QuickReply.ai helps D2C brands improve customer retention via WhatsApp

The Gurgaon-based QuickReply.ai was set up in 2021 by Himanshu Gupta  and Hridayesh Gupta. Having started the company amid pandemic, the duo observed that several  companies were shifting their services online. QuickReply.ai provides automated customer personalized messages to help D2C businesses survive online by focusing on increasing customer lifetime value.

CEO and co-founder of the company, Himanshu said the platform collects data and data points on customer behavior on the website, past engagement, and transactional history and uses it to identify opportunities to re-engage with a particular buyer.

He told Entrackr, “In a nutshell, QuickReply.ai tries to automate the messaging on a very personalized contextualized manner so that brands are able to engage on a one-to-one basis with each and every buyer and try to give them what they're looking for at the right time with the right sort of an offer.”

 Even as WhatsApp is an obvious choice for brands to connect with customers, there are a few challenges as well - consumers are flooded with a sea of messages, offers, and ads. Having to stand out and get the customer’s attention in such a crowded platform is a task in itself.

QuickReply.ai collects demographic data to bifurcate the customer base into small cohorts to offer messages that would be ideal to that particular group. 

“Since we are collecting a lot of data about the customer behavior we know exactly where their interest lies," said Himanshu. 

The platform personalizes the messages with user’s names, items viewed, and apt offers to complete the purchase. The platform mainly helps brands retain existing customers and not create new ones.

It currently works with over 280 brands out of which 75% are from India and the remaining 25% brands are situated internationally spreading across the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and European regions. These brands are charged on the basis of a fixed monthly subscription as well as a usage-based model.

QuickReply.ai raised its seed round of $1.2 million last month seeing support from Leo Capital, Pentathlon Ventures, GSF and marquee angels like Deepak Diwakar (co-founder, MindTickle), Azhar Iqubal (co-founder and CEO, Inshorts), and Dinesh Agarwal (founder and CEO, IndiaMART).

Without disclosing its financials, the company claims to have increased its revenue 14X in the last 18 months. It onboards around 15-20 brands on a monthly basis and aims to reach a client base of 500 brands by the end of this financial year.

India has nearly 15 million WhatsApp Business app users, reflecting the sheer potential of the market waiting to be tapped. In addition to peer-to-peer messaging or in this case business-to-consumer messages, WhatsApp also supports UPI payments. Of late, a number of brands as well as governments have leveraged WhatsApp for communications and marketing. 

WhatsApp’s Business API has been a big boost for brands. For instance, it has an impressive 90% open rate on average, probably more efficient than conventional digital marketing. Moreover, platforms like WATI have already built a good reference platform for newer startups looking to develop similar customer engagement platforms based on WhatsApp. It’s worth noting that WATI has raised over $31.3 million in funding. It’s backed by the likes of Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India.