01
Scan
A patron scans a QR coaster with their phone camera — no app download.
TappdIn Pilot
The coaster is the ad. The phone is the store.
Tappd turns the drink coaster in front of you into a hyperlocal discovery network — scan it, find nearby deals, claim one, redeem it on your way home. A physical-to-digital ad platform on a three-sided marketplace.
HyperlocalQR coastersNo appFastAPI / React / MongoDB
The Insight
You're already out — that's the whole hook
Traditional local advertising asks people to make a special trip. Tappd reaches them when they're relaxed, out in their neighborhood, and the decision is simply “stop now or make a trip later.” That removes the biggest friction in local conversion.
There's no app to download — the coaster's QR opens a location-aware web page straight from the phone camera. See a deal, claim it, redeem it nearby, often that same night. The coaster is the ad; the phone is the store.
How It Works
Scan → Discover → Claim → Redeem
Four steps, one night out — and every step is a tracked event.
02
Discover
They land on a location-aware page of deals from nearby local businesses.
03
Claim
They claim a deal — captured as its own event for full-funnel tracking.
04
Redeem
Staff verify the code at the counter — no app, no login — that same night.
The Model
A three-sided marketplace
Each user type has its own color identity and role-aware navigation — the whole product is built around the three sides.
Consumers
Scan a coaster, discover nearby deals, claim and redeem on the way home. Optional account adds a profile and a “My Codes” view. Zero install — works from the phone camera.
Local Advertisers
Pay a tiered monthly subscription to surface deals to people scanning nearby. Get a full-funnel dashboard — scans, views, claims, redemptions, conversion — so spend is provable, not guessed.
Venues / Hubs
Bars and restaurants apply to become a hub and receive free, premium branded coasters — solving the coaster-supply problem at zero cost. Tappd monetizes advertisers, not venues.
The Platform
A full custom web app, not a landing page
Public discovery, three role-based portals, a hub/QR system, and a claim-and-redemption engine — built end to end.
Platform · Admin Console
The master admin console
One command center for the whole marketplace: active businesses, users, and venues, total scans, offers claimed, redemptions, and conversion — the platform-wide pulse at a glance, with monthly revenue and activity trends below.
- Businesses, users, venues & deals
- Live scan / claim / redemption counts
- Platform-wide analytics and revenue
Platform · Hubs & Locations
Every venue is a QR-coded hub
Each venue becomes a “hub” with its own QR codes; scans resolve to a location that drives the discovery feed and per-venue performance reporting. Shown here: the Ott's Tavern pilot hub in Medford, NJ.
- Per-venue QR codes & scan resolution
- Location-aware discovery feed
- Per-hub performance reporting
Platform · Deals
Advertiser deal management
Advertisers create and manage the deals that surface in the feed — offer terms, artwork, and status — the inventory that the visibility-weight tiers control how often patrons see.
- Create & edit deals with artwork
- Status and scheduling controls
- Feeds the weighted discovery ranking
Platform · Businesses
The advertiser roster, managed
Every business on the platform — status, tier, and activity — administered from one list, so the marketplace can be grown and supported without spreadsheets.
- Full advertiser roster & status
- Subscription tier at a glance
- Onboarding and support in one place
Under the Hood
Engineered for honest, full-funnel measurement
Tappd's pitch to advertisers is provable ROI — so claim and redemption are separate events, and the whole funnel is measured end to end.
Scan
every coaster scan, by hub
View
deal impressions
Claim
intent captured
Redemption
verified at the venue
Fraud controls keep the numbers honest
Geofencing, rate limiting, device binding, and velocity detection are baked into the scan pipeline — pre-calculated daily rollups power conversion rates, peak-hour patterns, and device breakdowns without slow live queries.
FastAPI · Python 3.11React 18 · ViteMongoDB (Motor)JWT (role-based)Stripe (subs + webhooks)Pre-calculated analytics rollupsGeofencing + rate limiting~20+ table schema
The Pricing Model
Advertisers pay for visibility weight
A visibility “weight” controls how often a business surfaces in the discovery feed. Venues are always free.
Basic
$113/mo
1× visibility
Monthly analytics
Medium
$188/mo
3× visibility
Weekly analytics
High
$300/mo
5× visibility
Real-time reporting
Max
$1,200/mo
10× visibility
Premium + priority placement
Design & A/B Engine
~42 coaster designs, built to A/B test what drives a scan
The coaster is the ad, so the messaging is a product surface. We built a library of roughly 42 designs across nine conversion-psychology themes, each with variants and alphanumeric IDs for testing which message actually drives scans.
A navy-and-cream brand foundation carries the three accent colors, with a role-aware navigation that changes color and links per user type — plus a branded transactional + lifecycle email suite with Outlook-safe fallbacks.
Value-FirstCuriosity“You're Already Out”Friction RemovalPersonal / FriendlySocial Proof / FOMORewardsCommunity / LocalGames (scan-for-trivia) 5-email lifecycle suite
Phase 2 · Built, currently off
A gamification layer, ready to switch on
Tappd was designed as a gamified collectible network. That layer is built but intentionally toggled off to validate the core discovery-and-redemption model first — a clear expansion path, not a live feature.
Collectible coaster tokens (rarity tiers)
Monthly limited-edition drops
Digital collection book
Badges, leaderboards & quests
“Taps” points ledger
Rewards redemption
The Model in Practice
Provable local advertising, not impressions.
No app
scan-to-web flow removes the biggest drop-off — the download
4-stage
scan → view → claim → redemption funnel = provable ROI, not impressions
$0
to venues — free branded coasters; Tappd monetizes advertisers
Tappd enters its proof-of-concept pilot at Ott's Tavernin Medford, NJ — 10 participating local businesses, 3,000 coasters, a 15-mile target radius — built to capture the first real funnel metrics. It's pre-launch by design: the full platform is built; the pilot proves the model.
Pre-launch / pilot. No live results yet; any financial figures from the pitch deck are forward-looking projections, not outcomes.
Have an idea that needs a real platform behind it?
Tappd is our own venture — a full three-sided marketplace, analytics engine, and payment system built end to end. That's the same depth we build for clients. Let's map yours.
Related: WRAPT by Hammont · The Hoffman Agency · Custom Apps