend exclusive offers to those who have served in the United States Military. As a token of their appreciation, brands such as Quiksilver and Men’s Wearhouse, among many others, are providing veterans and active duty military men and women, as well as their families, with offers only available to America’s heroes.

Tech.Co: SheerID: Microtargeting Your Customers Through Couponless Marketing
Startup SheerID is attempting to solve the problem of seamlessly providing customers with offers based on their verified segment. Perhaps you have heard of the oft-repeated marketing joke where a CMO says, “We know 50% of our marketing is working, but we do not know which 50%.” The advent of tools and technology that provide data on customer behavior and buying habits is useful to determine the success of your marketing campaign.

Portland Business Journal: In startup funding, is Seattle's loss Portland's gain?
From a Portland startup vantage, our Seattle neighbors appear to have several key resources that our own burgeoning community craves. Aside from a major research institution seeding the local computer science landscape, it is home base for several venture capital firms. Oregon is not. That so-called “indigenous capital” is commonly thought to make it easier for nearby startups to find the risk tolerant investors needed to seed a vibrant startup community.

PR Newswire: C.A.M.O. (Challenge America™ Military Opportunities) Welcomes Dallas-area Veterans, Families to CAMO Family Fitness Day
Challenge America Military Opportunities (CAMO), partnering with local organizations and businesses, welcomes all Dallas-area veterans and their families to the inaugural CAMO Family Fitness Day, Saturday, January 19, 2013, on the field of iconic Cowboys Stadium. CAMO Family Fitness Day, focusing on comprehensive soldier and family fitness, brings a day of fun with Dallas-based sports professionals and free resources and seminars led by veteran and family support organizations.

IT Business Edge: E-Commerce: 5 Strategies to Drive Revenue over the Holidays
With retail sales continuing to gain traction throughout the year, there's little doubt that the holidays (November and December) will be a major revenue driver for U.S. retailers. According to eMarketer's holiday sales preview forecast, total U.S. retail sales will increase 3.3 percent over the same period last year to $884.50 billion, while e-commerce sales will jump to $94.71 billion, representing 10.7 percent of total holiday retail sales — the largest portion ever.

Bulldog Reporter: Holiday Shoppers Want to Shop Online—But Are Looking For an In-Store Purchasing Experience
As the holiday shopping season looms, a new study from verification solutions firm SheerID has found that today’s consumers want an in-store experience without actually stepping into a store. Conducted in September 2016, the survey of over 500 U.S. shoppers who have made purchases online looked at shoppers’ habits, likes and dislikes, as well as holiday spending plans for the upcoming holiday season.

PRWeb: SheerID Asks Four Industry Experts How to Actually Reach College Students
SheerID, the only instant online student verification provider, shares advice for how to reach college students this back to school season, with the help of four industry experts. SheerID went straight to the source and asked college students how and where companies should market their student discounts.

Marketingdesks.com: Consumers Want E-commerce Holiday Shopping to Feel More Like an In-Store Buying Experience
A majority of consumers surveyed (61 percent) in a SheerID study said they planned to do anywhere from 50 to 100 percent of their holiday shopping online this year, and nearly as many (57 percent) said their total holiday shopping budget was more than $500. (Scroll down to view the full SheerID infographic.) When asked how much they would spend per person on gifts for family members, the most popular answer was $100-200 at 35 percent, followed closely by 31 percent who put the number at $50-100 per person. Only 16 percent said they would spend less than $50 a person, and only 17 percent said they would spend more than $200 a person on gifts for family members.

Accessories Magazine: Online Shoppers Want Ease of Transaction and Prefer Comfort In Their Own Home
The holiday shopping season is well underway and while industry experts are predicting a prosperous season across the board, online sales will be its main driving factor with 61% of shoppers planning to do 50-100% of their holiday shopping online according to a new study by SheerID. It surveyed 500 US shoppers to find out their preferences in online shopping habits, pinpointing consumers’ likes, dislikes, and holiday budgeting.

Digital Journal: Students Have Many Reasons to Shop Online For Back-to-School Software
According to a recent study by SheerID, 52% of college students buy their academic software in the college bookstore or through their college IT department. Only 34% of college students surveyed shop online for academic software, a surprisingly low percentage considering the advantages to purchasing software online.

Website Magazine: How Shoppers Define a Good Deal
The official start to the holiday season is less than one month away and retailers are hard at work perfecting their strategies to maximize their revenue-earning potential, which includes analyzing how consumers perceive a promotion. SheerID surveyed 500 U.S. shoppers, who have made purchases online, to look at their habits, likes and dislikes, as well as holiday spending plans. One of the most interesting insights from the survey centers around how shoppers define a good deal. Thirty-five percent of those surveyed want a discount of 30 percent to feel they are getting a good deal, while 26 percent need a discount of 40 percent or more. The majority (63 percent) of shoppers, however, can agree that, "it is important or very important that the products they buy are discounted."

Website Magazine: Protecting Special Audience Discounts
Does your e-commerce property offer military or student discounts? How can you confirm these buyers qualify? Well, if you’re a Magento powered platform, you’ll now be able to use SheerID’s verification plugin to protect your most special, targeted discounts.

Fierce Retail: Online shoppers want in-store experience
U.S. consumers are expected to do the majority of their holiday shopping online this season, but there are still quite a few barriers that will have them abandoning shopping carts. For the most part, these shoppers expect the online experience to match that of the physical store, especially the checkout experience.

The Paypers: SheerID integrates verification API with Magento
SheerID, a technology provider, has integrated its instant verification API with e-commerce platform Magento. As a result, retailers who use a Magento powered e-commerce platform will be able to protect their targeted discounts by using SheerID’s verification plug-in to confirm that customers qualify for special offers such as military or student discounts.

Retail Customer Experience: How to keep your loyalty program from failing over the holidays
August research from the Berkeley Research Group shows loyalty programs will be a massive contributing factor for consumers when deciding where to shop this holiday season. A wide range of businesses, from mass merchandisers to office supply retailers, will feel the impact as 24 percent to 55 percent of consumers reported that access to loyalty programs will affect their purchasing decisions. With the National Retail Federation reporting holiday sales will see a 3.6 percent overall increase over last year, totaling $655.8 billion, it's important retailers are listening.

VentureBeat: SheerID integrates with Magento to give discounts to the deserving
SheerID announced today the integration of its instant-verification technology with e-commerce platform Magento, making it easier for online retailers to verify special offers such as military or student discounts.

Chron: Things you get for free (or cheap) just by being a college student
College students are notoriously frugal spenders. Their diet consists mostly of fast-food value menu items and anything you can buy in packs of 20. This college football season, METRO and the University of Houston have worked together to ease the pain on wallets by helping students reach UH games. Any University of Houston student with a valid school ID can ride for free. But METRO isn't the only place where university students can get a free pass, or as least a discount. According to Sheer ID, a company that verifies student identification for businesses, there are 21 million enrolled U.S. college students with a spending power of $417 billion.

Bring UsedNews: Reuse Around Town
A new twist on an old idea. The good folks at SheerID recently purchased a number of used doors at BRING and outfitted their entire office with desks and tables made from them. Instead of simply setting the doors on old filing cabinets, they worked with

Apparel Magazine: How to Avoid These Common Pitfalls of Holiday Promotions
As retailers across the country watch the back-to-school season start to slow down, we all know that they are far from breathing easy. September marks the beginning of fall, which means that the holiday season is just around the corner.

Military Job Networks: MJN PARTNER : SHEERID
SheerID is an eligibility verification service that was specifically designed to help companies offer exclusive discounts to the military market. Military Job Networks started working with SheerID to help verify that our community remained veterans only. Here is their story and why eligibility verification is such an important tool for both companies and military members to utilize.

The Street: Not With My Wallet, You Don't: Fraud Threat Continues to Curb Mobile Spending Growth
Consumers who demand tighter mobile security do so in large numbers. According to NTT Data, Inc., a Plano, Texas-based business and technology services provider, 75% of consumers say "guarantees against monetary fraud would accelerate mobile payment adoption." The report also found that almost 50% of financial consumers believe mobile wallets are less secure than cash. "Fear is a powerful inhibitor, and fraud fear is top of mind for many consumers," says Peter Olynick, senior practice lead in retail banking at NTT Data Consulting, Inc. "Consumers are not just worried about losing one or two transactions, they fear."

Internet Retailer: A sales tax solution?
The long-simmering online sales tax issue may finally be reaching a boil. State governments are applying pressure on Congress to enact a law that would require online retailers to collect sales tax on most transactions, something many web-only and catalog retailers don’t do today. And if Congress doesn’t act, several states have passed laws that directly challenge the U.S. Supreme Court decision that has exempted many e-retailers from collecting sales tax, which could lead the high court to reviewing its 1992 decision within the next year or two.

Retail Dive: How technology will shape the future of retail loss prevention
Not so long ago, when mobile shopping and online purchasing were figments of our imaginations, loss prevention professionals were focused on catching criminals who lurked within brick-and-mortar retail. And while that is still an important part of retail loss prevention, it comprises a much smaller segment of the loss prevention specialist’s responsibilities in today’s digital world: In one U.S. retail fraud survey of over 100 companies, researchers found that store fraud prevention spending declined from 0.6% of sales to 0.5% year over year, while investment in online fraud prevention increased from 0.2% to 0.34%, a change representing millions of dollars in corporate spending.

