Tag: Verloop

  • Best AI Shopping Assistants: Your Ultimate Guide to Effortless Buying

    AI shopping assistants make buying easy and fast. They will sift through massive catalogs, source deals, and recommend products according to your taste and budget. Be it through voice or chat, they answer queries, compare items, and expedite checkout. Using real-time data, these tools monitor price drop alerts and discounts, provide reminders for items left in cart, and become far smarter the more they are used as they learn your habits and make finer recommendations. While these shopping companions amalgamate convenience with savings, they save you hours of searching by trimming it down to a matter of minutes. The feeling is somewhere between a mobile app and desktop browsing: they are a personal shopper with you.


    Tool Key Differentiator Unique Features Global Reach / Languages Integration Style
    Insider Predictive personalization Emotionally-intelligent chats that anticipate needs before input Moderate — brand-focused (not primarily multilingual) Enterprise omnichannel (web, app, email, ads)
    Manifest AI Interactive engagement Interactive quizzes, smart search, customizable experience Yes — multilingual support Shopify-first with customizable design
    Rep AI Human-like real-time sales & support In-chat add-to-cart and direct checkout actions Limited — best for English / simpler queries Shopify integration; analytics-forward
    Shop.app Consumer-facing app experience One-tap checkout, order tracking, rewards ecosystem Limited — only Shopify merchants’ listings Native Shopify app targeting end-users
    Verloop Multi-channel conversational AI Broad channel support (WhatsApp, Instagram, web) and contextual flows Very strong — 80+ languages Integrates with CRM & marketing tools across channels
    Tidio AI Hybrid live chat + AI Lyro virtual agent, ticketing, cart preview, visual automation builder Good — supports popular global channels Plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, WordPress
    Giosg Video shopping + no-code bots Generative AI with one-on-one video support and no-code bot builder Moderate — multilingual capabilities, but fewer than top multilingual vendors No-code builder with CRM hooks
    Claros Web-wide comparison and aggregation Scans prices, reviews, and features across the internet for side-by-side summaries Yes — multilingual Manual/custom integration required for many stores
    Alhena AI Generative AI with brand-aligned tone Detects shopper hesitation and triggers conversion nudges; deep preference learning Yes — 90+ languages Omnichannel: web, mobile, and social

    Insider

    Website useinsider.com
    Rating 4.7
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Enterprises seeking AI-powered customer experience, personalization, and omnichannel marketing automation.
    Insider - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Insider – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    An AI shopping assistant from Insider that is used by brands such as Adidas and Lexus, to make online buying fast, personalized, and easy. The Shopping Agent predicts how much can be provided to users before they ask and guides the users into smooth, real-time chats with emotional intelligence to trust and comfort them, raising sales and order value by smart algorithms. Its picks will become sharper over time, aided by deep data use. Both brands and shoppers save a lot of time and reduce stress, hence closing more deals. The platform customizes at every touchpoint on the shopping path-from discovery to checkout-for tailored product choices and a reduction in cart drop-offs.

    Pros

    • Predicting needs and making smart recommendations even before one types an input.
    • Highly personalized, emotionally-intelligent conversations.
    • Increases conversions and decreases the abandonment of carts with intelligent nudges.

    Cons 

    • Perhaps need lots of setting up for the data integration.
    • Advanced features are primarily meant for mid to large enterprises.

    Pricing

    Insider offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

    Manifest AI

    Website getmanifest.ai
    Rating 4.8
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Shopify / eCommerce stores wanting to boost sales via AI-chatbot, product recommendation, reduce cart drop-offs and personalize customer experience.
    Manifest AI - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Manifest AI – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Manifest AI helps retailers to recreate an artificial shopping experience as an interactive marvel. It leads and assists one online shopper with instant chat, smart search, and personal options amidst sales campaigns that understand one’s shopping signals and preferences while seeking ways to increase sales. Interactive quizzes and polite prompts help keep the user on their toes while, at the same time, multilingual support goes a long way towards maintaining global brands. This reduces support costs, for they quickly answer any questions, thereby allowing for quicker buy-in and better understanding-which assists in sharpening the results with each visit. Anything can be set up on Shopify, while the graphic appearance is fully customizable by brands.

    Pros

    • Cost reduction for support department by up to 90 percent.
    • It also doubles conversion rates with proactive recommendations.
    • Global reach with multilingual support. 

    Cons 

    • Limited for Shopify
    • Requires proper training of product data and its setup.

    Pricing

    Manifest AI offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.


    Smart Shopping with AI: Step-by-Step Guide to Find the Best Deals & Coupons
    Unlock the smart shopper’s secret weapon! Learn how to use AI tools to find the best deals, discounts, and coupons online. Save money effortlessly with this step-by-step guide.


