LocalPerks - Local Loyalty Coalition

Model: google/gemini-3-pro-preview
Status: Completed
Cost: $0.421
Tokens: 60,128
Started: 2026-01-05 21:23

06. MVP Roadmap & Feature Prioritization

Strategic execution plan for LocalPerks: From concept to coalition scale.

MVP Definition: The "Sidecar" Coalition

A standalone mobile app and merchant tablet interface that enables cross-business point accumulation without requiring complex POS integration.

Core Problem Solved: Removes the friction of fragmented punch cards and incentivizes consumers to choose local businesses over chains through a unified reward balance.

MUST HAVE QR Code Scanning (Earn/Redeem) • Shared Point Ledger • Merchant Dashboard • Consumer Wallet

MVP Success Criteria (Month 4)

  • ✔ 2 Neighborhood Pilots Live
  • ✔ 40 Active Businesses
  • ✔ 15% Cross-Redemption Rate
  • ✔ Zero Ledger Errors
🚫 NOT IN MVP: Direct POS Integration (Toast/Square), Automated Bank Settlement (Manual Net-30 initially), Social Feed, Multi-City Support.

Feature Prioritization Matrix

HIGH BUSINESS VALUE
LOW BUSINESS VALUE
LOW EFFORT
HIGH EFFORT
MVP
PHASE 2
FILLERS
AVOID
QR Scan
Ledger
Biz Dash
POS Integ.
Auto Pay
Social Share
Custom HW
Top Features Score Phase
QR Transaction Engine
Core earn/redeem mechanics		 9.2 MVP
Unified Point Ledger
Cross-business currency logic		 9.0 MVP
Consumer "Near Me" Map
Discovery of coalition members		 8.5 MVP
Merchant Analytics
View redemptions & ROI		 7.8 Ph 2
POS Integration (Toast)
Remove sidecar tablet		 6.5 Ph 3
*Scoring: (UserVal × 0.4) + (BizVal × 0.3) + (Ease × 0.3)

Phased Development Roadmap

Phase 1: The "Digital Punchcard" (MVP)

Weeks 1-8 • Focus: Frictionless Transaction
Weeks 1-8

Objective: Prove the core interaction loop. Business staff must be able to award/redeem points in under 5 seconds using a standalone tablet/phone. Consumers must understand "One Wallet, Many Shops."

Feature Set
  • Consumer App (React Native): Auth, QR Gen, Wallet UI
  • Merchant App (Web/PWA): Scanner, Point Input, History
  • Admin: Coalition Setup, Manual Biz Onboarding
  • Basic Fraud Rules (Max points/hour velocity checks)
Deliverables & Milestones
  • ☐ Technical Alpha (Week 4)
  • ☐ Pilot Partner Onboarding (Week 6)
  • ☐ Live in 1st Neighborhood (Week 8)

Phase 2: The "Network Effect" (PMF)

Weeks 9-16 • Focus: Retention & Cross-Pollination
Weeks 9-16

Objective: Validate the coalition model. Prove that a coffee shop customer actually visits the bookstore because of points. Introduce monetization (subscription gating) for businesses.

Feature Set
  • Merchant Marketing Tools (Email blasts to coalition)
  • Subscription Billing Integration (Stripe)
  • Consumer "Tiers" (Gold Status for high local spend)
  • Automated Monthly Settlement Reports
Deliverables & Milestones
  • ☐ 10 Paying Business Customers
  • ☐ 30-Day Retention > 40%
  • ☐ First Settlement Cycle Complete

Phase 3: The "Frictionless City" (Scale)

Weeks 17-24 • Focus: Automation & Integrations
Weeks 17-24

Objective: Reduce operational drag. Integrate with POS systems to remove the "second screen" requirement. Expand to 3-5 neighborhoods.

Key Features:
  • Toast/Square POS API Integration (Beta)
  • Automated ACH Settlement (Stripe Connect)
  • AI "Smart Nudges" (Push notifications based on location)
 Success Metrics:
  • ☐ $3,000+ MRR
  • ☐ 1,000+ Active Consumers
  • ☐ Viral Coefficient > 0.3

Low-Code & Technical Leverage

To meet the $500K budget, we prioritize existing APIs over custom engineering.

Authentication & Identity Clerk / Auth0: Handles social login (Google/Apple) and phone number OTP. Saves 2 weeks dev time.
Database & Realtime Supabase: Provides Postgres DB + Realtime subscriptions for instant point updates on merchant tablets.
Payments & Settlement Stripe Connect: Handles split payments and marketplace logic. Critical for regulatory compliance.

AI Integration Strategy

Feature AI Model/Approach Cost/Mo
Fraud Detection Anomaly detection on point velocity (Custom ML via Python) $50
Biz Profile Gen GPT-4o to write shop descriptions from URL $0.05/biz
Smart Nudges "It's raining, redeem points for coffee nearby" (Contextual rule engine) Negligible
⚠️ Technical Risk: Offline Mode

Loyalty apps must work with spotty WiFi. We will implement Optimistic UI with local queuing in React Native to ensure scanning works instantly, syncing when connection restores.

Execution Timeline (First 6 Months)

Setup
Build MVP
Alpha
Pilot Launch
Iterate
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 (Launch) Month 6

Resource Allocation (Seed Stage)

Engineering (2.0 FTE)
  • Lead Engineer (Full Stack/React Native)
  • Backend Dev (API/Database/Security)
  • Contract UI Designer (Part-time)
Growth & Ops (1.5 FTE)
  • Founder (Product/Sales/Partnerships)
  • Community Manager (Merchant Onboarding)
Burn Rate Target

~$35k / month

Ensures 14-month runway on $500k seed.