Scaling E-Commerce 🚀

With e-commerce sales seeing 129% year-over-year growth in 2020, many entrepreneurs and retailers are reconsidering how consumers will prefer to shop as the nation reopens. Businesses are hopeful they can keep online previously brick-and-mortar shoppers by offering a seamless experience, with personalized details, customized recommendations, and logistics as easy as clicking “checkout.” Here are a couple of features startups are employing to intelligently grow their D2C businesses.
 

AI Personalization

Using data collected from social media platforms and search engine tracking sites, e-commerce growth startups can help e-commerce sites intelligently customize their webpages based on the customer’s preferences. For instance, location tracking will tell a site whether or not to show a customer a fleece or linen jacket and will specify the site banner offer for either "free shipping" or "10% off with email sign-up" based on the customer’s previous behavior.

Logistics Tools

Of Amazon’s $108.5BN in sales in Q1, 2021, 55% came from 3rd party sellers. For many online-only retailers, like FBA (Fulfilled-by-Amazon) and drop-shipping e-commerce retailers, logistics on the manufacturing end can be difficult. Nearly 75% of these retailers are individuals or small teams whose margins can quickly get sapped by shipping delays and logistical errors. Check out any product reviews on Amazon, and you’ll notice how often slow shipping earns products a one-star rating.

Here are five e-commerce growth startups:

• Tradeswell is an all-in-one e-commerce growth company, connecting logistics, marketing, and AI optimization with a laser focus on profit. The Baltimore-based company raised a $15.5MM Round A led by SignalFire in January.

• Nosto focuses on bringing hyper-personalized shopping experiences to e-commerce sites. The company has raised $28.1MM in four funding rounds since its founding in 2011.

• Thrasio acquires Amazon third-party businesses and applies its in-house methods to grow a brand further, faster. The Walpole, MA startup has already raised $1.35BN this year.

• Bringg is a cloud platform for automating supply chain management serving both startups and big box stores like Imperfect Foods and Walmart. The company raised a Round D of $30MM in April of last year.

• Clinch Labs is bringing AI-powered personalization to targeted ads, specializing in video and social. The NYC startup just raised a $10MM Round A from D Squared Capital.