    Rep AI

    Website hellorep.ai
    Rating 4.9
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Shopify / eCommerce stores wanting AI-powered support & sales chatbots to drive conversions, handle pre- & post-purchase support, and reduce cart abandonment.
    Rep AI - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Rep AI – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Rep AI empowers eCommerce stores with the capability of chat to fast sales transactions and perfect support. It connects up with shoppers when needed, takes query questions, and assists them in selecting, comparing, and even buying with actual, real-time human-like assistance. The system scans catalogs very quickly, reads shopper signals, and closes sales with personalized product recommendations. It cuts cart drop-offs by enabling users to add products through chats and go to checkout immediately. Rep AI also handles more than 95% support issues systematically, allowing the staff to focus on the harder issues at hand. Smart insights on shopper behavior are provided to brands in order to grow faster. 

    Pros

    • Proactive chat converts almost three times as many shoppers
    • Automating over 95% of support that takes away tangible loads
    • Direct actions of adding to the cart and checkout are available in a chat window

    Cons

    • Advanced analytics and branding features are available at a premium
    • Some features are not fully ready for non-English or complex queries

    Pricing

    Plan Pricing
    AI Sales Agent Standard Plus $550/month
    AI Support Agent Standard Plus $250/month
    AI Concierge (Bundle) Standard Plus $660/month

    Shop.app

    Website shop.app
    Rating 1.1
    Free Trial No
    Best For Users wanting a unified app to track packages, discover stores, and earn rewards / deals on products.
    Shop.app - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Shop.app – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    A smart, chat-driven guide, the Shop.app is taking online shopping through finding, choosing, and buying out of this world: it’s simple and personal. Real-time order updates, personalized picks, and one-tap checkout. We combine past shopping history with real-time stock information to suggest smarter product choices. Shoppers can track packages with ease and earn rewards. With a clean interface that marries chat and product images, the user never feels lost. The Shop.app makes shopping smooth, fast, and hassle-free. It works round the clock to convert browsers into loyal customers, unearthing deals and giving independent brand partners the much-needed shove.

    Pros

    • Accelerated checkout with one tap for purchasing
    • Directly integrates with Shopify stores
    • Automatically tracks orders and packages

    Cons

    • Shop.app products will be limited only to listings from Shopify merchants
    • Advanced AI features require user consent and data privacy, which are highly enforced.

    Verloop

    Website verloop.io
    Rating 4.7
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Brands wanting conversational AI for chat & voice, automating customer support & lead engagement across channels.
    Verloop - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Verloop – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Verloop is an AI-powered conversational shopping tool that makes eCommerce brands sell more and support faster. It answers nearly 90% of customer queries by itself, simplifies product search, and offers personal recommendations with the aid of NLP and machine learning. Shoppers can enjoy seamless chat support on web, WhatsApp, Instagram, and even other channels-all from one bot and one dashboard. Verloop keeps chatting in context, links with CRM and marketing tools, and passes on to live agents if needed. With rapid responses, clear flows, and 24/7 service, it brings down waiting time and stress. Brands instill trust, keep buyers loyal, and convert more visitors into paying customers through this medium.

    Pros

    • Over 90% responses to repeated support questions, thereby saving on costs and time
    • Multichat platforms: WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, the web, and several others
    • More than 80 languages are also supported with dialects for global outreach

    Cons

    • real-time notifications for new chats are with bugs
    • Analytics and integrations come in the higher-tier plans.

    Pricing

    Verloop offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

    Tidio AI

    Website tidio.com
    Rating 4.5
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Businesses needing live-chat, AI chatbots (Lyro), automation flows, helpdesk & customer support tools integrated across chat/social/email.
    Tidio AI - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Tidio AI – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Tidio AI combines live chat, intelligent ticketing, and the virtual agent to convert clicks into live sales engagement. Its Lyro AI works around the clock, capable of resolving up to 70% of consumer queries, recommending products, sending follow-ups, and tracking orders. One individual can find everything in one place through typing and chatting with their website, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, and no query goes missing. The setup is quick, with options for personalization, cart recovery, and smooth order handling for Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, and Wix. Tidio tracks every chat for insights into the growth and development of your brand trust and loyalty.

    Pros 

    • Simple integration with various e-commerce platforms. 
    • Advanced helpdesk, ticketing, cart preview, and product recommendations. 
    • It allows building automation visually and easy customization. 

    Cons 

    • Core AI features need the paid plan or upgrade. 
    • Migrating from other helpdesks may need a “rip-and-replace” setup.