Retail Touch Points: How To Attract Millennials and Keep Them Coming Back For More
As of last year, the Millennial generation overtook the Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the U.S. This young, vocal, decision-driving group will carry the majority of consumer spending power by as early as next year. Even now, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that Millennials in the U.S. wield about $1.3 trillion in annual buying power.

Luxury Daily: Luxury brands and retailers must get discounts and promotions right
Perception is king and, as most luxury retailers know, success is dependent on how a brand is perceived. When consumers think of luxury, certain terms often come to mind such as exclusive, high quality, special and expensive. All are indicative of an experience that consumers consider themselves lucky or privileged to have. Because brand integrity is key to any luxury retailer’s growth, many often shy away from a practice associated with less-sought-after brands: discounting.

Chief Marketer: Why B2B Brands Are Focused On ABM
Why is account based marketing (ABM) so hot today? More and more companies have reached the epiphany that while B2B marketing still has its place for B2C-style branding and awareness, demand generation should be uniquely B2B. And they’re changing everything from their organizational philosophies to the technology they use to accommodate the shift. Consider SheerID. Like many companies in recent years, SheerID found itself executing a B2B marketing strategy that wasn’t very B2B-ish. SheerID, which helps corporate clients such as Spotify, Foot Locker and the PGA Tour instantly verify consumers’ eligibility for special offers, adopted digital programs aimed at reaching as many people as possible within organizations and generating as many leads and contacts as it could. That’s the sort of elaborate fishing expedition more closely associated with B2C than B2B.

The News & Observer: NC schools’ needs strain budgets for parents, teachers
Jasmine Lauer, an English teacher at Sanderson High School, says she spends up to $200 of her own money on school supplies each semester. If North Carolina still had an annual tax-free weekend, Lauer could keep about $27 of that. It might not sound like much, but Lauer said every dollar adds up, especially as schools depend more on teachers and parents to buy tissues, dry-erase markers and glue sticks.

Luxury Daily: Luxury brands and retailers must get discounts and promotions right
Perception is king and, as most luxury retailers know, success is dependent on how a brand is perceived. When consumers think of luxury, certain terms often come to mind such as exclusive, high quality, special and expensive. All are indicative of an experience that consumers consider themselves lucky or privileged to have. Because brand integrity is key to any luxury retailer’s growth, many often shy away from a practice associated with less-sought-after brands: discounting.

Chief Marketer: Why B2B Brands Are Focused On ABM
Why is account based marketing (ABM) so hot today? More and more companies have reached the epiphany that while B2B marketing still has its place for B2C-style branding and awareness, demand generation should be uniquely B2B. And they’re changing everything from their organizational philosophies to the technology they use to accommodate the shift. Consider SheerID. Like many companies in recent years, SheerID found itself executing a B2B marketing strategy that wasn’t very B2B-ish. SheerID, which helps corporate clients such as Spotify, Foot Locker and the PGA Tour instantly verify consumers’ eligibility for special offers, adopted digital programs aimed at reaching as many people as possible within organizations and generating as many leads and contacts as it could. That’s the sort of elaborate fishing expedition more closely associated with B2C than B2B.

HCC Blog Zone: National Student (and Teacher) Discount Day
Whether you’re a full-time student, holding part-time status and working, a veteran student (thank you for serving!) an Eagle alumni, a freshman, or a teacher adding more to your resume, I hope you find some time today to reward yourself whether you plan to hit the mall or shop online! Keep your valid HCC student ID, teacher ID, and veteran IDs on you at all times, because today is National Student Discount Day!

Go Banking Rates: Best Back-to-School Teacher Discounts — and Where to Find Them
Summer is coming to a close, meaning it’s almost time for teachers to return to the classroom. Many teachers aren’t given a hefty budget to cover the cost of school supplies, so they’re forced to use their own funds to make up the difference. For the 2015-2016 school year, teachers spent an average of $487 of their own money stocking their classrooms, according to a survey conducted by SheerID and Agile Education Marketing. This can become a huge financial burden even when items are purchased during a teacher sale. Being a good teacher can cost a lot of money, so many retailers offer special discounts for teachers to help cover extra expenses.

NCRSilver: How Small Businesses Can Capitalize on Back-to-School Season
Each year, major retailers crowd the airwaves and newspaper circulars to cash in on back-to-school season. But as a small business owner, there are ways you can benefit, too. Here are some creative strategies to reach students, teachers and schools while growing profits and boosting brand awareness this fall.

InCharge: Debt Relief for Teachers
Terry Rooney is a teacher, which means she is well versed in organization, planning and executing those plans, none of which seems to help when it’s time to pay her monthly bills. Rooney organizes her activities very carefully, budgets expenses prudently and plans to pay for it all at the end of every month, but it almost never happens. “Student loans,” she explained in a humble voice. “It’s a burden every single month and it feels like it’s never going to end.” Rooney is single, owns a home and just bought a new car when her old one died. She borrowed $37,000 to get her degree. Her first job was a pre-K teacher at a parochial school that paid $35,000.

THE Journal: Staples and Katy Perry Help School Projects on DonorsChoose.org
Staples and pop singer Katy Perry are teaming up to provide full funding on all middle and high school literacy projects — as well as college and career prep projects — posted on DonorsChoose.org, a charity that has funded more than 700,000 classroom projects for teachers and has impacted more than 18 million students in the United States, according to a news release.

THE Journal: Survey Finds 81 Percent of K–12 Teachers Shopping Online for Class
Back-to-school shopping is in full swing, and 81 percent of K–12 teachers say they now shop online for classroom items, according to a new survey released by SheerID, a verification company, and Agile Education Marketing. The third annual survey found that more teachers are using mobile methods to shop, and organizations that offer teacher discounts are more likely to gain long-term customer loyalty from teachers.

Website Magazine: Verifying Employees for Enterprise Discount Programs
It's not uncommon for enterprises to offer an employee-discount program for recreational items like movie or concert tickets, but even though staff members are demanding more and more perks from their employers, not everyone is taking advantage of these offerings.

Business News Daily: 3 Types of Workplace Incentives Your Employees Actually Want
A recent Google consumer survey conducted by employee-verification company SheerID asked more than 500 respondents about employee-discount usage within companies. The results revealed that only 22 percent of workers use their employee discount programs often. However, if these programs were easier to use, 46 percent said they would use them more often.

Security Magazine: Managing Fraud in E-Commerce: Is Your Online Business Bulletproof?
A few years ago, most people would have scoffed at the thought of ecommerce becoming a necessity for retail success. Now, we know that it’s very much required for many retailers to survive. According to Forrester’s Ecommerce Forecast looking at the next few years in retail, ecommerce accounted for over nine percent of total U.S. retail sales in 2015, which is roughly $334 billion.

Portland Business Journal: Eugene Startup Uncovers Safer Ways To Give Your Employees Discounts
Eugene-based SheerID's latest product line could expand the startup’s reach even further into the identity verification market. The company's latest product, aimed at corporate customers, allows organizations to streamline employee purchase programs.

eWeek: SheerID Launches Employee Verification Platform
Eligibility verification provider SheerID launched its Employee Verification Solution, aimed at helping businesses streamline employee purchase programs and corporate channel partnerships.

Small Business Computing: 115 DIY Email Marketing Tips
Subject lines can be tricky, especially when creating campaigns for cold leads. It’s all about spiking the readers’ interest enough to open your email. Try A/B testing a few different methods, like teasers, questions, and click-bait ("What you may not know about…"). Depending on your readers, different subject lines might illicit different responses, so try a variety to see what gets the best open rates. Keep your email copy and landing pages consistent with your subject lines to give your readers a cohesive user experience.

Chief Marketer: 4 Musts For Influencer Marketing
Running a successful influencer campaign has the ability to bring brand visibility that many marketers can only dream of. A study conducted by Schlesinger Associates found that 81% of marketers who have conducted an influencer marketing campaign agree it is effective. While putting together one of these programs may seem simple, there are a few tactics that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Trust Radius: Organizing for ABM: Sales + Marketing + Customer Success Need Join Strategy, Metrics, & Skills
Simon Spencer, Director of Marketing Operations at SheerID, a discount verification software for large retailers, also sees ABM as a forcing factor that will help align Marketing and Sales. Spencer agrees that ABM can help to correct a broken design that has long lead to mis-alignment: “When you think about the traditions of B2B businesses and how they’ve set up their Marketing and Sales departments, it was set up to be a battle of the metrics.

Portland Business Journal: A View of Lane County tech with TAO and SheerID
The TAO's Matt Sayre says things are bubbling in Lane County, with several growing tech companies and a downtown revitalization. However, challenges remain.

Alaska Beyond Magazine: Eugene-Springfield Provides Perfect Climate for Economic Growth
On their own, each industry is rapidly evolving in Oregon. But to really see the forest for the trees, you need only look to Eugene-Springfield, where these seemingly unrelated industries are punching through the canopy. While the largest trees may command the most attention, it's often the smallest seedlings and youngest saplings - and in this case, a fire - that is sparking diversity in this green, economic forest.

