Up-and-Comers in Retail Tech

To honor the start of a new year, we’ve identified four tech companies that we expect to make a huge impact in the retail space in 2018.

​Amazon is seemingly at the center of the Internet, but for up-and-coming entrepreneurs aiming to put a product in customers’ hands as soon as possible, there are young companies that are working to make retail tasks less intimidating. 

Sourcify exists to strengthen and develop the supply chain. In other words, Sourcify aims to ensure that products are manufactured reliably and consistently by pairing companies with vetted and sourced factories. Sourcify prides themselves on putting in the hard work for quality assurance. Their software is engineered for the 21st Century to make sourcing easier to enhance the production abilities of ecommerce companies of all sizes.

Ubisend is embracing an algorithmic approach to boost customer service and sales. Believing that in 2018, training a chatbot is a wiser investment than an actual human to handle customer service needs, Ubisend has researched the comfort of consumers when it comes to interacting with chatbots when their money is stake. Their “2017 Chatbot Report” details extensive findings, including that over half of the 2,000 people interviewed said they’d already interacted with a chatbot, and over half of those that have already encountered a chatbot would like to see them utilized more online. Ubisend wants chatbots to address problems, deliver coupons, and make sales, opening the door for executing results in a whole new way online for retail in 2018.

Feelter wants to make it easier for consumers to have an idea of what real customers are saying about any new company that they could stumble upon online. Through a process of curating and aggregating, Feelter pulls an array user-generated content, like reviews on Yelp and photos on Instagram, and compiles them into a sleek and easy-to-follow graphic to display to bolster the credibility of a new company. With Adweek praising user-generated content, and with so many platforms encouraging consumers to share their experiences online, Feelter is capitalizing on a brilliant way to enhance trust for increased results.

Pulsate is making it easier to secure purchases from customers all across the globe. Through a smart platform complete with customer service bots and unique push notifications, Pulsate will help to universalize In-App purchases, which is a rapidly growing source of business. The headache of dealing with foreign payments can be handled responsibly through Pulsate’s versatile ecommerce solutions. 

Think we missed one? Tell us in the comments who you think is poised to really break out in 2018.