    Pricing

    Plan Pricing
    Growth $59/month
    Plus $749/month
    Premium Contact Sales

    Giosg

    Website giosg.com
    Rating 4.5
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For Enterprises seeking AI‑powered live chat, chatbots, video shopping, and omnichannel customer engagement.
    Giosg - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Giosg – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Giosg is a versatile AI shopping assistant enabling online stores to increase sales while providing customers with real-time chats. It helps customers find their way through the process of searching for products, answering queries quickly, and offering live suggestions available for speedy search results. The combination of web personalization, lead bots, and interactive pop-ups now automates 50–90% of support while ensuring live chat or WhatsApp can intervene if the need arises. Simple setups and clear results are possible thanks to its no-code chatbot builder, hooks to CRMs, and analytics tools. Automated, it brings brands easier pathways, happier shoppers, and more leads without losing touch or quality.

    Pros

    • Customizable AI assistants with generative AI for enhanced interactivity
    • Hand-off to live agents; one-on-one video support
    • No-code development box to set up and change in a snap

    Cons

    • Rich features lead to a learning curve for new users 
    • Occasional bugs

    Pricing

    Giosg offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.

    Claros

    Website clarostechnologies.com
    Rating 4
    Free Trial No
    Best For Industrial-scale PFAS destruction, wastewater treatment, and advanced materials for a circular economy.
    Claros - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Claros – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Claros-an AI shopping assistant that makes product hunting swift and personally tailored. It identifies each shopper’s preference, requirement, and budget and recommends very precise choices. It uses the best tools of the language along with taste-learning technologies to scan the entire web, comparing prices, reviews, and features before showing the best offerings. The shopper would be given real-time advice in chatting with this agent, while it can easily be plugged into stores. It works as a 247 sales agent because every order saves the preferences and gets wiser than before. It reduces search efforts and cart drop-off, as well as smoothens payment processes.

    Pros

    • Gathers the slant of users to sharpen its custom recommendations over time.
    • Provides side-by-side feature, price, and review summaries for comparison.
    • Support is around the clock with multilingual ability. 

    Cons

    • Review and analytic dashboards only best fit premium and growth plans. 
    • manual set-up required for custom integrations

    Pricing

    Claros offers custom pricing; contact them for a quote.


    Top AI Apps to Save Money | Smart Budgeting & Finance Tools
    Discover the best AI apps that help you save money. From budgeting and expense tracking to smart shopping and investment insights—find the top tools to manage your finances better.


    Alhena AI

    Website alhena.ai
    Rating 4.9
    Free Trial Yes
    Best For eCommerce brands seeking AI-driven shopping assistants, support agents, and omnichannel engagement to boost sales and customer satisfaction.
    Alhena AI - Best AI Shopping Assistants
    Alhena AI – Best AI Shopping Assistants

    Alhena AI  is an advanced shopping assistant designed to boost sales and create customer loyalty in eCommerce brands. Chat search, instant answers, and personal product picks are powered by generative AI. Alhena learns about user preferences through deep learning and sends timely prompts, manages without any human agents support, subtraction, and review. Each theme adapts to each store and works on web, mobile, and social, so any conversation stays true to the brand. With the ability to enable sync with the real-time catalog and provide 24/7 service, it directs the buyer smoothly from browsing to payment. Alhena helps reduce drop-offs and monitor complicated functions while bringing fast, simple, and enjoyable shopping within the reach of customers.

    Pros

    • High-accuracy, brand-aligned responses from an AI without hallucinations
    • Detection of shopper hesitation with nudges or deals to convert them
    • Works across web, mobile, social platforms, and in 90+ languages

    Cons

    • Set-up for large stores may require technical onboarding assistance
    • Per-conversation pricing can be prohibitively expensive for very high-traffic sites

    Pricing

    Plan Pricing
    Most Popular $239/month
    Enterprise Custom

    Conclusion

    AI shopping assistants are redefining the landscape of online shopping by personalizing and speeding up every experience and making it hassle-free. They assist visitors by helping them find the product of their choice, providing what they want to know in a real-time setting, and also making encouraging smart buying choices. Through continuous learning from their interaction, such assistants dramatically reduce consumer wait times, cart abandonment, and increase sales. These AI helpers keep conversation exchanges clear and blend extremely into a brand’s voice while working all hours and days without breaks. This leads to business savings, connections with more customers, and improved satisfaction for each shopper. 


    Best E-commerce AI Tools | Top AI Solutions for Online Stores
    Discover the best AI tools for e-commerce to enhance sales, automate customer service, and optimize operations. Explore top AI solutions for online businesses today!


    FAQs

    What is an AI shopping assistant and how does it work?

    An AI shopping assistant is a smart tool that uses artificial intelligence to help customers find, compare, and buy products online. It sifts through catalogs, recommends items based on preferences and budget, tracks orders, and even provides real-time chat or voice support.

    What are some Best AI Shopping Assistants?

    Some Best AI Shopping Assistants are:

    • Insider
    • Manifest AI
    • Rep AI
    • Shop.app
    • Verloop
    • Tidio AI
    • Giosg
    • Claros
    • Alhena AI

    Do AI shopping assistants support multilingual customers?