Alaska Beyond Magazine: Taking Care of Business
"Tech is booming in the South Willamette Valley," says Matt Sayre, director at the Technology Association of Oregon, which opened a new office in Eugene early last year. Media stories increasingly refer to the area as the "Silicon Shire," he notes.

DealNews: Retailers Giving Back: Shop These Memorial Day Deals for Veterans!
Lots of merchants will celebrate Memorial Day by honoring those who serve. Service members, vets, and family can save at Newegg, Sprint, Expedia, and more.

Military Officers Association of America: 2016 Memorial Day Military Discounts
On Memorial Day, we remember and recognize the men and women who lost their lives serving the nation. Many restaurants and companies also recognize those who are serving and who have served by offering discounts - May 30 and some year round - as a thank you. Check out the following Memorial Day military discounts. - See more at: http://www.moaa.org/Content/Publications-and-Media/Features-and-Columns/MOAA-Features/Memorial-Day-Military-Discounts.aspx#sthash.eWrTxDrL.dpuf

Website Magazine: Why Bigger Isn’t Always Better When It Comes to Email Lists
When it comes to an email marketing list, size shouldn’t be what matters most. Although upper management and potential partners may be impressed by sheer volume, the real value of your list should be measured by how actively engaged its subscribers are.

Top Soft Reviews: How to Get Spotify Student Discount?
Are you a music lover? All you want is free music into your playlist with the best software? If you are a student than apart from studying, you will require a list of songs to relax or chill down in your free time.

Total Retail: The Power of the Discount
The omnichannel evolution represents a unique opportunity for retailers to create loyalty that goes deeper than club cards or cashback rewards. Empowered by technology and data, retailers can now connect with their customers across several channels to meet their needs and offer personalized service.

Portland Business Journal: New Hire - Alex Disette
Alex Disette as a Regional Vice President at SheerID will be an evangelist of the brand responsible for driving and supporting sales opportunities, gaining support for critical resources needed in both pre-sales and post-sales, and supporting customers throughout the sales cycle to ensure success.

Business Insider: Amazon just made a move that should get packages to you even more quickly
Amazon is going the extra mile to get products to your door even more quickly. The e-commerce giant is opening two new fulfillment centers in New Jersey that would help the company quickly ship orders to a greater scope of its customer base, according to ChainStoreAge.

Portland Business Journal: 7 Companies Ready For Flight
As Portland’s senior class of software companies eyes exits, a look at the next generation of up-and-comers. For several years now, Portland’s booming software sector has been defined by a handful of high-profile companies. You know their names: Puppet Labs, Elemental Technologies, Act-On Software, Urban Airship, Janrain, Jama Software, Simple and Viewpoint Construction Software.

Eugene Weekly: Biz Beats 4-21-2016
Oregon tech companies SheerID and Concentric Sky traveled to Washington, D.C. with tech companies from around the U.S. for ACT The App Association’s App Economy Conference. Katie Keller of SheerID tells us that the company’s co-founder and CEO, Jake Weatherly, and Concentric Sky President Cale Bruckner, “will spend three days with senior members of Congress discussing contentious issues that plague companies across the U.S. and in Oregon.”

Point of Sale News: Case Study On Use Of Targeted Discounts To Military Families
In 2005, Steven Mandell, founder of Party City, decided to create a costume e-commerce site to provide consumers with a wider selection, higher quality products, more fashion savvy designs, and a more convenient shopping experience.

Ducks Innovate: Respect the Military - Spring Football Game
For the past seven years, the Oregon Athletics Department has used the annual Spring Game as a platform to honor and pay tribute to active and veteran members of the military. Each of the five branches are represented in pre-game festivities: Army sets up an inflatable obstacle course, Army National Guard brings Humvees and other large vehicles, Marines interact with a chin-up bar challenge, Air Force allows fans to use a Halo jumper and night vision gear, Coast Guard flies in a helicopter, and Navy does a push-up challenge.

WM Phoenix Open: Thunderbirds Extend Free Admission Offer To All First Responders, Military Members & Veterans
The Thunderbirds are once again inviting all First Responders as well as Active, Reserve and Retired Military personnel and one accompanying individual to be their guests (free of charge) at the 2016 Waste Management Phoenix Open. This is the 15th year that the tournament host Thunderbirds have extended this free invitation as a small gesture of thanks for all these heroes do for our country.

The Rebuilding Center: What will you (re)make?
The new Portland team of Eugene-based tech company, Sheer ID, has a tradition of making desks out of doors, so when the company opened a new location in NW Portland, they naturally had to carry that tradition. Repurposing doors all found at Rebuilding Center, the Portland team was able to create more door desks full of character to make them feel at home in their new space.

LPM Insider: The Growing Role of Retail Loss Prevention Professionals
In the not-so-distant past, the primary responsibility of loss prevention personnel was to deter theft and control shrink. Many of us started our careers with the important but unpopular job of investigating internal fraud as well as identifying and detaining shoplifters in stores. Although important to the operation of a company, loss prevention wasn’t perceived by many as an obvious career path to a successful business career. It’s time for that perception to change.

JEGi: Emerging Company Dinner: Transformation + Innovation in Data and Marketing Technology
JEGI held its first Emerging Company Dinner of 2016 on April 6th at the 21 Club in New York City starting at 6PM with cocktails. These events are structured as roundtable discussions and provide a stimulating evening of great conversation and networking.

PRWeb: Executive Search Firm Herd Freed Hartz Places Senior Vice President, Sales at SheerID
Herd Freed Hartz, LLC (HFH) announced today that it placed Rocky Scales as Senior Vice President of Sales at SheerID. The position is based in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Scales was previously Vice President of Sales at OnDot Systems in San Jose, California. The search was conducted by Kelley Pecis, Managing Director, and Jeff Markham, Managing Director, at HFH.

Portland Business Journal: Cover Story: 7 Portland tech companies that are ready to fly
For several years now, Portland’s booming software sector has been defined by a handful of high-profile companies. You know their names: Puppet Labs, Elemental Technologies, Act-On Software, Urban Airship, Janrain, Jama Software, Simple and Viewpoint Construction Software.

Portland Business Journal: Rocky Scales Recognition Plaque
Rocky Scales has been hired at SheerID as the Senior Vice President of Sales. He brings over 20 years of sales and marketing senior leadership experience in establishing and executing enterprise sales strategies. Rocky will be based in the Portland office.

Iowa State Daily: Student discounts on travel, clothing, electronics
Being a student in the age of the Internet has its perks. From accessing databases from the comfort of your dorm room to applying for internships and jobs online, the academic side of being a 21st century student is more than enough reason to celebrate. But today, as online shopping becomes more ubiquitous than ever, several retailers are also extending special offers to students.

World Golf Championships: Cadillac Championship honors military members in Opening Day ceremony
The World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship showed its appreciation to military members and their families by hosting a Military Appreciation Day ceremony before the opening round on Thursday at the historic Blue Monster course at Doral.

GeekWire: Tech Moves: Donuts names new execs; Microsoft hires director for data center sustainability; T-Mobile expands digital team; and more
SheerID, a company specializing in eligibility verification tech and located in Eugene, Ore., announced two new executives are joining its team in its new Portland, Ore. office. Julianne Matzell has been appointed the VP of Product and brings over 15 years of experience in software design, go-to-market strategy, and product management. Prior to SheerID, Matzell was with Portland-based Janrain, where she directed its product management. Scott Hollingsworth will be the VP of Finance for SheerID. Prior to this, Hollingsworth worked with The Clymb as its director of analytics and then as its VP of finance.

Portland Business Journal: Eugene startup to start a hiring wave in Portland as part of its 'natural progression'
The growing team at Eugene-based SheerID is expanding to Portland with a new office that is expected to quickly eclipse the size of the headquarters. The expansion is a natural progression for the company said co-founder and CEO Jake Weatherly.

Android Headlines: T-Mobile Offering $48 Off New Phones For Students & Faculty
T-Mobile seems to be offering a new deal, running a new promotion or otherwise, drawing attention to themselves in a new way every week. Mostly consisting of ideas from CEO John Legere, this tactic has worked pretty well for the past few years in regards to obtaining new customers and, in some cases, helping to give current customers more value and thus more reason to stick around. On February 16, the in-your-face carrier announced a new promotion aimed at those involved with the school system. Specifically, K-12 faculty, college faculty and college students can get $48 off most devices in T-Mobile’s stable with a new service on the device and with only a few caveats. The deal is online only, so you’ll have to wait for your phone to ship. Additionally, K-12 students are seemingly left out in the cold, but if you happen to be a high school student over 18 and living on your own, it may be worth giving your local T-Mobile store a call.

Chief Marketer: Exclusive Discount Helps Fathead Connect with Military Families
Molly McLeod, marketing project manager at graphic wall decal marketer Fathead, shares how her brand created a successful targeted discount campaign to the military community that increased engagement with this segment by 700%.

