Startup interview: André Brown, Founder and CEO, Advanced Commerce

RTIH sits down with André Brown, founder and former CEO of online merchandising specialist, Attraqt, to discuss his new venture, Advanced Commerce.

RTIH: Tell us about Advanced Commerce

AB: Advanced Commerce is a new software company launched on 5th October.

We have a vision to bring enterprise level merchandising to small and mid-tier retailers, which is a section of the market that I believe is generally poorly served for online merchandising technology 

To address this, we have developed a new platform called GrapheneHCTM, which is being released on 20th October.

RTIH: What was the inspiration behind setting the company up?

AB: This is my second startup. I really enjoy innovation in software and wanted to stay in this sector.

I have had a lot of time to reflect on my previous business (Attraqt) – i.e. what worked well, what didn’t work so well, and what would I do differently next time. 

I think there is a sense that if you do something a second time around, you tend to do it much better and faster, which is what I’m looking forward to.

I also took inspiration from speaking with former clients, friends in the industry, analysts, city contacts and even competitors. It’s surprising just how much people are willing to help you, if asked. That process has helped to inform my thinking and validate many of the decisions that I have made.

RTIH: What has been the industry reaction thus far?

AB: I have had fantastic feedback from the people that we have been working with, so I am encouraged that we have developed something special to offer online retailers.

I am proud of what we have achieved in developing GrapheneHC. It has been designed to out-perform other platforms in terms of speed, functionality, flexibility, and price. So I am looking forward to bringing it to market.

The signs so far are encouraging, as we have already signed a handful of clients, as well as several agency agreements with partners in the US.

“I took inspiration from speaking with former clients, friends in the industry, analysts, city contacts and even competitors. It’s surprising just how much people are willing to help you, if asked. That process has helped to inform my thinking and validate many of the decisions that I have made”

RTIH: What has been your biggest challenge/setback? 

AB: I had intended to launch the business earlier in the year, but with the outbreak of Covid-19, I felt it would be too challenging to bring a new software platform to market during the midst of lockdown.  

Therefore, I postponed the launch until last week. This has probably worked out for the best, as it has given more time to polish the product and to sign early clients.

RTIH: What are the biggest challenges facing the online retail sector right now?

AB: You might think the answer should be Covid-19? This is obviously true of bricks and mortar retail. However, the coronavirus has really brought online retail to the fore, with the stats for online usage showing tremendous increases.

I think the biggest challenge facing much of the online retail sector right now, is actually how to stay relevant and competitive in an ever increasingly competitive online world – and that’s what our merchandising platform does, it helps retailers to compete online.

RTIH: What's the best question about your company or the market asked of you recently by a.) an investor and b.) a customer?

AB: The best question I’ve been asked by an investor is “how much money do you need?” and the best question I’ve been asked by a customer is “when can I have it?”

The toughest question I’ve been asked is “why now?” to which there are two answers: a). the software is ready and b). retailers need what we do, so now is a good time.

RTIH: What can we expect to see from Advanced Commerce over the next 12 months?

AB: You will see plenty of new innovative features over the next 12 months, all designed to help retailers compete online.

Some of this will be aimed at automating the merchandising process as much as possible, some will be functionality for providing deeper insights and some will be further innovations in product search. Watch this space!