Amano — Reinventing the E-comm Experience
The C19 pandemic accelerated many industries and completely transformed others. For e-commerce as a digital channel of retail, it meant a shift from a progressively growing category to the core part of the economy. E-commerce is predicted to keep a double-digit annual growth rate in the next decade. However, looking closely at a post-purchase experience not so much has changed over the last few years. And the truth is that post-purchase touch-points are where customers’ loyalty is won and lost.
The vast majority of merchant-consumer communication is handled via the very basic tool — email. While email served us well with a couple of purchases per year, it does not suffice in the new post-covid reality. There are customer groups like mom shoppers who don’t shop for themselves only and “run the operations” of the whole family. For them, it is not difficult to generate 10+ online orders a week, which can easily generate 50+ emails in their mailbox. Despite all those emails they face all known issues such as unclear order status, complicated return process, or lost/damaged packages.
Email also means a missed engagement opportunity for merchants. Their newsletters and feedback loops are treated as spam or lost in “commercial” folders. At the same time, with increasing competition and rising acquisition prices, the ability to transfer first-time shoppers to repeat buyers will separate losers and winners in e-commerce.
And here comes Amano. It is on the mission to materially improve the post-purchase experience of digital purchases and to build a new way of communication between merchants and consumers. Amano aggregates all your online purchases with real-time tracking of their status. It will offer a 1-click return and complaint functionality, which customers can only know from the likes of Amazon or Zalando. It also aims to bring very innovative ways to discover local shops and promotions that are targeted to its users’ preferences. For Merchants, it overall means improving the relationship with their customers and increasing their loyalty.
We were excited about the founder-market fit right after the first meeting with Malgosia and Nico, Amano’s founders. They previously co-founded a food delivery business Daily (exited to Wolt) and spent years in various digital consumer businesses. What impressed us about them, aside from the excellent personal qualities and experience, was the extraordinary pace with which they built the initial team without any VC funding.
We at KAYA have been following the thesis of digital transformation of user experience for more than a decade and we are excited about Amano’s vision to bring e-commerce experience to the next level. We are thrilled to welcome Malgosia and Nico to the KAYA family.
P.S. Amano is still in its Beta phase and we can’t wait for the official launch.