Inc.: 3 Secrets to Winning Big B2B Clients
One of the things I love about entrepreneurs is that we have all learned some important lessons in business from doing it the hard way. Failing cheaply and quickly is how we stay in business. So when you come across some sage advice from someone who's struggled and prevailed, it's really great to share their insights so that our fellow entrepreneurs reading these insights will avoid these same mistakes.

The Register-Guard: 2016 outlook: Lane County tech sector to ride wave of momentum
Lane County’s growing tech industry became more organized, more networked and more visible last year, and it will build on that momentum in 2016, industry sources say. “We have all the right ingredients to sustain growth and build hopefully even a brighter future,” said Cale Bruckner, president of Eugene Web development firm Concentric Sky. “We’re getting noticed outside the region — that’s attracting investment. We’re offering more support for entrepreneurs,” such as the Fertilab business incubators and the state-backed Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network (RAIN).

Education World: The 4 Ways Technology Increases Affordability and Availability in Education
While many question whether or not technology is having a positive effect on education, Jeremy Johnson provides four ways in which technology makes education more affordable and accessible to more people.

Avangate: Creating Customer Loyalty For Exclusive Target Markets
As companies and brands, we are all in the business of attracting new buyers, in hopes of turning them into loyal customers and ultimately reaping the benefits of customer lifetime value. While marketers are putting time, money and effort into these campaigns, a recent Accenture survey on customer loyalty found some disappointing stats. They determined that only 28% of consumers are loyal to their brands, and 31% are willing to recommend a brand to others. These numbers are much lower than many companies want to see

Avangate: Avangate Client Success Story
ABBYY North America went through a signi cant business transformation in terms of our go-to-market strategy, with a huge emphasis towards the online channel and electronic software distribution. Avangate has been instrumental in helping us build our online business, enabling us to take some major leaps forward regarding business optimization, integration with 3rd party applications, new online sales channels and improving commerce KPIs to support our growth and essentially improve customer experience through frictionless selling

ACT: The App Association: ACT | Members tackle funding feats in 2015
This year the app marketplace passed some big milestones. The industry has grown, generating $120 billion in revenues while continuing to create jobs and reshape key sectors of the economy. ACT | The App Association’s member companies are at the forefront of this year’s class of leading innovators.

Venues Today: Appreciating the Military: Oregon Ducks’ new verification process assured identity of promotional ticket recipients
Promotional ticket giveaways are often the classic sticky wicket. If you do it right, you will fill seats while building your brand in the minds of your fans or attendees. If not, it can leave many seats unscanned or unused, or worse yet, used by unintended recipients.

Portland Business Journal: Scott Hollingsworth Recognition Plaque
Scott Hollingsworth has been hired as the Vice President of Finance at SheerID. He is a results driven finance and accounting professional who brings experience in full cycle accounting, systems, and operational and financial analysis. He will be based in the Portland office.

Portland Business Journal: Jane Yates Recognition Plaque
Jane Yates has been hired as the Head of Corporate Legal at SheerID. She brings over 15 years of experience working in the Eugene area in business law, real estate law, intellectual property law, and trademark law. She will be based in the Eugene office.

Portland Business Journal: Julianne Matzell Recognition Plaque
Julianne Matzell has been hired as the Vice President of Product at SheerID. She brings over 15 years of experience driving software product design, go-to market strategy, and enterprise solution implementation.

Portland Business Journal: Leadership Summit: Talent acquisition and retention key for Oregon tech sector
Portland and Oregon technology companies are riding a wave of popularity and cool that attracts workers, and companies, from higher-priced and more stressful locations such as Seattle and San Francisco.

The Register-Guard: 20 Under 40: Jake Weatherly, chief executive office, SheerID
Education: Bachelor of arts, religious studies, bachelor of science, geography, University of Oregon. Professional accomplishments: Founded SheerID with two partners in 2011. The company has grown to a 31-employee leader in the verification technology industry. SheerID’s technology enables clients, such as Amazon, Microsoft and Spotify, to verify customers’ eligibility for special promotions for groups, such as college students or military members. SheerID recently received a $5.3 million venture capital investment led by Voyager Capital.

The Register-Guard: 20 who stand tall among us
Since the 20 under 40 awards began in 2008, 160 rising stars in the local business community have been honored. They have come from all walks of life, working in a variety of demanding jobs from health care to medicine, technology to the arts. Despite their differences, they share some common ground.

Biz Women: The Business Journals: Seen and heard at Shop.org: These women are changing the face of retail technology
These are women who evangelize innovative technology solutions, build go-to-market business development strategies, nurture channel partnerships, build external education and focus on staying on the cutting edge of what is happening in our industry.

Army Wife 101: 10 More New Military Discounts You Probably Didn't Know About
Many businesses so graciously offered free meals and deeply discounted deals to military personnel on Veterans Day this past Wednesday. However, there are many retailers who launched military discounts recently and are offering them throughout the month of November and beyond.

Docurated: 35 Sales and Marketing Professionals Reveal Their Top Marketing Automation Tips
Marketing automation is the name of the game in today’s complex, ever-expanding marketing and sales landscape. The marketing automation trend spans businesses of all sizes, from SMBs to the world’s major corporations. What business doesn’t want to reach tons more prospects with minimal effort and automate the lead nurturing process as much as possible?

Upstart Business Journal: How angels kept this startup aloft while waiting on its Series A
At times covering tech can feel like waking up in Wonderland, with headlines about very nascent ideas getting millions of dollars in venture capital. As that becomes the typical story out of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, stories like that of Eugene startup SheerID’s sound downright strange.

Scratch-it: The Influencer Series: Marci Hansen
Marketing is all about the message. It is such a simple truth, yet it is often lost amongst the hustle and bustle of marketing professionals and the shifting technology they use. Making messaging priority number one, is something that Marci Hansen has made a conscious effort to do throughout her entire career, as a marketer and a marketing teacher. “I would say the number one for me, and I have seen it both in career and it is something that was important to me when I was teaching marketing, was that the message needs to come first,” she says This, however, is easier said than done, especially with a marketer’s tendency to move around.

iSchoolGuide: Do Art Teachers Spend More Out-Of-Pocket On School Supplies Than Other Teachers?
It's no secret that teachers spend money out of their own pockets for their students' school supplies, classroom decorations, or extra activities. But do art teachers spend more than other teachers on such expenses?

Portland Business Journal: How Eugene's tech scene has exploded in the last six months
It’s been six months since the Technology Association of Oregon expanded its presence in the Southern Willamette Valley with the addition of Matt Sayre as TAO’s new Director in Eugene.

Trust One Financial: Celebrating hardworking educators on World Teacher’s Day
From science and math to art and music, teachers impact the lives of our young society each and every day. In many ways, teachers provide the building blocks to a successful future for our children and provide a sound foundation of both academics and creativity.

Mobile Marketing Watch: Could App Technology Be a Ducky Development for University of Oregon Community?
A recent conference in Eugene, Oregon drove home an important point: the tech economy is much broader than that little slice we call Silicon Valley.

Portland Business Journal: How angels helped SheerID wait for its Series A
At times covering tech can feel like waking up in Wonderland, with headlines about very nascent ideas getting millions of dollars in venture capital. As that becomes the typical story out of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, stories like that of Eugene startup SheerID’s sound downright strange.

The BarCode News: SheerID Secures New Venture Capital Investment To Expand Customer Identification Technology
SheerID, the leading customer verification solution, announced today the close of a $5.3M investment round led by Voyager Capital. SheerID provides enterprises the trusted eligibility verification needed to aggressively compete for new revenue streams by attracting unique user segments.

The Register-Guard: SheerID attracts venture capital: Eugene tech firm makes big leap with investment
A Seattle venture capital firm has made a big investment in a small Eugene startup — the fast-growing tech firm SheerID. SheerID announced Tuesday that Voyager recently led the Series A financing round that raised $5.3 million for SheerID. Arnold Venture Group, another Seattle venture capital firm, also invested.

GeekWire: SheerID raises $5.3M to help retailers verify customers who qualify for special offers
SheerID, a Eugene, Ore.-based startup that develops verification technology for retailers, has raised a $5.3 million round to help scale the company’s fast-growing business.

Portland Business Journal: More details on a Eugene startup's $5.3M round, and how a big-name investor led the way
Identity management software maker SheerID is adding its first institutional investors to its investor pool as part of its $5.3 million Series A round.

Oregon Live: SheerID lands $5.3 million in venture backing to develop new products
Eugene startup SheerID said Tuesday it has raised $5.3 million, backed by Seattle venture firm Voyager Capital.

Northwest Innovation: SheerID Scores $5.3
Eugene, Oregon-based SheerID, a startup developing technology to help companies verify eligibility of customers for certain discounts and programs, said today that it has raised $5.3M in a funding round.

Forward Geek: SheerID Secures $5.3M Series A Financing to Scale Business
“Voyager recognizes the opportunity and challenges large brands have today in acquiring and keeping customers,” says Diane Fraiman, Partner of Voyager Capital. “SheerID’s team has the experience, relationships, and momentum to provide the competitive advantage needed in today’s market. We are very excited to be working with the SheerID team.”

