Commerçant+

What Commerçant+ does

Proxity is a French local-commerce loyalty and engagement platform, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDF (Électricité de France) and headquartered at 196 avenue Thiers in Lyon. The company builds a multi-product SaaS stack designed to help French municipalities, merchant associations, and individual shop owners revitalize city centers and counter the decline of local retail against e-commerce and large-format retail competition. Its core products are CKDO (a 100% local gift card accepting QR-code payments via a mobile interface), PASS Commerces (a turnkey collective loyalty card aimed at boosting resident purchasing power and merchant customer retention), Carte Cadeau (gift card solution), Diagnostic Numérique (a personalized digital audit of local commerce for city-center attractiveness), and Animations Commerciales (ready-to-use marketing animations for merchants). The platform also includes SMS/email client-base management tools for merchants to track the impact of their campaigns.

The business model combines three revenue streams: recurring subscription fees from municipalities and local governments for territory-wide deployments, subscription-style fees from merchant associations for access to marketing tools and commercial animations, and transaction-based fees from CKDO gift card payments. Pricing is quote-based and customized per territory, with no public pricing tiers. Go-to-market is executed through B2B field sales engaging collectivités locales directly, combined with a channel-partner motion in which associations de commerçants deploy the platform to their member businesses. The company operates exclusively within France and reports scale of 60+ client territories, 2,000+ member merchants, and 100,000+ users of its loyalty devices.

Strategically, Proxity is backed by EDF group for financial stability and brand credibility, and has formalized a flagship partnership with the Association des Petites Villes de France (APVF), with which it co-authored a 2024 white paper on commercial dynamization of small cities. No external funding rounds, acquisitions, or restructuring events are disclosed, and there are no signs of international expansion beyond France.

Name

Commerçant+

Legal name

Proxity

Website

https://commercantplus.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Proxity is a French EDF subsidiary that provides municipalities, merchant associations, and local shops with a digital loyalty platform spanning QR-code gift cards, collective loyalty cards, and territory diagnostics, serving 60+ French territories and 2,000+ merchants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Commerce Loyalty Software

NAICS

General Merchandise Retailers (455)

SIC

Retail-Miscellaneous Retail (5900)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Goods & Gift Card Generalist Marketplaces (CRAFAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Goods, Subscriptions & Gift Card Marketplaces (BPAMAGAG)

Keywords

• Merchant loyalty software
• Local commerce platform
• Gift card solutions
• Customer retention tools
• Merchant engagement platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Municipal/Collectivity Subscriptions: Recurring subscription fees from municipalities and local governments for platform deployment and territory-wide loyalty programs.
2. Merchant Association Fees: Fees from merchant associations (associations de commerçants) for access to marketing tools, commercial animations, and support services.
3. Gift Card Transaction Processing: Transaction processing from CKDO gift card payments, enabling merchants to accept local digital payments.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Commerçant+ is the individual merchant-facing solution within Proxity's local commerce loyalty ecosystem (Proxity being an EDF subsidiary). It equips independent French merchants with tools to fidelize customers through loyalty programs (PASS Commerces) and gift-card products (CKDO / Carte Cadeau), animate commercial activity, and manage customer communications via integrated SMS and email marketing features. The offering operates under the broader Proxity umbrella, which also serves municipalities, merchant associations, and major retail partners.

Product overview

Proxity is a global loyalty and engagement platform for local commerce, operated by EDF subsidiary. The offering consists of a unified platform with multiple integrated solutions: CKDO (local gift card with QR code payments), PASS Commerces (collective loyalty card), Carte Cadeau (gift card), Animations Commerciales (marketing tools), and Diagnostic Numérique (digital territory audit). These products work together to help local authorities, merchant associations, and individual merchants boost local economy, increase foot traffic, and fidelize customers to city centers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CKDO: Local gift card solution enabling merchants to accept payments via QR code and mobile interface.
• PASS Commerces
• Diagnostic numérique

Products and services

• PASS Commerces

Quantifiable outcome

• 60+ territories served
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• EDF (Électricité de France)coreOthersEDF group ownership - Proxity is a subsidiary (filiale) of EDF. This provides the company with brand credibility, financial backing, and alignment with EDF's broader mission of local economic development and energy transition support.
• Association des Petites Villes de France (APVF)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for white paper co-authorship on dynamization of local commerce in small cities. The APVF represents small French municipalities, making this partnership valuable for credibility and market access to Proxity's target customer segment.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• SumUp: European-headquartered SMB payment platform offering card readers, POS, and integrated loyalty/marketing tools to small merchants. Comparable to Proxity because its merchant base and loyalty features overlap with the independent merchants Proxity serves.
• Groupon: Global local commerce marketplace offering vouchers and deals for nearby merchants. Comparable to Proxity because Groupon operates at the intersection of consumer incentives and local merchant acquisition, addressing the same city-center foot-traffic challenge Proxity targets through municipalities.
• Sodexo: French multinational food services and facilities management company that historically operated a large gift card and voucher business (now Pluxee). Relevant because Sodexo's French roots, voucher infrastructure, and relationships with French institutions are adjacent to Proxity's local commerce offering.
• Square (Block): Global SMB commerce platform with POS, integrated loyalty programs, gift cards, and marketing automation. Comparable to Proxity because Square's loyalty and gift card modules directly compete for the same independent merchant customers that Proxity's CKDO and PASS products address.
• Lightspeed Commerce: Canadian-headquartered omnichannel commerce platform serving retail and restaurant SMBs with POS, e-commerce, loyalty, and gift card functionality. Comparable to Proxity because its integrated loyalty and gift card modules target the same independent merchants and compete for territory-wide retail deployments.

Others

• Partoo: French SaaS platform helping local businesses manage their online presence, visibility, and customer engagement across Google, social, and directories. Adjacent rather than direct — Partoo serves the same French local merchant customer base that Proxity targets, but solves a different problem (digital visibility vs. loyalty/gift cards).

Direct peers

• Swile: French employee benefits and gift card platform offering lunch vouchers, gift cards, and payment solutions to SMBs and enterprises. Operates a comparable digital gift card/loyalty card platform serving French workplaces, making it a direct competitor for Proxity's B2B loyalty card mechanisms.
• Edenred: French-listed global leader in prepaid corporate gift cards, vouchers, and employee benefits. Operates the same core mechanism (digital gift cards, QR-code-based payments) as Proxity's CKDO, but at much larger scale and primarily through B2B corporate channels rather than municipal deployment.
• Up (formerly Wedoogift + synergies): French gift card and employee benefits platform serving businesses with digital voucher and loyalty solutions. Closely mirrors Proxity's digital gift card and loyalty card infrastructure in the French market, but targets corporate/HR buyers rather than municipalities.
• Pluxee (formerly Sodexo Benefits & Rewards Services): French-origin global voucher and gift card platform spun out from Sodexo in 2024. Directly comparable to Proxity's CKDO and PASS Commerces products in terms of digital gift card and loyalty mechanics, though focused on employee benefits rather than municipal local commerce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/proxity_edf
• Facebookfacebook.com/proxity.edf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/commercantplus
• Instagraminstagram.com/proxity_edf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Commerçant+