    Many platforms, like Verloop and Manifest AI, offer multilingual support in over 80 languages, making them ideal for global brands serving diverse customer bases.

  • The Idea, Strategy, And Approaches Behind the Success of Verloop.io

    The internet has empowered customer expectations and the boom in the service industry has to bring new tech-based applications to meet them. Conversational AI is a cost-efficient solution for all businesses to enhance customer service. For all businesses, from small-to-medium businesses to large enterprises, it reduces the staffing cost in the customer service department and improves customer satisfaction. AI-based solutions better understand the customers and offer relevant content that’s tailored to their personality. It helps in customized marketing to drive conversion.

    Verloop.io is a Conversational AI platform to automate customer support. Here are the insights into the idea behind starting Verloop.ai and the growth strategy they have adopted for making it successful.

    The insights are shared by Mr. Gaurav Singh, CEO & Founder, Verloop.io.

    Why did you decide to go with the idea of chatbot?

    At Verloop.io, we wanted to answer the fundamental question companies were asking at that time – how they could increase their profitability by providing better customer support. We realized that customer support as a category had been underserved by technology. While there were various tools available for marketing and sales, this segment was not getting the attention it deserved. Additionally, the technology developed for Customer Support till that time was mostly internal-facing/ process optimization – ticketing, QA sampling, etc. None of them enabled brands to build delightful customer experiences. We strongly believed that we could add value to the partner brands and help them offer a superlative experience to their customers.

    Seven Years, How has been the journey so far? One big challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?

    It has been an interesting journey for us so far to become the world’s leading customer support automation platform that enables businesses to deliver delightful support experiences to their customers across channels. During this time, we helped brands to effortlessly, and accurately scale up their customer support in a secure manner. More than 5,000 brands globally, including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Nykaa, Decathlon, Dar Al Arkan, Fetchr, DSP Mutual Fund, Rentomojo, and Scripbox are using our platform. Currently, our messaging layer can handle over 100k concurrent connections and can process over 4.3 million messages per second. We started our journey with just handful of employees and today our team has over 110 members.

    One big challenge that we faced when we were starting out was that at that time, the awareness around Conversational AI enabling customer support teams was very limited. Most brands were unaware of Conversational AI and perceived it as a simple FAQ answering chatbots. Therefore, we had to build awareness and show them the value that we offered so that they understand the difference between Conversational AI and a simple FAQ or IVR bot.


    Startup Learnings from a Serial Entrepreneur, Gaurav Singh
    Gaurav Singh (Founder & CEO, Verloop.io) shares his entrepreneurial journey & highlights some of the startup learnings he picked in this journey.


    How did you go about finding your first customer and product-market fit?

    Like they say, finding our first customer is the most challenging. More than customers these also become your design partners and give critical feedback to shape the product in a way that the market does respond to. On our journey, we were blessed to have some great brands that gave us multiple inputs and validated our product features that helped us achieve PMF.

    What are the different channels you use to generate leads? Please share any one growth hack which gives the most ROI?

    We have a multichannel marketing campaign running that ensures we are able to have multiple touchpoints in our potential user’s journey. We run campaigns right from the top of the funnel (awareness) to the bottom of the funnel and even post-acquisition.

    One growth hacks is to identify who truly is your audience is when it comes to generating leads.

    Approaching enterprise clients, SMEs, and startups, requires a whole different strategy. Could you please share some tips for the same?

    As you have mentioned, these are very different customers, and the buying process also differs. We have different playbooks across Product, Marketing & Sales for these. Our enterprise playbook is heavily relationship and outbound dependent while for the SME and startups is focused more on the inbound side.

    What are a few KPIs you track for the company? How do you measure the performance of your bots?

    Conversational AI Chatbots
    Conversational AI Chatbots

    For different brands, there are different KPIs that we follow. With Verloop.io, brands are able to answer data-driven queries without interfacing with customer support. It also enables human agents to access all information from a single platform. By doing this, businesses are not only able to resolve a larger number of queries but also increase agent efficiency through historical and contextual customer information.

    Brands that have adopted Verloop.io have experienced a 2x jump in their Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT) and a 5x increase in the agent effectiveness within 3-6 months. There was also a significant drop in calls as automation deflected a lot of queries. This has resulted in annualized cost savings of more than $1 billion across our clients.

    Could you please share some metrics on growth numbers and revenue metrics?

    In 2020, Verloop.io leapfrogged to become one of the biggest chat automation processors in India. Continuing on the growth journey in 2021, we have increased our customer base by 5X this year.  We have gained from experiences and continue to enable businesses to deliver delightful support experiences to their customers in multiple languages. At the same time, we offer an omnichannel approach so all our partners can offer a unified customer experience to their customers.

