With COVID-19 and lockdowns, Shopify has proven invaluable for retailers that both have and need an online presence. According to AdAge, Shopify’s CTO reported Black-Friday like traffic in April due to thousands of businesses setting up online shops for the first time. Small, independent retailers and grocers quickly recognized the importance of being online and accelerated their digital transformations and Tapcart has that covered for mobile apps. Tapcart is a Shopify Plus Certified App that allows retailers to build no-code, mobile apps for their store quickly, and seamlessly. Tapcart is available through a tiered-subscription plan and is used by more than 7,000 merchants across 66 countries. Tapcart’s mobile platform is used by some of the biggest Shopify retailers including Chubbies, Urban Planet, and streetwear brand The Hundreds.
LA TechWatch sat down CEO and Founder Eric Netsch to discuss Tapcart, the plans to expand both Tapcart’s team (currently 35 employees) and product offerings, and recent funding. With this Series A funding, Tapcart also plans to expand its presence into Europe and Australia. Since launching in 2017, Tapcart has raised a total of $15.1M across four rounds.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Series A led by SignalFire with the participation of previous investors, Greycroft and Amplify.
Tell us about your product or service.
Tapcart is a mobile commerce SaaS platform that integrates directly with Shopify, enabling brands to quickly and easily build native mobile apps for their e-commerce stores. The company is trusted by thousands of Shopify brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, and more. Tapcart is a Shopify Plus Certified App Partner and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
What inspired the start of Tapcart?
There was a void in the market for businesses to be able to quickly and easily launch mobile apps. When we first started the company, we realized that only the largest brands who had extensive time and resources to create apps were making them and we wanted to enable smaller companies and larger brands alike to have access to the power of mobile.
How is it different?
We’re a completely codeless platform so you don’t have to be a developer to create a beautifully designed mobile app. We’re also a part of the Shopify Plus Certified App Program, a highly regarded program that is designated for the top apps within the Shopify community and we work with some of the top Shopify Plus merchants such as Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet and more. We’re also the only US-based company doing what we’re doing right now which means a lot to our US-based companies when they’re going through onboarding and trying to get started on the platform. People also love working with our team and many of our Shopify reviews speak to the ease of working our support and account managers.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
Tapcart currently only integrates with Shopify so our target market is the 1M+ stores within the Shopify community.
What’s your business model?
We’re a SaaS platform that is used by 7,000+ merchants throughout 66 countries all over the world. We have three monthly plans. Our core plan is $99 per month with more limited functionality, we have a $199 plan which allows customers to use up to 3 integrations and our Enterprise plan starts at $999 per month and gives merchants the ability to create a fully customized app experience.
How has COVID-19 impacted your business?
We could have never anticipated something like COVID would hit in our lifetime, but the reality now is that businesses are starting to pick the pieces back up and start to play offense. In March we saw consumers and businesses alike pull back due to the uncertainty of events but our merchant GMV in April and May has been through the roof; we’re seeing Black Friday type sales for merchants even outside of essential products. Instead of pulling back entirely, businesses are investing in new channels, and mobile is definitely benefitting from what is going on in the world.
What was the funding process like?
We were fortunate in that many of the funding conversations took place prior to the Stay-at-Home orders going into effect so we were already at the tail end of things when everything started to fall apart. There was a ton of interest in mobile from the investor community and it makes sense because the average American now spends 4+ hours per day on their phone. It’s inevitable that this is the way of the future.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
One of the largest challenges of fundraising is trying to simultaneously run a business while you’re raising the funds. When you’re a Seed round company you already wear a ton of hats, adding fundraising on top of your normal day job takes it to a whole other level.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Strong product-market fit, some of the top Shopify Plus customers in the world, and a business that has moved considerably up-market in the last year were likely all strong indicators that SignalFire and others should invest.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
A big part of what we’re working on is really expanding our products. Beyond just the mobile app side of our business, things like mobile web marketing, automation, e-commerce, personalization, really taking Tapcart from a single product offering into a suite of mobile commerce tools. We’re also looking to grow our team with a focus on product, customer success, and Marketing individuals.
What advice can you offer companies in Los Angeles that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Stay scrappy. It’s amazing how much you can do on your own or with little to no money.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
In the near term, we’ll be molding Tapcart into a mobile suite, not just a mobile platform. We plan to develop features that allow business customers to send personalized push notifications, mobile-optimized emails, and offer data on how often a brand should be engaging consumers on mobile.
In the near term, we’ll be molding Tapcart into a mobile suite, not just a mobile platform. We plan to develop features that allow business customers to send personalized push notifications, mobile-optimized emails, and offer data on how often a brand should be engaging consumers on mobile.
We’re going to launch a set of behavioral analytics tools soon that will offer retailers insight into when a consumer opens their Tapcart app, what products they view, and which items perform best on mobile. These insights will separate Tapcart from competitors like Google Analytics and Hootsuite which don’t intentionally focus on how people use their cell phones. Nobody really focuses on mobile commerce and we want to be that company that is the go-to mobile commerce suite.
What is your favorite restaurant in LA?
Cassia.
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