C2V Sep 2021 Notes from the Trenches
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! Big month for America as the Ryder Cup is finally back where it belongs, and in record-breaking fashion, no less. That was fun (even if we had to hold our national nose and root for Bryson for a couple days).
No offense to our English readers, but this is what a cup coming home looks like:
We were planning to share our broader thesis around Retail Tech this month, but with Tom Brady’s imminent return to Foxboro, Chris and Matt just weren’t in the right emotional place (a watery-eye hattrick isn’t out of the question between the standing ovations when TB takes the field and later breaks the all-time passing record, as well as when the Patriots lose by 30).
So look out for that next month while we instead introduce you to our second Fund II investment in OneShop….
… a Retail Tech company.
Our Latest Investment
OneShop is a customer engagement platform designed to drive repeat visits and virtual sales for fashion and jewelry boutiques by providing real time customer data analytics and direct connectivity capabilities to in-store sales associates and managers via a simple and intuitive mobile interface.
OneShop solves a number of fundamental problems for higher-end retailers, including:
80% of boutique retail sales are repeat business, but retailers are still manually reaching out to customers, mostly from memory, to drive these sales
90% of customers are never communicated with after they leave a store
Some estimates put the resulting missed revenue opportunities at 40% of annual sales
OneShop’s platform integrates its CRM system with each retailer’s POS database to populate and update client purchasing data in real-time, allowing sales personnel to quickly access customer histories and preferences via a mobile app, and push new product ideas via SMS or email messages that include a 1-click purchase option which is executed through OneShop’s white-labelled webstore.
OneShop is currently serving more than 50 retailers in over 150 locations and our reference checks with several of their current customers were among the most glowing we’ve heard for any product, including some fairly staggering ROI metrics:
One customer said they quickly realized that, pre-OneShop, they had been routinely failing to contact 50 - 75% of repeat buyers when new items in their preferred brand or product lines became available
Multiple customers reported double-digit same-store sales improvements almost immediately after onboarding OneShop, including one who actually told us “OneShop should cost more”
In addition to its sales enhancement features, OneShop also provides store managers and headquarters staff with sales efficiency metrics by location, brand, product, salesperson, etc.
We’re excited to see where OneShop goes as they increase their sales outreach and continue to add new features (including upcoming integrations with inventory management systems).
Portfolio Company Job Openings
Paladin: 3 openings
OneShop: Backend Developer
Boostr: Account Executive
Magellan: Sales Development Representative
Portfolio Companies in the News
Boostr launches First-to-Market Multi-Dimensional Reporting For Publishers & Joins Forces with Switchboard to Offer Publishers Industry’s First Integrated Solution for CRM+OMS+Data Ops
Copper’s product will be used in Global Payments Gaming Services’ demos at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo
Magellan’s in Germany
Tarform is everywhere: The Coolest Ways To Get Around This Fall (Forbes), This e-motorbike is designed to be a keeper (TopGear), The best electric motorcycles you can buy – September 2021 (GreenAuthority)
Other C2V News
Chris joined the head of Dentons family office practice to discuss family offices’ activity in early-stage venture.