    In terms of volumes, Verloop.io is now powering more than a million conversations on a daily basis across various platforms. During the course of this year, we have also set up offices in UAE, Singapore, and South Africa to be closer to our clientele while we make our solution available for customers worldwide.

    How do you make decisions on partnership?

    When we look for partnership, we look at two things. One is how well the partner is respected and trusted by its customers and secondly is there a true value being created when Verloop.io and the partner join hands. This has helped us in screening out the noise and focussing on the partners we believe can unlock tremendous value in terms of growth and reach not only for Verloop.io but for the end customer as well.

    What’s your strategy to hire the right candidate?

    As an organization, we believe that if you hire the right set of folks and treat them right, they will take care of your business/customers. While we are super focused on the skills we need to hire for, we look for the right fitment in terms of our values and our working culture.

    Being a funded company, what would you advise the founders who are looking to raise funds?

    I believe in the initial days itself the founders should have a clear idea of who they will be targeting. Another approach that I recommend to fellow founders is that rather than looking at pleasing all, they should focus on their product and how they can better it. This is essential, especially in the initial days. Instead of obsessing over the competition, or what competitors are doing, they should focus on the value add that they can bring to the table. Rather than spending time chasing VC, founders should invest it in increasing their top lines. If the foundation of the start-up is solid then there will have no dearth of people wanting to invest in it.

    What are a few new areas where conversational AI tools will be used? Do you think, Is it possible to completely replace customer support with conversational AI?

    Conversational AI makes perfect business sense for all B2C companies. At Verloop.io we have been focusing on industries where there are large volumes of pre-sales and post-sales support required. This typically includes retail businesses, e-Commerce, banking, financial, insurance, edTech, food-tech, travel, and logistics amongst many others.

    In the last 10 years, there have been significant improvements in the natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning technologies that has given new amplitude to simulate human conversation and dialogues. To delight the customer, achieve excellent Net Promoter Scores and reduce their customer service cost, businesses too are investing heavily in innovating ideas.

    With the prevalence of chatbots and customers becoming more amenable to talking to bots, voice-based bots are becoming the new mainstream. As advancements in NLP continue, chatbots will only get smarter and have more human-like interactions.

    More than replacing, Conversational AI chatbots are designed to work in conjunction with the existing systems. The chatbots enable the system to get more efficient by handling a greater number of queries in a reduced time and cost. The focus here is to ensure that only escalations are passed on to human executives.

    What’s your opinion about the Indian SaaS market in 2022?

    The SaaS business is booming in India. A report by McKinsey and SaasBoomi has predicted that this industry will be worth $1 trillion by 2030 and India’s share to double by that time.

    In my opinion, the Indian SaaS market is just starting up. With the recent funding(s), acquisitions, and listing, SaaS is now entering the growth phase in India. While typically India SaaS has sold to clientele outside India, this year will see a lot of Indian businesses engaging with Indian SaaS products. These are driven by SaaS organizations investing in better product leadership, great customer experience, and the advantage of being at the cutting edge of technology.

  • Startup Learnings from a Serial Entrepreneur, Gaurav Singh

    This article is contributed by Gaurav Singh, Founder & CEO, Verloop.io

    Gaurav Singh is the founder and CEO of Verloop.io, which is a leading customer support automation platform. Singh knew early in his life that entrepreneurship was his calling. Coming from a humble background, finding his footing was not an easy task. However, despite the obstacles in his path Singh tasted success right from his first venture.

    He is a serial entrepreneur and shortly after his first company, GoDeliver was acquired by MagicTiger, Singh founded Verloop.io in 2015. Singh had observed that the biggest challenge that tech companies face in this age of instant gratification is engaging customers and building loyalty. As per him, these challenges become even more pronounced in the markets that are mature. Verloop.io was established with the objective of bridging this need gap.

    During the course of his entrepreneurial journey, Singh had to face challenges that almost every start-up has to go through. Here are some of the learnings that he has picked in his journey –

    Work on the core

    He believes that every entrepreneur should build their core team early. Most startups put off hiring till they have found a footing. While some believe that this may help them save costs but it may not be the right move as the founder may end up micromanaging everything or have no time for the big picture stuff. As per Singh, it is better to have specialists for every function that can help the founder to decide the best course of action. A good team is also a great asset to bounce off strategic ideas and decide the best course of action. Here’s a guideline on how to build a great startup team.

    Time is of great essence

    Most entrepreneurs are in a rush to make a mark. However, there are times when it is best to have patience. Singh believes sometimes the only thing missing in cracking a problem is time. Given enough time and resources, every problem is solvable.

    Know which problems to pick

    In a startup, there are always a million problems to fix. However, if the founder goes about solving each of them, then his team and his product will be headless. It is thus advisable to choose the problem/problems that deserve attention and solve them well.