Military Spouse Business Academy: Military Family and Veteran Entrepreneurs concerns about data privacy and security
This summer we, at SheerID, surveyed 737 active servicemembers, veterans, retirees, and military family members on their online shopping behaviors, with the help of our friends at Military Discounts Central and Army Wives 101.

Portland Business Journal: SEC filing shows Eugene startup raises $5.3M
Identity management software maker SheerID is continuing the fundraising storyline from August with what looks like a $5.3 million funding round.

ACT: The App Association: Eugene Startup Community Attracts Widespread Attention and Praise
In August, the App Association hosted a Developer Education Series event with Silicon Shire in Eugene, Oregon. A number of our members hail from this region and have launched companies thriving in the mobile economy.

KLCC 89.7: Eugene's Techies Get Together
About 300 people who are part of, or interested in, Eugene's booming tech scene came to the App Industry Eugene Conference. Morgan Reed is CEO of The App Association, based out of Washington D.C.

Learners Edge: Back To School Deals For Teachers
The start of the school year rapidly approaching- if it hasn’t already started- leaving many teachers, parents and students with anxiety over the start of the school year. How will this school year go? Will I make any new friends this year? How can I get my teachers to like me? And the dreaded… How much are these back to school supplies going to cost me? As a teacher, you want your students to have all the supplies necessary to have a productive and successful school year, and with dwindling school budgets for supplies, that often leaves the teacher holding the bag when it comes to paying for supplies for their own classrooms.

PRWeb: Bunion Bootie, the Very Popular Bunion Treatment Splint, Now Offers a 10% Discount for All Teachers and Staff
It's back to school time and Bunion Bootie is proud to announce its Teacher & Staff Discount Program. Now, qualifying private and public K-12 teachers and staff can save an additional 10% on every order placed at BunionBootie.com. After completing a quick verification process on the Bunion Bootie website by providing their name, school name, and school zip code, verified teachers, administrators and faculty will instantly receive a promotional code. Home school teachers may also be verified through a secondary electronic verification process that may take up to 20 minutes once submitting their qualifications. Bunion Bootie welcomes any staff or educator to visit the Bunion Bootie website to begin the quick online verification process.

CBS: Back to School Means It's Time To Shop For New School Supplies
Back to school means it's time to shop for new school supplies. Many schools want students to bring more to the classroom than just a backpack and notebooks. Copier paper and cleaning supplies also make the list. Jericka Duncan reports on why parents have to help front the costs.

ABC Newspapers: Teacher gets money for school supplies from Wal-Mart
Like many other teachers, Jody Schwab spends some of her own money on pencils, pens, notebooks, tape, calculators and whatever else her elementary school students might need.

SchooLinks: Back-To-School: What To Know
School is back in session after a long summer break. We hope to help students come back fully prepared, so read below for tips and advice from educators, professionals, and alumni, as well as items students should consider for their College years.

Notebooks.com: How to Get Best Buy Student Discounts
College students and those registered for next year can get Best Buy student discounts as part of the College Student Deals that allows users to stack coupons on top Best Buy sales to score huge deals on new notebooks and other items like Beats headphones.

Forbes: Back to School Spending Exceeds $1000 for Parents and Nearly $500 for Teachers
Back to school is big business… but you already know that. What you may not know, however, is just how much families and teachers alike are spending as the start of the new school year takes place.

K-12 Tech Decisions: Survey Provides Insight into Teachers’ Out-of-Pocket Spending
As the back-to-school shopping season ramps up, SheerID, a teacher verification provider, and Agile Education Marketing release the results of their annual survey of K-12 teachers about their spending habits. The average amount teachers spend of their personal funds on their classrooms hovered around $500 for the second year in a row.

Owatonna People's Press: Back-to-school expenses shared between teachers, parents
Despite the 2015 Minnesota Legislature increasing K-12 education spending by $525 million, each year teachers pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket and parents see long back-to-school lists each summer.

World Golf Championships: Kent State University gives back by sponsoring Military-exclusive hospitality chalet
Kent State University will show its appreciation to military members and their families by hosting a military-exclusive hospitality chalet during the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at the historic Firestone Country Club on Aug. 5-9.

The Dispatch: Back to School luau celebrates educators
Although we are in the dog days of summer, Toby Prince, owner of All About Education, is already thinking about the beginning of school. The store owners hosted the seventh annual "Back to School Luau" Wednesday that offers discounts and giveaways of educational supplies for educators.

Website Magazine: Teachers Grade Retailers on the Discounts They Offer
Back-to-school shopping is in full swing, and American parents are expected to spend nearly $25 billion for their kindergarten through 12th grade students.

Education World: Survey Reveals Teachers Spend More Money on Supplies Than Own Districts
An annual study that asked K-12 teachers about their spending habits revealed that the average amount teachers spend on supplies (using their own money) is $500.

The Journal: Survey: Teachers Spend $500 a Year of Their Own Money on Classroom Supplies
Teacher verification provider SheerID and Agile Education Marketing today released the results of an annual survey in which they ask K-12 teachers about their spending habits. For the second year in a row, the average amount of their own money that teachers reported on their classrooms was about $500.

Darlington Raceway: Support the VFW’s Sport Clips Help a Hero Scholarships by Purchasing a NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Ticket at Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation and Sport Clips Haircuts are partnering to raise funds for the VFW’s Help A Hero Scholarship Program.

Vend: How to Discount in Retail: 5 Tips for Running Sales Without Killing Your Profits
Discounting is one of the most popular (and arguably among the most effective) ways to drive sales. According to a study by Software Advice, a POS system research site, discounting is the top “pricing strategy for retailers across all sectors, used by 97 percent of survey respondents.”

Accelerate Blog: The Sales and Marketing Alignment: How Content is Reshaping an Old-Age Relationship
It hasn’t always been the case that sales teams and marketing departments have been closely aligned. In fact sales and marketing alignment has been a hotly debated topic.

Tucson News Now: Treasures 4 Teachers
Right now the clock is ticking. Back-to-school time is right around the corner. Parents are not the only ones opening their wallets for money for the children. Teachers these days are spending more and more of their own money to pay for school supplies.

NEA Member Benefits: 9 Ways to Stretch Your Back-to-school Budget
Shopping for all the things you need to get back to school—books, supplies, clothes and more—can put a serious dent in your budget. For the 2013-2014 school year, educators spent an average of $513 out-of-pocket on classroom supplies, instructional materials and other work-related purchases, says Marci Hansen, CMO for SheerID, a company that verifies teacher and faculty credentials. The finding came from last year’s survey of teachers, in partnership with Agile Education Marketing.

Website Magazine: Retailers With Military Discounts Are Rewarded With Brand Loyalty, Referrals
For those brands who do not normally offer "special" discounts to target groups like teachers, students, military families, seniors and others, certain holidays present the perfect time to do so, such as the Fourth of July for veterans and active-duty service members.

National Retail Federation: Law Enforcement, Retail Loss Prevention Professionals Honored at NRF PROTECT
The National Retail Federation today announced the recipients of its annual loss prevention awards: Ring of Excellence, Law Enforcement Retail Partnership and Retail Case of the Year. Recipients will be honored during an awards ceremony at NRF PROTECT, the retail industry’s largest event for retail loss prevention executives in North America. NRF PROTECT will take place June 23 – 25 at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in California.

Capterra: 5 Creative Lead Generation Campaigns to Inspire Your Next B2B Marketing Campaign
Send an email. Build a landing page. Make a phone call. Rinse and repeat. Do your lead generation tactics need a boost? Are your prospects bored by your sales advances, leaving you with fewer new leads month after month?

The Register-Guard: Tech connections: An advocacy organization aims to help build bridges in Eugene
The Portland-based Technology Association of Oregon, which advocates for the state’s tech industry, recently opened in Eugene its first — and so far, only — satellite office. In early March, Matt Sayre was chosen to lead the local office.

Entrepreneur Magazine: 5 Ways to Know If Your Business Idea Is Brilliant or a Bust
Fifteen years in the home-improvement business taught Matt Fineberg that no one pulls the trigger on a big-ticket project—such as a new roof or windows—without first getting a handful of estimates.

Rep Cap: Content Marketing for B2B Software: SheerID Uses Surveys To Fuel Its Content
SheerID provides eligibility verification solutions that make it possible for retailers to instantly verify customers qualify for special offers. “For example, Foot Locker uses our platform in their stores to verify that customers who want to use the military discount are affiliated with the United States Armed Forces, and Spotify uses our online solution to ensure that only currently enrolled college students can get their student pricing,” explains Marci Hansen, a co-founder and CMO at SheerID.

California Catholic Conference: Out-of-Pocket Expense for Teachers Are a Given in Today’s Schools
The teaching profession is one that demands dedication, commitment, and sacrifice. Indeed, most teachers, whether in a public or private school setting, often go beyond the “call of duty”, motivated by their desire to create a stimulating learning environment and to ensure their students’ success.

Cornerstone Content: What’s the #1 Habit of Successful Content Marketing Campaigns?
I find habits really interesting. One of my favorite recent reads was Charles Duhigg’s excellent book on the subject. I love Nir Eyal’s blog on behavior engineering. One of my favorite interview series is Copyblogger’s look at how smart people write.

