SalesTechStar Interview with Alon Partuk, CEO and Co-founder at Octup

Alon Partuk, CEO and Co-founder at Octup talks about the latest trends that will redefine eCommerce in this short Q&A:

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Alon, tell us about yourself and your journey in the tech market. We’d love to hear more about Octup – what inspired the platform and how has it evolved over the years?

I began my career at a startup called Trax. When I joined, it was a medium-sized, but fast growing company in which I held various positions. I started as an operations project manager and later moved to managing integrations and the API department in R&D. My final position at Trax was managing strategic alliances between the company and large consulting firms. I left Trax after four years when it reached unicorn status to fulfill my dream and build my own business.

After leaving Trax, I started managing my own growing D2C brand called Apricoat. Apricoat launched with a crowdfunding campaign, where we raised 2.2 million dollars on Kickstarter and Indiegogo for our first product. The campaign was one of the biggest in the design category until this day.

Bootstrapping an eCommerce brand worldwide is challenging. As an eCommerce founder with a technology background, I realized that I needed better tools to manage my operations efficiently and profitably.

Searching for better ways, I created tools and methodologies for Apricoat that had a significant impact on my business. While meeting other Founders at conferences and events, word began to spread, and I was invited to talk about how we manage our data at Google and Facebook events. It became clear to me that what I had built was incredibly valuable to founders like myself.

I decided to change the way eCommerce brands manage their operations, and that’s how Octup was born. Since that day, I have hired a team to build out a leading operational data platform – helping brands better manage and act on ALL their data. We are extremely customer-focused, so the app is always evolving to meet the changing demands and challenges that eCommerce brand founders like myself face on a day-to-day basis. Having mastered the high level marketing, operational, and unit economic data, the next step we are taking is focusing on warehouses and shipping – helping brands have more clarity into their invoices, payments, and how they are servicing their customers.

How is eCommerce evolving today: can you talk about a few top trends that will define eCommerce in 2024?

We believe the industry is undergoing a significant change and is focusing on profitability rather than just revenue. The significant changes in the world of customer acquisition are forcing companies to be much more efficient and make this whole complex system work together efficiently.

Beyond this, online marketing is becoming increasingly “commoditized” with many businesses following similar strategies. While there are still ways to stand out in the crowd, the focus has shifted towards streamlining operations effectively.

A notable trend is the heightened focus on optimizing the last mile and logistics costs to enable profitability and bolster marketing efforts. This is precisely where Octup steps in, providing operational insights that can result in significant cost savings.

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How can digital businesses use AI more effectively to drive eCommerce journeys in your view?

The simplest and most adapted use of AI enables companies to create content more effectively, such as blogs and social media. In the future, and in a more advanced and complex way, AI can provide valuable insights into a digital business’ vast data to help them more effectively manage their business.

At Octup, we use AI to help our clients by collecting data from previously inaccessible sources. Additionally, our AI insight engine generates actionable insights from client data, revealing the real story behind the numbers. This not only enables teams to stay small and lean as they scale up with AI-enabled tools like Octup, but also uncovers numerous hidden opportunities and cost saving potentials within the data.

Can you talk about some leading brands that sport a great eCommerce journey and what can others grab as takeaways from these experiences?

We’d like to spotlight Hellobubble Skincare, a brand that has successfully transitioned from thriving in retail stores in recent years to expanding its eCommerce presence. Their user-friendly website includes a unique feature – a prominently displayed phone number for customers to text with product inquires, enhancing transparency and understanding. Leveraging insights from Octup, they’ve streamlined complex operations, initially plagued by unidentified warehouse overcharges. By automating this process, they’ve saved significant time and costs, pinpointing hidden costs for better pricing and discounting strategies.

Another standout is Underoutfit. They have demonstrated remarkable growth while maintaining a lean team – a critical strategy amidst rising customer acquisition costs (CACs). Early adoption of technologies like Octup has enabled efficient operations management without substantial team expansion.

Finally, Obvi impresses with its social media storytelling led by its founders, fostering customer connection and brand loyalty. Their bold, visually appealing products disrupt an industry with traditionally “vanilla” branding, while their optimized online experience, featuring gamified discounts and seamless checkout, enhances customer satisfaction and conversion rates. These strategies offer valuable insights for brands seeking differentiation and optimization in the competitive eCommerce landscape.

What are some of the top trends that will drive the B2B tech and SaaS market in 2024?

The trend of AI infused products continues to dominate the industry. With open-source AI-models more accessible than ever, we anticipate numerous established organizations integrating AI into their product offerings, alongside new players quickly developing tech solutions for businesses. This heightened adoption will intensify competition, posing challenges for organizations striving to differentiate themselves. However, those leveraging AI in unique ways will stand out.

In the upcoming year, we foresee many small organizations achieving success as lean teams boost their efficiency through AI utilization.

Further, we expect the emphasis on product-led-growth to strengthen further, supplanting traditional sales approaches among SaaS companies. Investor priorities increasingly lean towards profitability, making the scalability of large sales teams problematic. Moreover, businesses are inundated with sales outreach, diminishing the effectiveness of conventional sales tactics. Consequently, companies will prioritize product development, recognizing organic, product led growth as paramount. We also anticipate teams exploring creative or non-traditional growth avenues, such as founder led content on social media and innovative marketing initiatives.

If you had to share a few AI trends that will lead the salestech-martech space in 2024 and beyond, what would you talk about?

First, we believe that AI integration across the entire customer experience will be crucial. Whether it’s for a brand or B2B, incorporating AI into chatbots, product recommendations, bundling, personalized offerings, and marketing and selling efforts will enhance the customer experience. This, in turn, will raise customer expectations.

Furthermore, we believe in the growing importance of data management. Despite the abundance of data available, teams are still overwhelmed and struggling to handle it effectively. To fully leverage AI, refining data management processes is essential to ensure efficient and effective operation.

Finally, we believe that organizations are currently in the experimental phase with various sales and marketing AI tools tailored for specific uses. However, we anticipate a shift towards implementing a comprehensive, AI-led system capable of managing all aspects of sales and marketing within a centralized framework. This approach would offer greater clarity and enable organizations to fully immerse themselves in AI technology.

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