    Also Read: 8 Best Time Management Tips for Startup Founder & Business Owners


    Employees and Customers are your biggest stakeholders

    Another key learning that Singh shares are that in a startup, the goal should be to build for the customers as well as the employees. In his opinion, most times startups end up ignoring employees, which has a hugely detrimental effect across the organization. He believes that the founders should ensure that their employee experience and customer experience is top-notch.

    Hire, train and scale

    Everyone that is hired may not fit the bill 100%. Hence, organizations need to build in processes to help people reach their potential.  Onboarding and constant learning can help employees to scale to become the leader in their field. Companies need to nurture the talent and put in practices that inculcate a culture of learning.


    Mistakes to avoid in a startup & learnings from Ajayya Kumar
    Investor & Startup Mentor, Ajayya Kumar shares his insights on ‘Startup Mistakes to Avoid’, along with it he imparts his learnings on the same.


    Data-driven and experience led

    A mistake that a lot of startups make is that they are driven just by the data. While being data-driven is good, but most of the times data may not paint the whole picture. Hence, companies need to make some bets with experience and intuition and back it with data.

  • Verloop.io—World’s Leading Customer Support Automation Platform

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.

    There’s no shortage of mundane and repetitive tasks, no matter how big an organization might be. These activities eat up valuable time which could have used for increasing a company’s revenue or for value creation, in general. Thankfully, automation technology now permits businesses to get rid of such tasks and save on time and money. Using rule based automation, businesses can complete crucial action items like maintaining communication with its customers and potential leads, thereby leading to higher customer satisfaction, lead generation, and conversions.

    Verloop, a Bengaluru based startup, has come up with a platform for automating actions such as customer support, lead generation, and lead qualification. Verloop’s product is the world’s smartest conversational automation platform on a mission to make business related conversions more personal and effective—that too without the need of physical workforce.

    StartupTalky interviewed Gaurav Singh, Verloop founder and CEO, to know more about the company.

    Verloop – Highlights

    Startup Name Verloop
    Headquarters Bengaluru
    Founder Gaurav Singh
    Founded 2015
    Website www.verloop.io
    Parent Organization MagicLane Pvt. Ltd.

    Verloop – About
    Verloop – Founders And Team
    Verloop – How It Began
    Verloop – Product Validation Stage
    Verloop – Business Model And Revenue Model
    Verloop – Revenue
    Verloop – Funding And Investors
    Verloop – User Acquisition
    Verloop – Hiring Funda And Work Culture
    Verloop – Startup Challenges
    Verloop – Advisors And Mentors
    Verloop – Awards
    Verloop – Growth
    Verloop – FAQs
    Verloop – Conclusion

    Verloop – About

    Verloop is a B2B company that provides a conversational automation platform for businesses to remain in touch with their customers 24/7. This is possible through chatbots that are implemented on a company’s website/application or through Verloop’s recently launched WhatsApp chatbots. Verloop fuels businesses’ customer support, marketing and sales department 24/7 non-stop using its AI powered bots.

    Verloop’s USP is the essence of automation integrated in its chatbots. This allows one to automate a conversational chatbot by pre-feeding messages in its workflow. This is done by understanding the set of questions that customers frequently ask and possible variations of these questions.

    Verloop Model

    Some features that make Verloop a must for any B2C company are:

    • Businesses can respond to customer queries 24/7 in a personalized manner using Verloop’s always-on-bot.
    • Visitors are answered in their preferred language.
    • Real-time sentiment analysis helps businesses to deal with queries better.
    • Bots help in lead generation by connecting with the website visitors. They are can be used for lead qualification as well.
    • Bots can book meetings with web visitors.
    • Using Verloop’s 1000+ available app integrations, data can be pushed into any CRM.
    • One can use tools such as FAQ navigator, sliders, etc. to enhance customers’ chat experience. Users can create ideal chat flows as needed, edit it whenever required, and go live instantly.
    • Verloop allows seamless hand-off from the chatbot to human representatives for sales closure or if the question is out of bounds for the bot to answer.

    Our vision is to reach out to various countries and spread the word of our emerging product successfully. Our mission is to ensure that through automation we can reduce the burden off of the employees and enable them to work on vital tasks rather than monotonous and repetitive tasks.

    Verloop’s Language Understanding modules are built equally on classical machine learning as well as modern deep learning ideas. In terms of specific tooling, spaCy, MITIE, and Duckling are the main classical NLP focused toolkits that Verloop uses. Verloop uses PyTorch and Tensorflow from Deep Learning perspective. It enables businesses to understand users’ intent and respond in a personalized manner. Verloop’s NLU powered modules are used for responding customer FAQs, figure out user target, and personalize conversationsthese are done in multiple languages.

