Mason is an AI-powered eCommerce content startup. Currently, The platform is subscribed by over 5000 Shopify merchants across India, North America, and Singapore. The startup has also been serving the likes of e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Dunzo, Myntra, Bigbasket, Swiggy, etc. Here is a transcript from recent interaction between team IT-Voice and Kausambi Manjita, CEO & Founder of Mason.
Prateek: How has technology disrupted the retail/e-commerce ecosystem?
Kausambi Manjita: Most retail systems were not tuned for a world where consumers are always browsing and can shop at any moment. But online commerce is all about 24/7, always-on operations.
Moreover, a 24/7 e-commerce site is not just a website – but the online version of a physical store.
Without technology, these two fundamental concepts are impossible to implement, rendering a retail business that is trying to shift online, unsuccessful.
eCommerce SaaS platforms such as Shopify, Bigcommerce, Woo – or no-code e-commerce apps such as Dukaan and Bikayi for SMBs – help retailers set up an online store. They provide a connected catalog, inventory, order systems along with the storefront (aka website or app). This also provides a data pool of how shoppers are behaving, and how the business is performing.
The next step is all about actioning this data to transform browsers into buyers, and buyers into loyalists with best-in-class merchandising. Automation & constant experimentation makes this possible.
Dynamically refining store merchandising is important in order to find the best methods of conversion that work for each individual retailer – because copy-paste methods only work to an extent. Automating workflows to power real-time analysis, assessment, and action for every click, swipe, or scroll in your store helps make this process dynamic and iterative. For example, automatically target on-site, personalized messages to shoppers who’re browsing but not purchasing yet, or who have added products to their carts but not checked out.
No/Low Code, eCommerce-1st solutions from giants like Yotpo, Klaviyo, Shopify to upcoming apps like Gorgias, Octane AI, ModeMagic make such solutions easy to implement. They also scale well from a small team to an enterprise.
Prateek: How is Mason transforming e-retail storefronts for Tier 2&3 SMBs to run their online store?
Kausambi Manjita: For any entrepreneur or small business coming online today, selling on Amazon is usually the first step. But that leads to a very real problem – if their products start doing well on Amazon, it gets very easy for copycats and competitors to rip off their concept and sell the same or similar products at a cheaper price.
This leads most SMBs and entrepreneurs to create their own online store too so that they can stand out as a unique business. One-time building an online store is pretty easy today with platforms such as Wix, Shopify, Instagram helping set up stores. But to run their online store successfully, they have to also manage this store every single day.
A lot of these SMBs and entrepreneurs are juggling a pandemic, raising young children, working double shifts to set up their business. At the same time, they now have to learn new skills to run a high-performing online store. Running a store is a time-consuming process that more often than not needs design, data & technology skills. It’s just hard!
Some common complaints about running a successful online store in various forums on the internet
The result is, for a lot of new online stores, even some of the basics are not in place – out of stock products are not clearly marked out, price changes are not propagated to the store imagery, new product launches are often lost deep down in the catalog, best-selling products are not showcased for new shoppers to easily & buy easily… this list is endless.
With Mason, Kausambi, Barada and their team are on a mission to democratize retail technology & design services, helping every SMB and entrepreneur run their online store successfully with a simple to use, no-code store-automation toolkit to accelerate business growth
Mason provides easy, no-code automation and a large design library which help these businesses run their store on auto-pilot. For example, if stock is running low, or prices are changing, using Mason in-app banners, product images, offers & discount callouts – all are auto-updated continuously.
Prateek: What are some of the challenges that the enterprises face and what customized AI solutions does Mason offer?
Kausambi Manjita: For the large teams, it is all about scaling. Automation along with AI helps make that possible. The same no-code toolkit for store automation morphs into a low-code toolkit for custom store automation. For such teams, AI-powered suggestions too, say, use the right design at the right time, or say the right nudge in the right channel help scale the 24/7 operations infinitely.
Prateek: What steps has the organization taken to empower women leaders?
Kausambi Manjita: Mason is led by a female CEO and Founder – moreover, Product, Design, Customer Success & Marketing, all four functions are women-led.
- We make it a consistent effort to ensure our gender balance is always 50-50
- We power weekly events to inspire and aspire our young women employees & leaders
- There is open dialogue to encourage upcoming women employees to speak up, lead charters & programs, and speak up in every meet-up.
Prateek: What trends should be expected in the e-commerce market in India?
Kausambi Manjita: Creating data-backed intuitive shopping experiences is pivotal to online success in India. Large brands & retailers set up enormous operational teams and implement expensive on-premise technologies, often through service providers, to try and achieve this today. But as more consumers resort to 24/7 shopping from the comfort of their homes, operator-led workflows and dependency on service providers will no longer work out.
Some of the trends we are already seeing in India:
- More technology adoption
- Move from “transactional” to “experience-led”
- Mobile-first but the digital omnichannel presence
- Customer service & quality over price
The answer to 24/7 e-commerce is SaaS solutions connected to real-time data streams. NoCode Automations have made this accessible for everyone and we are just scratching the surface right.
For any such interaction opportunities, you may write to us at [email protected].
