Hey everyone, we’re thrilled to launch today!
Boost enables end-to-end transactions to occur everywhere using #hashtags. Buyers see the #hashtag, comment, tweet or text it within the apps they love, confirm via SMS and are charged instantly - no apps, no stores, no checkout.
Boost integrates with Shopify and Magento, or can be used as a stand-alone e-commerce solution. Happy to answer any questions and here’s our blog for more details - http://bit.ly/28Mxdv0
We built Boost to shorten the distance to the purchase. Our entire goal is to connect brands with their buyers at the places where they are already overlap. No more need to send someone away from social to make a purchase.
OS agnostic, cross platform, global purchasing embedded in #hashtags. Boost!
We will be around all day, please ask questions.
Thanks @rrhoover / @jakecrump
@jmacias Would love to help consult for you guys on the international side of SMS, can definitely prevent you from some typical pitfalls in scaling globally. Fire me an email taylor.hook@infobip.com
@vfdraganescu Hi Vali,
I hope we don't have the same problematic branding as PP!
On the buyer side, they sign up once and can connect social accounts to create a passport that allows them to transact on any networks they choose with the brands they follow.
On the seller side, we can manage inventory or integrate with existing e-commerce platforms. Then when they post to social we have network approved applications that let us matchmake and execute the transactions.
Thats the simple answer describing a complex solution.
@burak_ozkan yes. Buyers provide credit card and shipping at sign up. They can then Oauth whichever networks they want to use it with or use the system solely over SMS.
- Duplicating a Q/A from the Twitterverse: https://twitter.com/umarsaeed28/... -
@umarsaeed28: how do you guys handle product variations(size, color etc)?
@jmacias: We provide a option tree via SMS to select options inherent to the product. Then we present your final selection to confirm. So the #hashtag is general to the product and the specifics are customized in the confirmation step.
Congrats on the launch. Sounds very familiar. We enabled this in 2011. P2p and social commerce via hashtag across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We have a patent on the application. Here's some early coverage. https://techcrunch.com/tag/chirpify We pivoted away from commerce in 2013 because brands were, and remain, not set up internally for social commerce. ie: there is almost no buyer and no market for this type of solution. The commerce and social teams are not connected, and it's a monumental slog to get them to be. Not trying to rain on your launch parade at all. Actually trying to give you honest feedback. Let me know if you'd like to hear more about the lack of market or advice on navigating the social commerce waters.
Hi love this!
So the increase in orders will be exponential, since the path of clicks, browsing, filtering, adding to cart, checking out etc are being completely wiped.
How will you account for impulsive order placing, leading to a very high number of cancellation of orders?
And in your experiments (as mentioned in the blog) did you find a higher 'cancellation / orders' ratio compared to traditional (amazon) e-commerce?
@ratan_mehta Hi, thanks so much and awesome question! The behavior of returns varies quite a bit on the seller, the product and their community. We haven't seen a higher rate of returns thus far. We've also set in place the "SMS to confirm" to ensure intent :)
@jmacias@dannyabas great idea! How i would go on:
1. Make it free for all (buyers and seller)
2. Collaborate with a huge company (get famous)
3. Expand extremely fast (with collaborations)
4. Make money with data and premium model for seller
This idea has a huge potential!
What's your plan?
@nicolashitz@jmacias Hey Nicolas, thanks man! 1) Our "Get It" link is getting updated, but we're actually waiving all Boost service fees for 90 days here - https://boo.st/?ref=ph. There will also be a service free version for charitable organizations. 2) We'll have some pretty major partner announcements, you'll dig it. 3) We have an influencer and agency program to accelerate. 4) Sellers will be able to "unlock" additional services and analytics.
@jmacias are you open to partnerships of some sorts in Africa, specifically in Nigeria? You power the tech and work with a local payments startup to power payments/operations?
@dapoolapo we are open to discussing anything. However, we are pretty committed to our Stripe partnership so there would have to be a really good reason to diverge from that. If you have specific thoughts feel free to e-mail me at Jaime@boo.st
@jmacias issue with using stripe in Nigeria is currency conversion - even though stripe let's you present charge currency in NGN, the local banks will charge customer card in USD and usually at stupid high rates.
Also, merchant acceptance fees are highly regulated in the Nigerian market by the country's central bank. It's pegged at capped 1.5% of gross transaction value.
Hence the need for a local payment processor to make this happen.
@dapoolapo thanks for illuminating the local issues. Our system is built in such a way that it is extensible in that way, so it is possible. We are focused on US now at launch but with all the international interest we are hearing I am prioritizing this conversation internally.
I really love the idea of selling and buying through Hashtags. I would really love to see Boost grow.
This is what I always wanted. Buy with a Hashtag.
This is a major opportunity for eCommerce sites.
Is it available worldwide?
PS: The video is awesome.
@mohitgangrade Hi Mohit, thanks so much for your vote of confidence and interest. Currently, we're supporting US only, but we will be rolling out Canada and international very soon. Please follow us @boost for more updates.
It follow the trend of IG brand usage growth and its presentation and idea seems really great. I'm looking forward to know more about the program for IG influencer (for the moment you can just send an email).
@nick88msn Hi Nicola, great question. Yes, that's definitely on our roadmap. Sellers will have the ability to generate variations of existing product #hashtags to be used by other influencers / ambassadors / sellers - enabling a new way to distribute your products and measure + compensate via conversion rather than impressions.
Bravo! Been looking forward to this! As you're aware (#katch #cough) we're big fans of packing app functionality into hashtags and messaging. What platforms might we see beyond IG and Twitter?
@tarikh . Short answer is ALL OF THEM. To be less dramatic, we are rolling out support for YouTube and Facebook in July and have a roadmap of all your favorite networks lined up after that. I'm sure we will be back here to announce them soon.
it looks awesome, i am already on the waiting list, i need to know about that stripe account in order to get paid, because i dont have one. you should work with more providers. either way congratulations
@jmacias hello Jaime, i am currently using paypal, & a payment processor here in mexico that lets me receive visa, mc and amex. you should consider opening up more, not everyone has stripe
Fantastic product video, well done guys, I completely understand the product, one question though:
How does Boost know the difference between me wanting to buy a product and me just using a hashtag to show support?
@gregjwww Hi Greg, we work with the sellers to generate product specific hashtags. They are slightly different than normal as they are comprised of a prefix and a numerical suffix. A boost hashtag might look like #acme654 for example. We also check for pre-existing usage to make sure we don't generate something already in use.
Congrats on the launch! Great product and awesome site! I do have a few questions:
are you concerned at all with the existing patent on this?
who handles dispute resolution?
does this / will this violate IG's Terms of Service?
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