People Powered e-commerce and our investment into Salesfloor

By: Jean-François Marcoux
General Partner, White Star Capital

Worldwide retail sales crossed $22 trillion in 2015, with digital sales only contributing 7.4% of the total. But digital sales are accelerating three times as fast as brick-and-mortar sales and retailers are all seeking to identify ways to better identify, serve and upsell customers across channels.

The CEOs of major retail brands including Burberry, Walmart and The Gap are all stating that the future of their firms relies on an omnichannel strategy: an ability to intimately know customers and service them across physical and digital channels seamlessly. As forward thinking retailers, such as Apple and Nordstrom have proven, the core assets that a retailer can leverage are its sales floor associates. Blending technology with customer service and insight the associate is, by definition, the brand ambassador and the driver of not only a sale but also the overall customer experience.

We believe there should be a better way for retail experiences to blend both the human element of a trusted advisor with the digital platforms we use in our everyday life, be that email, messaging or mobile. And it’s for this reason that we are leading a new round of investment into Salesfloor.

Salesfloor partners with leading retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Toys R’ Us to provide tools to the sales associates for them to create a direct digital connection with their clients, such as their own personal storefront on the retailer’s ecommerce website, or a dedicated messaging channel with clients. That ultimately offers a better service, leading to a 10x increase for online conversions. In return, the sales associates get greater commissions and a greater flexibility to service their customers even when they’re not on the shop floor.

Oscar Sachs, the founder of Salesfloor, is a second time entrepreneur and has held leadership positions with major retailers such as Aldo and Best Buy. He and his team have built a product that is easy for associates to adopt and that has already provided material revenue uplift results for their clients. We are excited to be backing Salesfloor and to help Oscar and team achieve their vision of “People Powered e-commerce”.

For the press release, visit here.