I would put our tech stack up against most (in the e-commerce arena). We try to stay on the ‘bleeding edge’ and are always testing new things. I figured I would make a short list of some of the top trending tech and apps that I can personally vouch for being awesome.
It’s no secret, I am not the biggest fan of Yotpo. They just never felt like a partner, they felt like a vendor. We had switched to Swell for our Loyalty and Rewards program (BattlBucks) several years ago and then Yotpo bought them. The next thing we knew, we were always in a contract. Even worse, like clockwork, when the contract was coming up you could expect a rate increase. I get it, that’s one of the most well-known SaaS models. Lock them in and raise their prices…but it’s a horrible customer experience. Further, there was zero effort ever put on the relationship management side. All of this also means that they are ripe for disruption, which is what Refilliate is going to do.
I was lucky enough to know Tushar Ranka through SubSummit. Every year we would talk shop and share best practices. When we first met he was solely the CTO of Hello Bello, Refilliate did not exist. As we became friends, he told me what he was building, and I was excited! When Refilliate was finally ready to launch, I came over with open arms and I am so happy I made the switch.
Refilliate has all of the features the other platforms have and more, there are no contracts, and there are cost savings! It checked every box which is very unusual for SaaS.
A cherry on top is the platform also has a brand ambassador program that we use to manage our socially active customers.
I have always been proud of our chargeback management. Well, not always, but for the last several years. We have always handled it internally and consistently would win 50-60% of the cases which is not too shabby. When I got connected with Michael Zavet (CEO and Co-Founder) and he explained what he was building, I was intrigued. Leveraging AI to build a constantly learning automation software to manage chargebacks. So my team gets time back in the day, but can the software perform better than our human beings?
Short answer, Yes they can. We started strong in the first month with a 100% win rate on the disputes. I knew that was not sustainable, but I was still highly impressed that after several months we are still averaging north of 90% win rates. Disputes add up and this saves us money.
One of my favorite parts of Shieldify is its pricing model. They simply take a percentage of the money they win for you. This eliminates risk on the merchant’s end and makes their proposition a no-brainer.
Credit card processing is a big industry. Somehow with all of the competition, rates are still high. FeeHop changes the model which is mindblowing. Instead of adding 1-1.4% onto the cost of the rate, FeeHop just charges a flat monthly rate and you pay the actual credit card costs. This takes your effective rate way below 2% (in the 1.7-1.8% range likely depending on card types) which should have the attention of most.
I met Craig Millius (Founder and President) at SubSummit several years ago. Craig has been in the credit card processor industry for over 20 years and we quickly became friends. He walked me through how much credit card processors ‘tack on’ to the interchange rates and I was shocked. Walking me through taking a different approach where you can merchants money but still make money (just not be greedy) was music to my ears.
They have a calculator on their site where you quickly calculate how much money processing through them will save you. The number might be scary!
As I conclude this write-up, I realize I will see all 3 of these company’s leaders at SubSummit.
Are you going to be at SubSummit? It’s my first work travel since the birth of my son and It will be great to catch up with Tushar, Michael, Craig, and everyone else! Spoiler Alert: I am bringing my son to SubSummit so get ready!
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