Yelp acquires wi-fi marketing platform Turnstyle for $20m

Local reviews platform Yelp has acquired wi-fi marketing company Turnstyle Analytics for $20m (£16m).

Turnstyle, founded in Toronto in 2012, offers bricks-and-mortar businesses a marketing and analytics platform for recording customers who connect to their guest wi-fi, and re-engaging them via email in order to drive repeat visits and in-store sales.

Through the acquisition, Yelp is hoping to strengthen its position as a customer acquisition platform for local businesses, expanding its offering to include simple, effective tools for customer retention and loyalty.

“We’re excited to expand our product offering for local businesses through this acquisition. Turnstyle helps connect businesses to consumers through free public wi-fi, and is an effective retention and loyalty program that helps businesses be more successful,” said Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.

“This is an exciting opportunity to expand and leverage Yelp’s resources and capabilities,” said Turnstylre co-founder and CEO Devon Wright. “Together we’ll be able to help even more local businesses improve their customer retention, driving more repeat business.”