Sure, retailers and e-commerce companies were all excited to see such great sales during the holiday season, compared to the major drop in purchases once the pandemic hit. But now? Talk about a nightmare!
‘Tis the season of returns. A scary amount of them.
That’s why certain startups are succeeding right now, because their products specifically target retailers who need to simplify and expedite the return process.
Narvar, an almost nine-year-old startup has helped companies like Patagonia, Levi’s, Sephora and Home Depot make the return process more streamlined. They’ve also partnered with Simon Property Group (whose dying malls are a real casualty) to use empty mall space as return drop off centers for certain brands. Bonus points: no packing label required. Music to every customer’s ears.
Happy Returns has been helping Everlane, Revolve, Untuckit and Rothy’s inspire customers to exchange their purchases instead of returning them altogether and they’ve also created drop-off locations for returns to make it easier for everyone involved (and alleviate the maxed-out post office). We’ll see Happy Returns keep taking off considering they just got an injection of $25 million in capital from PayPal Ventures.
Oh, and they integrate with Shopify, so… I smell domination.
Other companies helping smooth out the highly avoided return process is Returnly, who gives customers shopping credits even before their returned item is received, Optoro, who’s been helping Best Buy, Ikea, Target and Staples, and ZigZag Global, who has the global market and is tracking returns digitally and tracking if items can be put back into the supply chain after receiving the return.
If you’re in e-commerce, how has your company been handling returns effectively? Hit reply and tell us!
Who Needs Investment Cash Anyway?
You know you’ve made it when you can buy your investors out. FlowPlay, a Seattle-based game developer just bought back their shares from investors, entering 2021 with their company being fully owned by the founders and employees.
Not familiar with FlowPlay? They sure aren’t a new kid on the block. FlowPlay has been around for 14 years now and is the maker of uber popular ourWorld and Vegas World games. Last year their revenue grew by 50% (thanks pandemic). They just launched Live Game Night in December and have over 75 million registered users.
Who’s losing out? Well, they aren’t technically losing because they are getting their money back, but investors like Atlas Accelerator, Intel Capital, and a few angels are being handed back $7.2 million in former investment cash.
What other gaming companies did you see rake in the success last year? Hit reply and tell us!
Here’s Where That Holiday Bottle of Booze Came From
Executive assistants, HR managers and higher ups don’t have time to search for gifts or even go buy gift cards. Execs at Microsoft, Salesforce, Facebook and Uber are using Snappy Gifts, a startup that sends gifts to remote employees. Last year alone, the company grew by 600% compared to 2019.
Snappy was founded by Hani Goldstein, a trained lawyer formerly working for the Israeli Department of Justice along with Dvir Cohen, also from Israel. Goldstein raised over $35 million in 5 years getting her start by flying one way to California, sleeping in crappy hotels and pitching her idea at any tech networking event she could get herself into.
Looks like the pandemic hit everyone’s soft spot as they were looking to send not just holiday gifts, but gifts for anniversaries and promotions too. Customers just log onto the app, choose their price range and select from curated gifts. Then, the recipient receives a “virtual scratch card” and once their gift is revealed, they can accept it or exchange it for something else. The giver of the gift is notified to pay and Snappy does the rest!
Finally, no one has to receive a crappy Patagonia vest with their company’s logo on it and gift givers don’t have to stress about giving the right gift since recipients can change what they receive.
