Reinventing the loyalty program concept for the peer-to-peer marketplace, 5miles, with 15 million users, aims to be the largest blockchain-powered e-commerce platform

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–September 25, 2018–

5miles, the leading peer-to-peer marketplace in the U.S., has announced the development of 5miles Rewards, an innovative new program for 5miles users that will offer unique loyalty and referral benefits as well as promotions from sellers to buyers within the marketplace.

After achieving a series of “firsts” for an app of its kind (full-category marketplace – goods, services, housing, jobs – in-app appointment booking, language translation capabilities, Safe Exchange Area Locator), 5miles has branched more recently into blockchain technology, including cryptocurrency. This investment in emerging technologies that promise to transform e-commerce is leading 5miles to adopt a tokenized rewards program.

“We envision this program as a way to leverage the resources of our users,” Dr. Lucas Lu, founder/C.E.O. of 5miles, said. “Like many other online marketplaces, we spend millions of dollars with Google and Facebook, traditional marketing that we know can be enhanced. This is an opportunity to bring that ad spend to our customers, in ways that will benefit them directly.”

At the end of October, 5miles Rewards will begin to offer a number of money-earning opportunities that consumers cannot find on similar peer-to-peer shopping apps. These include:

Performing marketplace tasks. By listing items and reviewing sellers, 5miles users can serve as a paid, on-demand workforce.

By listing items and reviewing sellers, 5miles users can serve as a paid, on-demand workforce. Supporting “fission marketing” efforts. Users can earn money by reaching marketplace engagement goals with friends’ help. Viewing ads, for example, and promoting 5miles to new users are what a fellow 5miles user may ask.

Users can earn money by reaching marketplace engagement goals with friends’ help. Viewing ads, for example, and promoting 5miles to new users are what a fellow 5miles user may ask. Referring family/friends to 5miles. Invite those you know to join and get tokens you can redeem for goods and services, or deals and discounts from local businesses.

5miles will incorporate reward tokens into its previously introduced 5miles Wallet. Each user has access to a digital wallet on 5miles, into which tokens for tasks will be deposited and can be accumulated, then used to pay for items or services on the marketplace. (These tokens also can be transferred to other 5miles users.)

Part of an ecosystem that 5miles is building out, 5miles Rewards also represents an evolution of the company’s futuristic strategy. Starting with the CyberMiles blockchain, which 5miles helped to incubate last fall, the company has begun to integrate cryptocurrencies and is planning for solutions like payment processing gateway solution. A stablecoin-based payment system to enable e-commerce transactions is in the works.

“E-commerce is a $1+ trillion global industry,” Dr. Lu said. “Given growing adoption of it in emerging markets, the use of stablecoins in the e-commerce space seems increasingly viable. 5miles is determined to lead this exciting adoption of stablecoin in a brand new segment.”

The first real-world implementation of blockchain technology in the peer-to-peer marketplace space, CyberMiles‘ MainNet, is set for release next month. 5miles is spearheading the commercialization of this technology, the first of many soon-to-be decentralized applications that will migrate to the CyberMiles blockchain. With this move, 5miles is poised for global market expansion and breakout growth in 2019.

As one of the most popular shopping apps on both Android and iOS devices, 5miles has grown into an online community of 15 million users nationwide. Facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions every month, the 5miles marketplace continues to deliver-and improve upon-a dynamic, mobile shopping experience: real items from real people in real time-all within five miles.

About 5miles

5miles is a free, local marketplace app, one of the fastest-growing online shopping ventures in the United States. The app is the first of its kind to include services, housing and jobs, in addition to second-hand trading. 5miles launched in January 2015, immediately setting itself apart with an easy-to-use mobile interface, identity verification capabilities (for added safety and security), mobile payment and shipping options, and a hyper-local curation of offerings users can search-all within their very own neighborhoods. Since then, buyers and sellers in every major market coast-to-coast have transacted more than $5 billion in merchandise through 5miles, which Google Play has ranked a top 10 shopping app. Learn more at 5miles.com.

App Store: m.onelink.me/5fc10133

Google Play: m.onelink.me/674211f2

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180925005428/en/

5miles

Mark Brinkerhoff, 817-681-5739

mark@5milesapp.com