Portland Business Journal: Tech leaders push for Oregon cyber security center
This past week I was in Salem with a handful of technology executives for a meeting with legislators about cyber security issues and House Bill 2996, which calls for the creation of a Cyber Center of Excellence in Oregon.

The Register-Guard: Entrepreneurs: Local tech ambassadors push for data protection
Cale Bruckner of Concentric Sky and Jake Weatherly of SheerID visited Washington, D.C., last week to join software and app companies from across the country for the ACT | App Association 2015 Fly-In conference.

Entrepreneur Magazine: What Do You Really Think?
Fifteen years in the home-improvement business taught Matt Fineberg that no one pulls the trigger on a big-ticket project—such as a new roof or windows—without first getting a handful of estimates.

Politico: Today: Intel bill to drop — EU court hears NSA privacy case — Scooplet: Retailers launching info sharing portal
The House Intelligence Committee will introduce its information sharing bill today, downtown sources confirm to MC. The language still hasn’t circulated, but insiders expect it to resemble the Senate Intelligence Committee’s CISA bill with liability language drafted by the House Judiciary Committee, which was already included in the House Homeland Security Committee’s draft bill. The markup could come later this week, a more accelerated timeline than the Homeland Security Committee, which has only circulated its draft language with the intent to introduce in April. We anticipate having lots more for you later today.

Website Magazine: Keeping Exclusive-Offer Cheaters At Bay
Whether it's Veteran's Day, Memorial Day or simply a time a company wants to show gratitude, military-exclusive discounts are common in the world of commerce. Just like every other promotion, however, there are those who will take advantage of offers not intended for them.

Politico: Net neutrality talks continue, but Dems aren’t thrilled -- Student privacy bill under fire -- App makers hit D.C.
Net neutrality talks continue, but Dems aren’t thrilled -- The top telecom Republicans in Congress are continuing to work on their net neutrality bill, hosting meetings with tech companies, public interest groups and ISPs to discuss the draft bill from Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune and his House counterparts Reps. Greg Walden and Fred Upton. But some Democrats say they’re cooling to bipartisan cooperation after being given less than two days to digest a new FCC reauthorization bill that would cap the agency’s funding and a limited role at the recent net neutrality meetings — where staffers of the top committee Democrats are invited to observe, sources tell MT.

Social Media Today: Top 5 Sports Sponsorships
Sports are a huge part of today’s culture. There are millions of fans around the United States who dedicate time every week to watch, or even attend sporting events. During the 2014-2015 season, the combination of the Super Bowl, NCAA Football National Championship, and the FIFA World Cup Championship brought in:

Hearpreneur: 43 Entrepreneurs Explain Why They Started Their Businesses
Each business has a story. No matter if the business is a Goliath like Wal-Mart, or a local business owned by a couple or family, the business has roots in an idea. For each business owner, the story of their journey can range from monetary needs or the passion for a unique project. Each story is different though the reasons may remain the same. No matter the tale, the background behind each and every business is what fuels each entrepreneur and brand.

Education World: The 4 Ways Technology Increases Affordability and Availability in Education
While many question whether or not technology is having a positive effect on education, Jeremy Johnson provides four ways in which technology makes education more affordable and accessible to more people.

Entrepreneur Magazine:4 Ways Technology Is Making Education More Affordable and Available
When Sal Khan agreed to help tutor his niece in middle school math, he had no idea he was embarking on a journey that would lead to the creation of Khan Academy, a nonprofit that offers “a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”

Army Times: PGA Tour events offer free tickets for troops, retirees
Active, reserve, veteran and retired service members and their families are eligible for free or discounted tickets at some of the nation's top golf tournaments this year, including this weekend's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Monterey, California, and The Players Championship in Florida in May.

The Register-Guard: A burgeoning presence: Tech businesses continue to add workers and office space as they meet growing demand
The local tech community is upbeat about 2015. Many said they are expecting their businesses to grow as the economy picks up, so they’re making plans to hire and, in a number of cases, line up more office space.

Roll Call: Best Fly-In Ever: How to Make the Most of Your D.C. Visit
Washington would be a less exciting place without its out-of-town visitors. And “fly-ins” — when interest groups bring their members to town to lobby legislators and agency officials — do more than just keep the hotels full and the Metro lines long. They can draw attention to an issue, rally stakeholders and even move the dial on legislative priorities.

The Social Media Monthly: Top E-commerce Trends This Holiday Season
Over the last decade, holiday shopping has slowly evolved, and numbers are now showing that physically going to a store or the mall to shop is becoming a thing of the past. According to the National Retail Federation, 44% of holiday shopping will be done online in 2014. With so many people transitioning to online shopping, the customer’s online experience is becoming as important as customers’ in-store experience. Retail giants as well as small businesses are restructuring their marketing plans to ensure that they can give consumers a consistent omni-channel experience.

Backing America’s Backbone: How To Build Customer Loyalty
Over the last 10 years, customer acquisition costs have skyrocketed. Building customer loyalty dramatically impacts your bottom line because the biggest costs come from acquiring a customer. Profits come when you get that same customer to repeatedly purchase from your business.

CQ Weekly: Guidelines for Quality Fly-Ins
Washington would be a less exciting place without its out-of-town visitors. And “fly-ins”—when interest groups bring their members to town to lobby legislators and agency officials—do more than just keep the hotels full and the Metro lines long.

Website Magazine: Amazon Webstore Merchants Can Now Verify Gated Discounts
While not necessarily expected, exclusive discounts for students, teachers and military sure are welcomed and, for retailers, could mean the difference between sale or no sale.

The Register-Guard: Value of verifying: Eugene’s SheerID is attracting attention in the tech community
Eugene startup SheerID is only three years old. But it recently raised $2 million from angel investors, has a client list that includes Fortune 500 companies, is gearing up for significant growth next year and may be poised to become the The Next Big Thing to come out of Eugene’s tech community, according to people in that community.

Portland Business Journal: Eugene company lands $2M to grow identity verification software business
Eugene-based SheerID, which makes identity verification software, has secured $2 million in funding from its existing group of angel investors. According to documents filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, there were 23 investors involved in this latest round.

Portland Business Journal: Jay Roberts Recognition Plaque
Jay Roberts has been appointed VP of Research and Development at SheerID. Working out of Eugene, Oregon, Roberts brings domain expertise to the company and added depth and sophistication in the areas of platform scalability, reliability, and data security.

Portland Business Journal: People on the Move- Kevin Teel
Kevin Teel comes to SheerID with tremendous experience as a financial strategist and is a licensed CPA. In his new role as SheerID’s chief accounting officer, Teel will oversee payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and budgeting, among other responsibilities.

Direct Marketing News: Her Campus Proves That Knowing Your Audience Is True Model Behavior
Fashion Week may be over for New York and Milan trendsetters, but college marketing firm and media company Her Campus Media is bringing collegiates to the catwalk with its College Fashion Week tour this October. And the brand is giving its millennial audience the front-row treatment.

Website Magazine: Summer's Hottest Movers & Shakers
Summer may not officially end until Sept. 23, but for techies around the country, it's officially fall - time to put all that summer funding to good use, those new hires to work and those platform upgrades and acquisitions to the test.

The Boomer Business Owner: TBBO 205: Jake Weatherly – How to attract more customers with identity verification technology
On today’s episode of The Boomer Business Owner, Charlie interviews honorary Baby Boomer and the CEO of SheerID, Jake Weatherly. SheerID is the pioneer of instant customer eligibility identity verification services for retailers.

Idaho Press-Tribune: Teachers pay out of pocket for materials
First-year teacher Samantha Field didn’t just buy papers and pencils for her first-grade students at Centennial Elementary School.

Portland Business Journal: Oregonians vie for the spotlight at SXSW 2015
It’s SXSW Interactive PanelPicker time, or the time of year when various members of the technology community (and, increasingly, the marketing community) make the call for votes on topics to be covered at next year’s global tech bonanza in Austin, Texas. Voting is open through Sept. 5.

Retail Minded: Retailers Can Lend Teachers a Helping Hand
In the United States, over four million hard-working K-12 teachers bear the responsibility for educating our children, but too often they’re not given the tools they need to do their jobs. In many school districts, the budget barely covers the basics, so when back-to-school season hits, many teachers find themselves pulling out their own wallets to buy supplies for their classrooms.

Education World: Survey Highlights Teacher Spending on Back-to-School Supplies
With school right around the corner parents are rushing to retail stores to get the best prices on back-to-school gear. While most retailers target sales to parents on clothing, school supplies, and gadgets, teachers are also spending their own cash to fully equip their classroom.

Forbes: Teachers Spend Their Own Money on Back to School Supplies
With back to school shopping in full swing, it seems as if every retailer is marketing their stores as the best destinations to get student must-haves for the 2014-2015 school year. And while most retailers target parents and students in their back to school campaigns, there’s a large audience of consumers that are spending about $400 a year on back to school supplies that aren’t being catered to… and that audience is teachers.

Mobile Marketer: Mobile spending poised for further growth: eTail exhibitors
Retailers’ investments in mobile show no signs of slowing down as these marketers continue to explore how to stay top-of-mind in light of how the path to purchase is evolving, according to exhibitors at eTail East 2014.

