Founded in 2020, GoKwik is an eCommerce enablement company focusing predominantly on unlocking growth for eCommerce brands by solving crucial challenges across the eCommerce funnel, helping eCommerce brands provide a seamless shopping experience to their customers, offering smart COD interventions across cities and towns, reducing return to origin (RTO) for their partners, manage returns and exchanges and maximise customer engagement across all channels.
GoKwik has network data of 120 million shoppers through which it has helped 10k+ brands increase conversions, reduce RTO, boost GMV and prepaid success rate, thereby increasing overall growth potential for these brands.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Joyeeta Ghosal, Head of Marketing, GoKwik.
Q. What were GoKwik’s focus areas in 2024 in helping eCommerce brands unlock growth?
In 2024, GoKwik focussed on unlocking ecommerce growth through our solutions. Our key focus continued to be on enhancing the entirety of eCommerce funnel by tackling core challenges brands face like high CAC, low prepaid conversions, high RTO and returns, low GMV, subdued engagement for our network of brands. We prioritised creating measurable solutions to improve the overall shopping journey for both consumers thereby increasing the bottomline for merchants.
We also developed new features aimed at addressing industry pain points. For instance, we introduced solutions to convert anonymous website visitors into regular shoppers and enhanced engagement through critical communication touchpoints such as WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, and email. This helped brands establish deeper connections with their shoppers and improve retention.
Expanding internationally was a key milestone in 2024, particularly in solving the global challenge of returns. With the acquisition of Return Prime, we resolved to address returns, offering brands solutions to improve shopper satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Additionally, we rolled out plug-and-play apps to support early-stage brands, enabling them to manage COD orders and optimise checkout conversions with ease. These accessible tools were designed to empower smaller businesses to compete effectively.
Our efforts throughout the year were directed towards enabling eCommerce brands to navigate a complex and competitive market while ensuring their shoppers experienced a seamless and engaging shopping journey.
Q. Was the festive season bigger for eCommerce brands in terms of online sales compared with 2023?
Insights from our 120mn+ shopper network showed that the 2024 festive season saw a marked increase in online sales for eCommerce brands, with D2C brands experiencing a 64% rise in festive orders, outperforming marketplaces. This surge highlights a growing preference among shoppers for direct engagement with brands, facilitated by tailored experiences and targeted offers.
Another notable trend was the increase in credit-driven purchases, particularly in categories like footwear. While cash continues to be the king of ecommerce, accounting for the majority of transactions, credit based payment options are also something that is interesting the young shoppers of today.
Q. Influencer marketing was used by brands a lot more during the festive season compared with 2023. What role did this marketing vehicle play in driving growth in conversions, GMV, and prepaid success rate?
Influencer marketing added a human touch to online shopping this festive season for eCommerce brands. As influencers have increasingly become someone people look up to. It builds higher trust when they promote a D2C brand, especially in categories like beauty, fashion, and lifestyle.
For brands this is a great marketing strategy as influencers are those opinion leaders that aspirational buyers of today learn from, look upto and want to be like.
Q. Which are the key categories of brands that GoKwik works with?
Fashion, Beauty and personal care, electronics, health and wellness, jwellery, footwear are some of the key categories we work with
Q. When eCommerce brands looked to provide a seamless shopping experience to their customers, what were the big challenges faced in 2024 across the eCommerce funnel?
The biggest challenges included combating RTO issues, driving prepaid conversions, and ensuring smooth checkouts, particularly for mobile shoppers. Add to this the complexity of providing hyper-personalised experiences in real time—it’s a tall order.
Plus ecommerce returns are also a major problem for brands. We have tried to address these challenges with data-driven and AI-enabled solutions, ensuring brands could meet and exceed shopper expectations.
Q. What role did AI play for GoKwik in 2024 from improving solutions to B2B marketing on platforms like LinkedIn?
We have always leveraged AI and ML capabilities in our solutions. We believe tech backed solutions with AI goodness are key to solving the challenges eCommerce brands face right at the source across the funnel.
From optimising checkout, predicting order risk, managing COD orders, providing human like chat/shopping support and personalising shopper journeys through and through, AI was a key player across our solutions and we will continue to build many such solutions.
Q. How did Gen AI transform marketing and storytelling in driving business success and creating a meaningful impact in 2024? What are the expectations in 2025?
Generative AI has allowed brands to scale creativity like never before. It enables them to personalize content, experiment with formats like videos and interactive posts, and create storytelling that resonated with their audience.
For 2025, we’re expecting AI to take a leap forward in creating immersive experiences, particularly through AR and VR integration. Predictive analysis on inventory etc will also pay a key role driven via AI.
Q. Did hyper-personalisation come of age in 2024 in terms of giving e-commerce brands a competitive edge in a cluttered environment?
Yes, 2024 was the year hyper-personalization became a must-have. With the growing shopper expectations, brands had to offer tailored recommendations and seamless experiences.
Q. In 2025, what are GoKwik’s goals and the game plan to get there?
In 2025, we’re doubling down on two fronts: innovation and expansion. On the innovation side, we’ll continue to build more solutions and continue to help eCommerce brands unlock their growth potential. On the expansion front, our goal is to penetrate further into international markets and bring our solutions to a larger pool of eCommerce brands globally.
While we have begun already, with our acquisition of return prime this year, we will continue to work towards making in India for the world. We’re also committed to unlocking strategic partnerships and creating a unified eCommerce ecosystem.
