Startup interview: Katya Ivanova, Founder, AssetFloow

RTIH gets the lowdown on AssetFloow, a Portuguese artificial intelligence startup which launched in 2020.

RTIH: Tell us about AssetFloow.

KI: AssetFloow is the first solution that is able to describe the paths that different customer segments take inside retail stores to grab products, without using cameras or other sensors.

We developed an artificial intelligence software that translates sales data into behavioural spatial metrics, with visual and actionable insights that allow retailers to understand how the space was used by customers on previous days, and simulate how changes on product locations or future promotions would influence the flow of customer and purchase behaviours.

This allows retailers to create personalised experiences targeting each customer segment, through accurate planning of promotions and better locations for new products, to increase customers’ loyalty and sales.

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

KI: I co-founded Go4Partners where I worked with the innovation department of several companies in cooperation with startups, and Ricardo (Santos, AssetFloow Co-founder and CTO) co-founded Heptasense, highlighted by Forbes and Wired as one of the most innovative startups in artificial intelligence.

We met when both companies collaborated on an international project.

The idea of creating AssetFloow together came up with retail customers in which there was no solution for what they were looking for, and I invited Ricardo to try to develop it with me.

What is happening in the physical retail space is that it is difficult to give the same personalised experience as online. Unlike e-commerce, physical stores face a very obvious limitation when it comes to testing new layouts and efficient locations for promotions.

There is an implicit cost of moving products, shelves or displays in the store. In addition, there is a tangible delay in measuring results, sometimes exceeding three months.

For the first time, with AssetFloow, it is possible to perceive how space is used by different types of consumers, helping strategies around the allocation of products/promotions along their paths, stimulating purchasing behaviours.

The platform was developed and tested with European retailers so that we could converge more quickly to what they were looking for.

“It is true that e-commerce has been growing, but physical stores still account for 89% of sales, and there are bigger margins and better customer loyalty. That’s why the world’s biggest e-commerce platform Amazon is opening physical stores”

RTIH: What has been the industry reaction thus far?

KI: Fortunately, the retail industry reaction has been positive.

There is an urgency to understand customers’ behaviour, especially in the times that we are living, in which the coronavirus pandemic generated a shift in purchase patterns and lifestyle.

The faster a retailer can detect those changes, the better it can be prepared. Before AssetFloow, retailers strongly relied on Excel spreadsheets to make important decisions for product location and promotions, ending up with negative results.

There were other solutions on the market that provided intelligent analytics about customers in-store, such as smartphone tracking (using beacons or WiFi), but they raised privacy concerns and the accuracy was very poor. AssetFloow appeared at the right time.

RTIH: What has been your biggest challenge/setback?

KI: Finding the right people to join our team. Certain skills are crucial not only for a business to survive, but also for it to grow.

Knowing the exact skills we need — and how to get those essential people onboard — might be the determining factor in how well our startup thrives.

Delays in finding the right personnel are costly. For a small team, the recruitment process and the process of creating strategic partnerships, eats up valuable time that could be spent on other areas of the business, but on the other hand, not having the right people can create severe bottlenecks and stall the roll-out of new products and services.

These are hold ups that no startup can afford, especially in the early stage. We are happy that recently a former CEO of Les Mousquetaires and AKI, Andrés Osto, decided to join our team. His expertise in retail will be of great use to our growth.

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

KI: The improvement of customer experiences should not focus solely on the retail store, but also on the entire value chain, including warehouses.

We are also very excited that Suzano, one of the biggest paper suppliers in Brazil, chose AssetFloow to join the Plug&Play programme and work with them. Thinking of retail as strictly bricks and mortar or strictly e-commerce seems antiquated.

Now, brands know that customer engagement happens in-store and online. While the advent of digital channels creates new opportunities for brands to reach customers and generate sales, seizing those opportunities requires retailers to make significant changes to traditional business models.

Those retailers that address these challenges and adapt their growth strategies accordingly will position their business for success in the omnichannel world.

Companies can increase growth and revenue by engaging customers and delivering personalised experiences across any and all channels.

AssetFloow is leveraging the anonymous sales data from (physical and online) stores to bring valuable insights about different customer segmentation, and identifying sales anomalies.

It is providing a unified customer view which is helping retailers to deliver personalised experiences across physical and online stores.

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

KI: There is an interesting, misleading idea that retail is shifting online.

It is true that e-commerce has been growing, but physical stores still account for 89% of sales, and there are bigger margins and better customer loyalty.

That’s why the world’s biggest e-commerce platform Amazon is opening physical stores. When people go into a store, they know exactly what they need. It is part of their life routine.

Routines are like a checklist that produces a given result within a given time frame and at an acceptable cost, without thinking about it and taking it for granted, which provides a type of mental stability and security.

It is in this mental state that people are more likely to be influenced by external factors, such as lighting, colours, smell and visual cues. Retailers are more likely to change purchase patterns inside a store than online.

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

KI: Over the next months our main objectives are to close our seed investment that allows us to scale and gain more visibility, with a strong focus on Europe, and to increase our team.

We will continue to build more analytics on top of our intellectual property, in order to bring more benefits and value to our customers, and to be an international reference.

It is also very important that we find more strategic partners, national and international, who identify with the company's vision and aim for mutual success.