Personalisation is the key to consumers’ hearts and RevLifter is the performance marketing platform that drives revenue for online retailers by incorporating AI to understand consumers’ behaviors in real-time. The platform enables retailers to display the right deal to the right consumer at the right time; both on-site and off. Through the use of the platform, merchants are already seeing an impressive improvement to conversion rates, visitors turning into customers, and higher average revenue per order.
London TechWatch sat down with RevLifter CEO Simon Bird to learn more about the founding team’s experience with lack of personalisation options laid the groundwork for RevLifter, the company’s future plans, and recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We successfully raised £2.3M in seed round investment, led by a syndicate of new and existing investors including Coutts.
Further to this round, a former Goldman Sachs Managing Director Jonathan Summers will join RevLifter’s Board.
Tell us about the product or service RevLifter offers.
RevLifter personalises deals for retailers across any marketing channel.
The platform uses AI to understand real-time signals from users onsite behaviour to deliver the right deal to the right customer at the right time, to achieve the advertiser’s goals.
It works by personalising offers on a retailer’s site and off-site, which prevent customers from leaving to look for deals on competitor sites. The platform is uniquely used by each retailer to deliver their specific goals, which often include: more new customers, higher AOV, and improved conversion rates.
What inspired you to RevLifter?
RevLifter started in 2017, my cofounder Ryan Kliszat headed up a large e-commerce agency, while I was the MD of an international voucher site. We were growing tired of a lack of incrementality and personalisation in the coupon space.
We asked a number of retailers to list their biggest demands across incentivisation and e-commerce. After witnessing several common trends, we then recruited a team of developers to lay the ground for a revolutionary performance marketing solution, capable of fulfilling what several industries were crying out for.
The result is RevLifter: an award-winning platform, as innovative as its clients, which takes a unique and goal-driven route to attract customers and increase revenue.
How is RevLifter different?
In a shift that could spell the end of ‘one-size-fits-all’ deals, pre-planned months in advance, Carphone Warehouse is among 90 other e-commerce brands are using RevLifter to create checkout-stage deals created specifically for individual customers in real-time.
As well as creating more relevant, personalised deals based on various triggers such as the weather, the customer’s geo-location or their customer lifetime value, retailers can use RevLifter’s AI-driven platform to achieve their own strategic marketing goals such as driving more margin or encouraging specific customer segments to spend more.
That means deals driving incremental spend can be a vital part of the marketing strategy rather than being seen as a necessary but clumsy discount or loss-leader that drives purchase but ultimately works against the marketing strategy.
What market are you targeting and how big is it?
The market potential is huge. Globally, retailers spend $3B on affiliate commissions each year to voucher code websites.
As we develop our personalisation technology to other digital marketing channels this is worth a whopping $628B annual spend.
Who do you consider to be your main competitors?
We don’t have any direct competitors, but indirectly competitive technologies range from onsite conversion rate optimisation platforms to basket abandonment providers.
What’s your business model?
We currently operate via the affiliate marketing channel which is performance-based (commission). As we look to develop additional products, we’ll be considering other payment models.
What was the funding process like?
Thankfully much of the funding was sourced through our own personal networks. Ryan and I have been in the industry for over a decade so this definitely helps!
We focused on finding investors which added value to our business rather than just providing the funds. Also, it really helps to have a clear vision for the company and what you are using the funds for.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Raising money takes a huge amount of time and patience, which takes some of your focus off the core business.
One of my biggest challenges was getting the legal bit right – working with a great legal firm really helps the process – we can’t recommend Taylor Wessing enough for their support with this.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Personalised deals are served in real-time, on the retailer’s own website, which means that we can show deals that facilitate with up-selling and cross-selling prior to the user checking out.
No other solution can execute this process in the way that we do; using AI to match consumers with deals and ensuring the retailer owns the conversation and experience. With that, we believe RevLifter is truly unique.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’re growing extremely quickly; our products are already personalising between 3-5 million baskets worldwide which is phenomenal considering we are only in our second year of business.
We’re growing extremely quickly; our products are already personalising between 3-5 million baskets worldwide which is phenomenal considering we are only in our second year of business.
Over the next 6-months, we’re planning to disrupt the whole digital marketing ecosystem and in the near future, we’re looking at creating solutions ranging from email to display to even driving footfall in-store.
We’re continually enhancing our machine learning capabilities and the more clients we work with the more robust our system is becoming.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
If I could give one piece of advice it would be to make sure you have a well thought out commercial model, investors will need to see how the company will develop and when they might see a return, so it’s important to make this really clear when looking for investors.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
The cash injection will help us address the growing demand from retailers around the world for a real-time personalisation solution.
We plan to boost our presence in the US where growth is intensifying rapidly, not just because of the size of the market but because of the particular appetite the US consumer has for deals and incentives.
The US currently accounts for 30% of RevLifter’s customer base. We forecast that the US will account for 70% of our business by 2022.
What is your favorite restaurant in London?
Santa Maria del Sur, an Argentine steakhouse in Battersea!
