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INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) – A new startup launched from Indianapolis-based venture capital studio High Alpha aims to serve as a digital concierge service for e-commerce brands. Humankind, co-founded by former Target executive David Weissman, allows retailers to connect with online shoppers via SMS. Weissman, who is also a managing director, says consumers want more human interaction in their retail experiences, even online, which has led to the creation of the “h-commerce” platform.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Weissman said the idea came from his former direct-to-consumer business, where he focused on the customer experience.
“In the end, I realized that this would be a really amazing software platform to offer to other brands and retailers and that’s how we ended up with Humankind,” Weissman said. “What’s exciting about Humankind is that there hasn’t been a modern sales channel in retail, I think since e-commerce. So we’re bringing this whole new sales channel and we’re doing it digitally, so obviously it’s a large scale to a macro vertical that hasn’t changed much in so many years. The opportunity for this to have a big enough impact is right in front of us. “
Weissman says Humankind creates an individual virtual shopping experience between an expert working for a brand and the consumer.
The user can submit information on a participating brand’s website about what they are looking for, which is sent to the expert, who will then begin a short text consultation to gather more information and create a page of. personalized destination with recommendations. The consumer can then take these items and add them to the brand’s normal e-commerce site cart and check out as they normally would.
“For most ecommerce travel, buying is sort of the end,” Weissman said. “The way we’ve built the Humankind platform and its capabilities and customer experience, we don’t see that as the end. We see this as the start of this amazing one-on-one relationship that can continue after the purchase and in retail this is how we make our money; most of our money is on repeat purchases and [lifetime value] and that’s pretty unprecedented in any paradigm, whether it’s offline shopping or online shopping, it’s the ability to really build real relationships and stretch them for a long time. “
Humankind launches with 10 employees in Indianapolis and several major brands are already among its customers, including TaylorMade, Saucony and Olaplex. Weissman says the startup also has a number of branding perspectives going forward.
“Every e-commerce brand is looking for high impact solutions to improve its customer experience,” said Kristian Andersen, partner of High Alpha, in a press release. “Humankind is the first platform that truly puts the customer first and delivers the level of personalization and attention that today’s buyers increasingly demand. “
Humankind is the fourth new company to come out of High Alpha this year.