    Visualr: Simplifying Data Visualization
    Data is the new oil but it’s worth only when you can squeeze useful informationfrom it. While every other person talks about data, very few know how to analyseand use it. No organization can exist without data; a company needs to makedata-driven decisions to be successful. There are hundreds of b…

    Verloop – Founders And Team

    Verloop Founders

    Gaurav Singh is the founder and CEO of Verloop. An engineering graduate, Gaurav Singh began his entrepreneurial journey in college. He has been on the founding team of ventures like ‘Stalk Ninja’ and ‘GoDeliver’. Gaurav worked with TCS, LT Research, and Vizury before starting Verloop.

    Piyush Mishra is the ex-CTO of Verloop. Piyush was always interested in freelancing and has worked as a freelance developer with various companies. He was on the founding team of ‘GoDeliver’ alongside Gaurav.

    Gaurav reached out to Piyush about the initial B2B idea. At that point, Piyush was working several freelance engagements and was quickly convinced to begin work on a conversational automation. To Piyush, this was a profound idea which piqued him.

    Gaurav overlooks the operational activities at Verloop such as marketing, sales (pre-sales and post-sales), and lead-generation. He also attends regular meetings with top-prospects. Piyush, on the other hand, is the tech expert overseeing issues related to coding, development, processing of chatbots, etc. Both of them are masters in their respective fields and ensure systematic functioning of the processes under them while ensuring that employees are on the right track.

    Verloop has a team size of 30 at present which includes full-time employees as well as interns. The team comprises marketing and content strategists, technical team, human resource representatives, financial executives, forward deployment teams, business development teams, pre-sales, and post-sales teams.

    Verloop Founders & Team

    Verloop – How It Began

    The idea of Verloop emerged when founders Gaurav Singh, and Piyush Mishra were running a B2C Personal Concierge Startup called Magictiger. While managing a chat ops team of 100+ members, the team slowly started automating mundane and repetitive tasks. In the process, Gaurav and Piyush realized that automation of conversations with customers could help many other businesses like Magictiger. This pivoted them to become a B2B company: Verloop.

    The idea was to use machine learning, AI, and NLP (Natural Language Processing) and help companies connect with customers on a large scale while maintaining the level of personalization people expect from super agents. The idea was to use the 80-20 rule in the practical world; 80% of customers’ questions come from 20% of the company’s query database. By automating that 20%, one can free upto 80% of the teams’ time, allowing the workforce to focus on the vital components of the sales process rather than spending time on those parts which are monotonous and menial.

    We understood how monotonous tasks are very time-consuming for the employees and how through automation we will be able to reduce the burden and make the work for the employees highly productive. Automation is present around us everywhere, but to use it is most productively, is a challenge. In a way, that it is beneficial to the employees and they don’t consider it a bane. Keeping all of this in mind, we used automation in a way to help the employees and allow our bots to take over repetitive tasks.

    Verloop – Product Validation Stage

    Verloop Automation

    Considering the constant growth in the automation segment, Gaurav and Piyush decided to embark on their venture. They figured out a bunch of tasks not strongly dependent on human intervention and that could be easily performed using a digital workforce (bots). They started by automating tasks within Magictiger and then decided to provide the same services to other organizations as well.

    We sat in a shared office space initially, we talked to other startups on our floor. Our investors also came through with some connects. I also did a LOT of traveling and talking to potential customers, gathered loads of feedback on where exactly we’d fit well and what path to take from there” says Gaurav explaining Verloop’s product validation stage.

    Verloop – Business Model And Revenue Model

    Verloop has a B2B business model. Users can take a 14 day free trial.

    For revenue generation, Verloop is currently offering 3 packages:

    • A free forever starter package that allows 500 monthly conversations.
    • Business package that starts at $49/ month, and where prices vary according to the number of monthly conversations.
    • Enterprise package with a price of $699/month.

    There is a drastic change in our previous business model( for Magictiger) , which was previously Business to Consumers. Due to this change, our ideologies, campaigns, promotional methods, etc. had to be changed to a certain extent. Since our target market changed, we had to adopt a different pitch to cater to the needs of the new market. Different schemes were adopted to satiate the needs of the market. As our focus shifted to businesses, we gathered that every business will have a different use-case towards chatbots. Hence, the pitch needs to be changed accordingly by understanding each business and its priorities

    Verloop – Revenue

    Verloop reported a revenue of around $960k in 2018.  

    For revenue generation, Verloop is currently offering 3 packages:

    • A free forever starter package that allows 500 monthly conversations.
    • Business package that starts at $49/ month, and where prices vary according to the number of monthly conversations.
    • Enterprise package with a price of $699/month.

    Verloop – Funding And Investors

    Verloop raised funding worth $3 Million from IDFC Parampara Fund and others in November 2018. The amount is intended to be used for technology enhancement and team expansion.

