Forge Retail Pulse: A sneak peek into modern convenience, AR shopping, supply chain visibility, and marketplace enablement
Greetings, Pulse Subscribers!
We have a lot of interesting news this week, so let’s not waste another minute. Here’s the agenda:
Bringing the convenience store into the 21st century
Keeping an eye on the supply chain
Getting the most out of a marketplace
Looking back at 2021 and forward to 2022
Let’s get started.
Startup Deals
Modern Convenience | By combining an upscale corner store and café with app-based purchasing that makes its entire inventory available for delivery in under an hour, Foxtrot is redefining the modern convenience store. Foxtrot derives revenue equally from delivery and in-store purchases, with stores offering grocery staples alongside a full-service café, sommelier-curated wine shop, and unique gift bundles. Featuring private label brands that are “actually celebrated and better than its national counterparts," according to CEO Mike LaVitola, Foxtrot is experimenting with cashier-less technology in multiple existing stores which would allow consumers to grab-and-go without stopping at a cash register. Foxtrot has 16 stores across Chicago, Dallas, and Washington DC, and plans to open 50 new stores in the next two years. They recently raised $100 million in Series C funding with aims to bolster its logistics, payments, inventory management, and personalization capabilities.
AR Shopping | When buying large items like a washing machine, refrigerator, or couch, consumers would love to know what it will look like in their house before they make the purchase. By enabling brands and marketplaces to easily create 3D and AR representations of their products, Avataar helps businesses to let customers do just that. Using AI and computer vision, Avataar can convert 2D images into realistic 3D models with no extra photoshoots needed, allowing businesses to quickly offer customers the ability to drag-and-drop products into real spaces to see how they look in place before they buy. What truly sets Avataar apart is in giving customers the ability to try different colors and stock-keeping units (SKUs) in a virtual rendition they can interact with, like opening and closing doors. This allows customers to not only see the product in their home but also see how it works there as well. Claiming a 3.5x increase in sales conversions and 60% product-to-cart visits, Avataar is being used by the No. 1 global e-commerce company, No. 1 US electronics retailer, and No. 2 global consumer electronics company and recently raised $45 million in a Series B funding round led by investment from Tiger Global.
Supply Chain Visibility | As supply chain issues like shortages, delays, and bottlenecks continue to be a problem, visibility is more important than ever. Founded in 2014, Project44 enables the world’s largest companies to track shipments across the global supply chain thanks to its expansive network reach and the only automated application to onboard new carriers quickly and efficiently. Creating what CEO Jett McCandless calls a “connective tissue” for shippers, logistics providers, and other stakeholders in the transportation industry, Project44 boasts over 1,000 customers and $100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR), and tracks more than 1 billion packages annually, including 96% of all the shipping containers in the world every day. With customers that include Amazon, FedEx, and Goodyear, Project44 raised $420 million in a pre-money valuation of $2.2 billion from an investor group led by TPG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset-management arm.
Theme Exploration: Marketplace Enablement
Over the past few years, marketplaces have roared into prominence by allowing retailers to offer customers expanded selection beyond what’s in inventory so they can find what they’re looking for without leaving the website. With half of the global e-commerce sales now happening through marketplaces, these startups help businesses build the right kind of marketplace, bring new customers in through resale, and enable them to offer customers even more.
Marketplace Platform | Every marketplace is different, with specialized products and customer needs, so creating the right marketplace that best serves the targeted customer base is incredibly important. Eschewing one-size-fits-all solutions, Marketplacer has developed a methodology to turn customers into a community. With over 10 years of experience building marketplaces, Marketplacer works to discover a business’ unique niche and goals, develops a marketplace to meet those targets, and provides a platform that enables customers to scale with a full-stack technology solution. By combining strategy with technology, Marketplacer helps businesses create the right marketplace for their customers.
Recommerce | Premium and luxury brands are often out of reach for the average consumer… at least until they hit the resale market. Traditionally, these markets are not overseen by retailers, meaning they don’t have visibility into the quality, price, or access to the data when customers buy through secondhand marketplaces like thredUP, Poshmark, or The RealReal. With half of millennials reporting purchasing secondhand, retailers are turning to Reflaunt to establish official recommerce markets in their own e-commerce systems. Offering white-label technology that can be customized to match existing customer flow and brand DNA, Reflaunt handles resale, excess inventory, delivery logistics, and sales proceeds through its network of marketplaces. In addition to keeping the secondhand market in-house and ensuring quality items for customers, Reflaunt gives brands valuable data and insights into customer shopping habits to discover what people are looking for beyond this year’s fashion.
Dropship Management | While it’s often said that “less is more,” imagine being able to offer customers more items and more selection without needing extra warehouse space or delivery teams. With dropshipping, retailers expand their marketplaces by linking directly with suppliers to offer a virtual inventory that ships directly to customers, instead of through traditional delivery channels. CommerceHub allows retailers to think bigger than their own inventory and brick-and-mortar space by connecting them to a global network of suppliers that can help strategically expand marketplace assortment to better meet consumer'’ needs and expectations. With customers including REI, Walmart, Neiman Marcus, Under Armour, and Staples, CommerceHub proves that sometimes, more is more.
Essential Industry Reads
Before charging headlong into 2022, it’s a good idea to look back and see what lessons can be learned from the busy, exciting, and, of course, often uncertain year we just finished. Over at Greylock, they’ve assembled an insightful group of investors and specialists to weigh in on topics ranging from the companies and technology they’re most excited to work with, to the FOMO they have over sectors they haven’t yet dug into. They also share personal learnings from another year of the pandemic, as well as what’s giving them hope for the coming year.
After that look back, it’s time for a look forward. Over at AVC, Fred Wilson has five predictions for the new year that “most people would not likely agree with.” While this may sound a little brash, Wilson was called “one of the smartest guys in venture capital” by Forbes, and, as an early investor in companies like Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Zynga, Kickstarter, and Etsy, his CV backs that up. With predictions that range from office culture to crypto to K-12 education, it makes an interesting and thought-provoking read on what 2022 may have in store.
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