Pine State Trading Forms Alliance With Loyalty Provider

GARDINER, Maine -- Pine State Trading Co. is teaming up with mobile commerce provider Sionic Mobile to offer the latter's ION Loyalty solution to retailers. The cloud-based ION platform utilizes mobile devices to connect with nearby, ready-to-spend consumers.

Gardiner, Maine-based Pine State Trading Co. is a marketer and distributor of convenience and beverage products. It will provide the Sionic solution to its 5,000-plus retailer customers.

"We believe ION is the industry best at solving two challenges for our customers: cutting interchange fees -- the second-highest operating cost behind payroll -- and increasing both fuel volume and inside sales," said Keith Canning, managing partner of Pine State Trading. "The response from our chain and independent customers alike has been overwhelmingly positive."

Pine State Trading and Sionic will begin jointly rolling out ION Loyalty throughout New England on Nov. 1. ION Loyalty can save merchants up to 75 percent or more in credit card fees, and consumers also benefit via 3 percent in free fuel when using the mobile platform, the companies noted in a joint news release.

"This partnership signals a shift in the way fuel retailers and convenience stores compete," said Ronald Herman, CEO of Sionic Mobile. "Combining Pine State Trading Co.’s 72-year history of impeccable service and forward-thinking approach to serving its customers with our third-generation ION platform puts this industry on notice. Pine State Trading Co.’s chain and independent retailers now have the tools to give them a competitive edge."

Atlanta-based Sionic Mobile utilizes mobile technology and cloud technology to connect merchants with nearby, ready-to-spend consumers.

Family-owned Pine State Trading Co. markets and distributes convenience and beverage products and also offers a diversified sales and logistics network.

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