Website Magazine: Foot Locker, AARP & More Turn to Verification Company
Special offers are common place in today’s market - especially for niche groups like military, teachers, senior citizens, students, etc. In order for companies to make sure that individuals qualify for certain offers, however, companies need to have some way to verify a consumer belongs to that group or demographic.

Army Wife 101: Military Discount Summer Travel Series: It’s Coming…Military Appreciation Day At Six Flags Magic Mountain
I haven’t been to a Six Flags since I was 17 and would love to go back. Unfortunately I don’t live near California or else I would take part in this amazing military promotion on July 12th at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Army Wife 101: Exclusive LegoLand California Resort & Ticket Military Discount
As you may know us East Coast and Southern military folks have been able to enjoy the military discount offered by Legoland in Florida. Another fun theme park is offering a military discount. LegoLand California is offering two different military deals for government personnel and their families.

Wired: Cybersecurity Strategies for Retailers
In the wake of data breaches at Target, Sony, Neiman Marcus, and eBay, consumers are becoming more wary of how their personally identifiable information is being collected and used. Post-Heartbleed, data security has entered the popular lexicon, and it is a growing concern for everyone from CTO’s at large companies that are vulnerable to cyber-attacks to shoppers who feel like they’re taking a risk every time they use their credit cards or log into an online account.

Solution Providers for Retail: Two Ways Retail Can Immediately Improve Data Security
Retailers must be sensitive to customer concerns about security, particularly around their personally identifiable information and financial data. As we discussed on Friday in my post, Ramping Up Your Omnichannel Experience to Maximize ROI, as retailers expand into e-commerce and mobile transactions by forging new partnerships with third-party service providers, precautions must be taken to protect customers’ data.

Solution Providers for Retail: Ramping Up Your Omnichannel Experience to Maximize ROI
Retailers need to make smart choices when selecting third-party vendors. While differentiators like price, customer service, reporting, and extra functionality often play into the decision making process, many retailers do not think about the impact their contracts with third-parties may have on their customers. Meeting customer expectations is the key to maximizing ROI and maintaining a loyal base, and third-party solution providers can either help retailers exceed those expectations or undermine their efforts.

IdeaMensch: Jake Weatherly – CEO of SheerID
“If you operate from a place of fear or resistance to change, you become blind to the most exciting opportunities and growth. Celebrating the adventure of uncertainty, while staying focused on vision and measurable goals, makes me more productive.”

Eugene Weekly: Biz Beat 5-22-14
Eugene-based SheerID is continuing to grow, partnering with for-profit and nonprofit enterprises to validate legitimate discounts. Just in time for Memorial Day, SheerID is now serving Winter Park Resort, American Century Championship, Good Home Co. and several others offering discounts for active duty military, reserves and veterans.

iBusiness: The Role of Verification Technology in the Retail Vertical
e retail landscape has shifted rapidly in recent history, as consumers have embraced new technology. With the rising popularity of laptops, iPhones and tablets, retailers have wit- nessed a sharp increase in online sales and mobile transactions. Branding Brand recently released an index that demonstrates that mobile orders have increased 130% and revenue from mo- bile transactions has risen 168% in the last year.

Inc.: 5 Unlikely Motivators for Entrepreneurial Success
Inspiration and drive can come from the unlikeliest of places. Where does success in business come from? It could be the logical outcome of a good education and favorable circumstance. Success might be born from tenacity, drive or passion--or all three.

Sourcing Journal: The Strategy Behind Discounting
To discount or not to discount? For CFO’s, CMO’s, and other business executives, the question of whether to reduce the prices of their products is a tricky one. On the plus side, offering discounts brings in new customers, keeps existing customers loyal, moves out stagnant inventory, and increases orders.

TechCrunch: Spotify Focuses On New Users By Giving College Students Half-Off Their Premium Subscription
Spotify is making a land grab. In a space that continues to fill up with competition from small startups and incumbents alike, Spotify is trying to acquire as many new users as possible with the launch of a 50 percent discount for college students.

NBC News: Spotify Premium Slashes Prices in Half for College Kids
College kids today have it easy. Back in my day, we had to illegally download our music from Napster, and occasionally buy shiny discs called “CDs” from disgruntled music majors at “record stores.”

Recode: Spotify Pitches College Kids: Half Off Subscriptions While You’re in School
Streaming music services are getting more popular. How much more popular would they be if they were cheaper? Spotify will start finding out today. The subscription music company is cutting the price of its premium service in half, from $10 to $5 a month, for college students in the U.S.

Direct Marketing News: Facing the Omnichannel Marketing Beast
Identifying core customers, targeting new customers, and recognizing consumers' shopping behaviors are all challenges that retailers grapple with in today's omnichannel marketplace.

Loyalty 360: 3 Ways Verification Technology Protects Businesses from Redemption Fraud
Offering special promotions, experiences, and discounts to targeted groups of customers is a proven strategy for reaching new customers, increasing incremental revenue, and strengthening brand loyalty.

National Retail Federation: Confirming Customers
When it came to offering military discounts online, apparel retailer Buckle took a simple route: It only offered the discounts on orders shipped directly to APO/FPO addresses. “We were operating using limited information,” says Cassie McDonald, project manager for Buckle. “Our concern was that we weren’t properly serving our military guests and their immediate family.”

Retail Minded: What Verification and Targeted Deals Can Do For Your Business
As you expand and aim to maximize your market share in 2014, promoting your exclusive offers, in-store via mobile, and online, should be a high priority. According to PriceGrabber.com, 66 percent of consumers expect retailers to offer better prices and discounts this year because of the economy, meaning your marketing campaign should include a variety of deals and discounts to entice buyers to connect with your brand on a personal level and spend more with you instead of your competitor.

Website Magazine: 3 Omnichannel Marketing Tips for Retailers
Omnichannel marketing strategies are powerful and effective, because they allow retailers and brands to connect with consumers across multiple touch points in a variety of different ways.

Entrepreneurs On Fire: Jake Weatherly: Creating 28-hour days, 8-days a week
Jake is the CEO and Co-founder of SheerID, the pioneer of instant customer eligibility verification services for retailers. A fearless backcountry skier, bat-out-of-hell mountain biker, global trekker, and rare car collector, Jake doesnt do anything part way; he is one of those people who seems to have 28-hour days and 8-day weeks.

Eugene Weekly: Biz Beat 2-20-14
SheerID has grown to 21 employees and has moved from 1175 Charnelton to a larger building at 2451 Willamette St. The now vacant Charnelton building was previously occupied by the nonprofit Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. SheerID specializes in verifying valid customers for businesses, nonprofits and other organizations that do targeted marketing.

Website Magazine: Discount Verification Sees Rapid Growth
Attractions like LEGOLAND California and the PGA Tour and e-commerce brands like Fathead and ProFlowers, offer discount prices for veterans, active duty military and their families.

Military Press: SheerID Celebrates Record Year for Point-of-Sale Verification, Announces 330% Company Growth
SheerID, the point-of-sale eligibility verification provider that enables merchants to provide exclusive offers to special interest consumer groups, introduced faculty, alumni, and first responder verification in 2013 and closed the year having processed 80 percent more verifications than in 2012.

The Register-Guard: Tech firms take off
Local tech firms are on a hiring binge. At least 50 companies belonging to the Silicon Shire — a local tech networking group — are hiring, according to its website. They range from Symantec’s 1,400-employee center in Springfield, which has 90 openings, to the eight-employee Eugene office of a Florida-based software developer, 3Cinteractive, which is “always looking to add any time we can find highly qualified people,” Chief Operating Officer Mark Smith said.

The Point of Sale News: The State of Omni Channel: What Can Retailers Do to Keep Up in Today's Marketplace?
Omni channel, multi-channel, webrooming, showrooming—the abundance of buzzwords that are used to describe the changing state of retail (and that spellcheck can’t even recognize) indicate that we are in a period of transition and innovation.

Self Employed King: How to Increase Sales for Small Business Owners
11 entrepreneurs shared with me over 20 plus ways how to increase sales for small business owners in this multi-series post. Often I write about marketing strategies you can use to grow your business and I love asking other entrepreneurs who’ve succeeded to share their winning strategies. I’ve grown 2 separate million dollar plus businesses using completely different marketing strategies in each.

Business Bolts: Top 2014 Predictions & Trends in Online Business
What as online business owners should we be looking ahead for in 2014? What trends should we expect? As 2014 gets underway you’ll see a number of predictions including areas the experts believe you should focus on.

Transaction Trends: Moving Into Omni-Channel
This past July Boca Raton, Florida-based office and school supplies retailer Office Depot announced that it had deployed handheld devices to its more than 1,000 locations. The devices enable employees to provide customers with instant access to extended product information, availability, reviews, and the option to pay for their purchases anywhere in the store.

Total Retail: Employ Big Data to Make the Holiday Retail Season Merry and Bright
While leveraging big data by using software, apps and point-of-sale (POS) technology can help retailers handle everything from holiday hiring to inventory management in the days leading up to and following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, one of the most useful applications for big data technology this holiday season is in countering showrooming, a phenomenon that’s been on every brick-and-mortar retailer’s mind as they make preparations for their busiest season of the year.