    List of Angel Investors in Bangalore [With Contact]
    Bangalore, the silicon valley of India, is one of the most famous Indian citiesfor entrepreneurs. In this post, we have listed some of the most prominent angelinvestors in Bangalore whom you can reach out to. You will get to know abouttheir background and the sectors they like to invest in. You …

    Verloop – User Acquisition

    The Verloop team has worked on various channels to spread the word about the venture and secure multiple sign-ups.

    We have noticed that people love videos and that they are very engaging. The most engaging channels are LinkedIn and Twitter for spreading awareness about your product and the outreach is also very high since everyone has a different network and a different set of followers. That’s exactly why these two work the best.

    For customer retention, Verloop follows the same funda that most companies usually do: “customer is king”. The company puts high intensity efforts into its post-sales procedure as the team ensures that customers are satisfied. The team also makes sure that the chatbot is updated as and when users want a change within the bot’s flow. The Verloop team also sees that the use-case is pitched to each business based on their need and requirement.

    How to Generate Leads – 100 Proven Ways of Lead Generation
    Generating leads and achieving consumer interest is not an easy task. Accordingto some studies, if you generate more leads, but have an average product – youstill win. This shows the importance of lead generation or any business. 85% ofexpert marketers believe that lead generation is the most imp…

    Verloop Hiring Funda And Work Culture

    Interested candidates usually reach out to Verloop through LinkedIn and other hiring portals. Once the candidate’s resume has been verified and they are seen as a potential fit, the candidate is called down for a set of tests/interviews for evaluation. Interviews at Verloop are designed to not only understand the candidate’s technical capabilities, but also to identify any scope for improvement and openness towards learning.

    Verloop’s work culture is very positive and encouraging. The team indulges in various activities such as gaming, team outings, and various other motivation based activities.

    We believe that automation at this day and age is highly important. We make sure each one of us are aware of each of our roles and run a smooth and fair collaboration in whatever work is to be completed by us. We believe in teamwork and constantly updating new features and satisfying the customers.

    Verloop – Startup Challenges

    Speaking of the challenges, Gaurav tells, On a meta-level, initially the challenge was about knowing what was necessary for customers. Once we had a brief idea of that, we kept digging deeper. Initially, it was about survival. First through the next few weeks, then months. Right now we’re talking years, so now the focus is more on growth

    Verloop – Advisors And Mentors

    Although Verloop is not being mentored by any organization or individual at the moment, it is consulting Smooch and Kaleyra to get an idea of what templates to run and how to approve WhatsApp templates for its recently launched WhatsApp chatbots, . Kaleyra and Smooch are directly accelerated by WhatsApp and are in constant contact with Verloop.

    Verloop falls under Y Combinator’s Track’17 company, a hub for emerging startups with different agendas and plans of action.

    Verloop – Awards

    Verloop received the “most-agnostic award” from MIT.

    Verloop – Growth

    Verloop has a customer base consisting of leading organizations like Aadhar Bridge, Apollo Munich Health Insurance, Livpure, Portea, LockTheDeal, and Nykaa.

    Verloop’s recently introduced WhatsApp chatbots have brought a significant increment in its clientele list. The company is also receiving recognition from various magazines and websites.

    The team focuses on improving its services for maintaining customer satisfaction and provides its users with the most advanced technology. The Verloop team is hoping to gain more recognition overseas in coming time. The company has clients in the UK, UAE, Australia, and is planning to expand its presence to cover several other markets.

    Since automation is slowly catching up with people, they are starting to realize how essential automation is for businesses to run smoothly and to reduce the employee turnover rate. Through automation, we only wish it will make the lives of the employees more productive and reduce the unnecessary workload. Automation will be considered a boon and not a bane, where people will understand the requisite need to implement it within their company –  Gaurav Singh

    Verloop – FAQs

    Who is the Founder of Verloop?

    Gaurav Singh is the founder and CEO of Verloop

    What is Verloop?

    Verloop is a B2B company that provides a conversational automation platform for businesses to remain in touch with their customers 24/7

    How much is Verloop Funding till date?

    Verloop raised funding worth $3 Million from IDFC Parampara Fund and others in November 2018.

    What is Verloop’s Revenue?

    Verloop reported a revenue of around $960k in 2018.

    Verloop – Conclusion

    At Verloop.io, we believe that the internet was the single largest revolution for global communication. It’s how you can talk to your friends and family across the globe in seconds, and how we’re talking to you right now. But even as technology was built to make it quicker and easier for people to talk to each other, businesses didn’t buy in – using old tools and older ideas. Verloop.io aims to achieve a single mission – to help enterprise businesses help their customers better. From creating easier outreach to building more meaningful relationships, our technology-first focus empowers businesses to get the most out of every interaction.