IT Business Edge: The Impact of Technology on e-Commerce Over the Last Decade
With the holidays right around the corner, it's a good time to take a look back at the impact technology has had on consumer spending and shopping habits, especially on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here's a review of the top technology influences on e-commerce over the past decade, as identified by SheerID, a retail technology provider.

Aabaco Small Business: Showrooming vs. Webrooming- What’s The Difference?
If you follow Internet Retailer as closely as I do, you’ve probably read articles lately lamenting the rise of showrooming or proclaiming an increase in webrooming. Webrooming? Showrooming? What kind of rooming is next? And what do all these made up marketing words even mean?

Internet Retailer: SheerID Launches Professor Verification for Retailers
SheerID, a point-of-sale eligibility verification provider enabling merchants to provide exclusive offers to special interest groups, launched its verification technology for professors today. Aimed to help retailers and organizations provide special offers to nearly two million higher education faculty and administrators across the country, the fraud-proof platform verifies shoppers by just a name, email address and institution. Unlike other verification technology providers, SheerID does not require consumers to hand over sensitive personal information.

website Magazine: Class Is in Session for SheerID
Retailers who advertise discounts to specialty groups, such as military, students and first responders, can create goodwill, brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. This is the idea behind SheerID, which helps merchants eliminate fraud when providing discounts for these types of audiences.

Website Magazine: Mobile Retail Insights with Jake Weatherly
E-commerce now dominates the retail discussion but many merchants are struggling. Struggling to keep their existing customer base, struggling to keep those customers loyal, and struggling to understand, find and implement methods to accept payments for a more commerce-savvy user.

Seattle Times: Notable hires and promotions
Jeff Tacher joined SheerID, Seattle, as vice president of business development.

Retail Customer Experience: What's in store for the 2013 holiday shopping season?
Although there were a few memorable highlights in the busiest shopping period of 2012, last year's holiday season will not go down in the history books as one of the most successful for retailers. What can retailers expect this year, and how can they prepare now?

Internet Retailer: How the PGA Tour uses the web to confirm ticket holders
For the PGA Tour, showing large audiences of spectators is a crucial part of managing its televised events, the Professional Golfers Association says. One way it manages crowd levels is to provide vouchers for thousands of free tickets to members of the United States military and their family members.

Eugene Weekly: Biz Beat 8-29-2013
SheerID, founded in Eugene earlier this year, has this week added the UO Duck Store to its client base. SheerID will help the store confirm alumni status for discount offers. The store had a problem last year when a coupon code went viral and nonmembers redeemed discounts. SheerID also confirms military status and other targeted groups, according to CEO Jake Weatherly.

InformationWeek: How One SMB Manages Customer Identity Data
Some customers don't mind if you run a behind-the-scenes check on their personal information. It helps if you're giving them a nice price break as a result. In a sense, Armed Forces Eyewear has it easy when it comes to handling customer data. The online retailer's customers, primarily military personnel and their families, rarely grumble about verifying their identities -- especially if their military status earns them a discount or other benefits.

The Green Sheet: SheerID growth parallels rise of loyalty
The loyalty and reward solution, once considered a valued-added service included in the overall service package, is becoming central to the paradigm shift occurring in merchant sales. The rise in the importance of loyalty thus represents a potentially more profitable way to sell merchant services.

Chain Store Age: Implications of the Marketplace Fairness Act
While the Marketplace Fairness Act sits on Capitol Hill, retailers and consumers across the nation are already speculating and planning for what will happen if the bill passes into law, a move that will inevitably shift the landscape of the retail community and respective customer retention.

Website Magazine: E-Commerce Success in a Post- Marketplace Fairness Act World
Instead of simply waiting with baited breath to see whether or not the Marketplace Fairness Act passes the House, many online retailers are taking a proactive approach by putting programs in place now to ensure that if and when a new online sales tax requirement goes into effect, they’ll be ready.

Practical Ecommerce: 5 Tools to Personalize your Marketing Efforts
Not everyone is going to buy from you on the first visit. Most visitors will leave your site and never return. Collecting their email addresses will allow you to stay in touch and convert them into paying customers later through occasional messages about deals, new arrivals, or valuable content.

Military Times: Consumer Watch: Retail ID systems raise privacy concerns
A retired Army lieutenant colonel recently wrote in to say he has “significant security concerns” about two programs that have been developed to give companies ways to verify that people are veterans before giving them special deals and discounts.

Internet Retailer: Payment Technology Company SheerID Announces Growth
SheerID, point-of-sale eligibility verification provider enabling merchants to provide exclusive offers to special interest consumer groups, closed H1, 2013 by celebrating the most successful six months in the company’s history. As of Q2, 2013, SheerID processed over seven times more verifications than the same time in 2012, encompassing military, student, teacher, nonprofit and now first responder identifications.

Internet Retailer: SheerID Launches Online Verification Tool
Today SheerID, the leading provider of online verification technology, announced the launch of its first responder verification platform. In addition to verifying military, college students, teachers, and associations online, via mobile, or at POS, SheerID can now verify emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, and federal or local police officers. SheerID’s technology allows retailers to offer exclusive discounts, special offers, or memberships to a targeted segment of consumers.

Oregon Business: Eugene tech firm develops new software
“Since its founding in June 2011, SheerID has built a customer base of about 50 clients, including warehouse retailer Costco and e-commerce giant Amazon.com, which was SheerID’s first customer. SheerID charges those merchants and other companies and organizations that use its services a fee for each check SheerID performs.”

Bloomberg Businessweek: Young Eugene tech firm provides needed solution
For years, the PGA Tour has offered members of the military and veterans free of deeply discounted tickets to its gold tournaments and special events. But it hasn’t been easy. People had to show proof of their service to the volunteers working at the gate, who weren’t always familiar with various military ID cards and paperwork.

The Register-Guard: Young Eugene tech firm provides needed solution
For years, the PGA Tour has offered members of the military and veterans free of deeply discounted tickets to its gold tournaments and special events. But it hasn’t been easy. People had to show proof of their service to the volunteers working at the gate, who weren’t always familiar with various military ID cards and paperwork.

Examiner: Educating customers key to softening impact of proposed sales tax
The proposed Marketplace Fairness Act is not a new tax. But it will certainly feel new to Internet and catalog shoppers. And, if they're looking for someone to blame for the increased costs of buying goods and services online, the companies they do business with make the most likely target.

PMQ Pizza Magazine: Cutting-edge POS systems are working smarter and harder for you and your customers.
As POS systems have advanced, you may feel overwhelmed by all of the bells and whistles they offer. But, ultimately, today’s models are making life much easier for the operator—streamlining online (and even old-fashioned call-in) ordering, simplifying loyalty programs and menu management, promising top-notch security for customer information, and enhancing mobile possibilities for customers who increasingly expect to order on the go. PMQ talked with operators and experts in the field to find out how the new generations of POS systems are working smarter and harder for you—and your customers.

PRWeb: Rockin’ Green Unveils Redesigned Website and Shopping Cart
Rockin' Green Eco Friendly Cleaning Products (http://RockinGreenSoap.com), an up and coming leader in the green cleaning movement, gets a new website to match their personality and improve customer interaction.

SmallBizTechnology: Finally: A Simple Solution for Preventing Fraud
In today’s economically challenged environment, businesses are getting more and more creative in what they offer in the way of discounts to targeted groups such as the military or college students. Unfortunately, these types of special offerings open the doors for some people fraudulently claiming to be a member of the discounted group.

Yahoo! Finance: Companies Offer Military Discounts in Appreciation of the Armed Forces
Using SheerID's online military verification services, five companies are launching military discounts to celebrate Memorial Day 2013 and bring the focus back to those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

Retail Customer Experience: Will an Internet sales tax bring fairness or confusion?
To some retailers, the Marketplace Fairness Act is anything but. If enacted, the contentious piece of legislation, which gained Senate approval last week, will require Internet retailers earning more than $1 million in annual sales to collect sales taxes for online purchases — a move that's pitting e-tailers against brick-and-mortars for a playing field advantage.

Military Times: ConsumerWatch: Military verification brings more discounts
New technology is helping active-duty troops, family members and veterans take advantage of more discounts. The idea is to verify that customers are actually who they say they are so companies have some assurance that discounts aren’t going to fraudsters posing as members of the military community.

One Million by One Million: Building A Robust Business with Eugene (Oregon) Angels Investors: Jake Weatherly, CEO of SheerId (Parts 2-7)
I was [at WebEx] from 2005 to 2006. I was there when the company was preparing for an acquisition. It was a fantastic experience and I was fortunate enough to be there during the acquisition. I stayed there for a quarter after the acquisition before I was wooed back to Palo Alto Software.

One Million by One Million: Building a Robust Business with Eugene (Oregon) Angel Investors: Jake Weatherly, CEO of SheerId (Part 1)
Jake is the co-founder and CEO of SheerID, an online shopping cart platform which provides instant, seamless group verification. For more than 15 years, Jake has focused his career on entrepreneurship and small business growth. He has traveled the world to teach business and marketing planning to small businesses, consultants, large enterprises, universities, and government organizations.