Marketing automation is the new beast in town, from what is understood, both marketers, platforms and agencies are trying to tame it. One way is through various solutions which marketers can deploy with the aid of martech companies. From personalised email, safe storage of user data to targeted marketing, besides using WhatsApp to create a seamless experience of customer service, are some of the steps marketers can undertake. And one such company is Netcore Cloud which allows brands to navigate and create strategy based on three pillars including customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.
Netcore Cloud’s revenue from operation rose 7.53% to Rs 702.98 crore in FY23 from Rs 653.82 crore in FY22, as per the regulatory filings accessed by Tofler. However, the company’s net profit declined 15.6% to Rs 66.59 crore in FY23 from Rs 78.95 crore in FY22. (Edited Excerpts)
How would you define marketing for B2B brands, particularly in the context of customer retention and loyalty? How does Netcore’s strategy differ from the typical lead generation focus seen in India?
Possibilities that a comprehensive customer engagement and experience stack like ours can provide indeed require a lot of education. Today, understanding capabilities and potential of using such a tech stack is crucial. So, one of my biggest focus areas is market-oriented education. What complicates things from a marketers’ perspective is that consumers today interact with brands through multiple touchpoints. Explaining this fundamental complexity and educating the market about how to manage it is paramount. Another area growing rapidly is Generative AI. Given its relevance for e-commerce marketers, the possibilities it brings are immense. We’re focusing on educating our clients about how Gen AI can revolutionise their marketing strategies and enhance their engagement with consumers.
Does Netcore leverage WhatsApp for customer experience (CX) compared to the typical CCaaS or CPaaS solutions in India? If not, then what makes your approach different? Secondly, with the implementation of the DPDP Act and the potential requirement for purging customer data on request, how well-prepared is Netcore to comply with these new regulations, and what measures have you put in place to address these challenges?
The report we recently launched revealed that 80% of consumers are now purchasing through channels outside conventional websites like Shopify or marketplaces. They are increasingly using platforms like email, WhatsApp, and Instagram to complete their purchase process. This shift in consumer behaviour is crucial for marketers to understand. It highlights the need for marketers to harness these new-age channels to create more interactive and engaging experiences.
E-commerce as an experience has evolved beyond just direct consumer play or marketplaces. It now includes various communication and social media tools, which have become full-fledged shopping experiences. Marketers need to rethink how they provide experiences to consumers across these diverse platforms.
From a data perspective, all these platforms have begun to take express consent for purchase processes. They enforce this consent through their channels. At the backend, we act as the technology partners that help marketers better understand and target the right products with the appropriate content for the right consumers on these channels. This ensures more effective and personalised marketing strategies across all touchpoints.
Have you encountered any instances where customers have requested their data to be purged, or do you find there is still a lack of awareness among users regarding this option?
No, we did not experience any instances like that as of yet. However there are a lot of instances where brands tend to spam users on these channels. These channels set very high standards in terms of spam control because there is a good chance of them getting abused if they don’t adhere to the policies. Whatsapp, for example, has very high standards of spam control which automatically means that brands are now officially creating their channels and then adhering to those spam regulations set by the channels.
Given that everyone relies on WhatsApp for delivering customer experiences, whether it’s through Gupshup, Sprinklr, or Infobip, how do you differentiate your approach from these other platforms?
The basic connectivity is provided by multiple partners but what we are able to do is that we have a comprehensive customer experience stack at the back where the customers [plug in information. For example, let us take a beauty commerce platform as a customer. Beauty commerce platform plugs in their first-party data which means their base of 100 million customers. Then they use our platform to do all the segmentation and journey creation that is creating specific targeted cohorts of buyers, or other parameters like recency, frequency, monetary values etc. Then using our platform to deliver the right kind of segments on channels like WhatsApp. That is the crux of it, the customer intelligence that we have in the back which is aiding the customer, in the case of the beauty commerce platform, to be able to send the right kind of message to the right kind of consumer on WhatsApp is how we are making the difference.
How is Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) monitored and managed in a B2B environment, considering the high investment and critical importance of retention, which often makes it challenging for organisations to transition to new systems?
At Netcore, everything we do is centred around our customers’ perspective. When we discuss Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), we deeply analyse it from our customers’ viewpoint. Comparing today’s CAC to two years ago, we’ve observed a significant increase, mirroring a trend seen across the e-commerce sector where CAC has risen by 30 to 40% annually. This escalation is largely driven by intensified competition and higher costs on platforms like Google.
Consequently, brands are increasingly prioritising retention and maximising revenue from existing customers. Instead of focusing solely on re-acquisition, brands are now keen on nurturing deeper relationships with their current customer base. Netcore facilitates this by offering tools and solutions that empower brands to enhance customer engagement and grow revenue from within.
When expanding outside India, what specific strategies does your company focus on when marketing its products in advanced countries, where they likely have already existing solutions compared to our market?
When we talk about expanding outside India, we’re leveraging some key strengths that set us apart. We’ve established ourselves as a top player in global email marketing, bringing years of industry experience to the table. What distinguishes us is our full-stack capability in customer engagement and experience platforms. We’ve integrated all major channels—email, WhatsApp, SMS, app notifications—into a single cohesive platform. This makes it easy for marketers who are now able to work seamlessly by plugging into one stack rather than having to work with multiple partners and get lost in the hassle of multiple integrations. Our strategy focuses on markets where mobile and e-commerce are booming. Take Indonesia, for instance, a vibrant, mobility-driven market similar to India, or Brazil, where WhatsApp is integral to daily communication. These markets present immense opportunities, and our product’s unique capabilities align perfectly with their needs. So, that is our roadmap to entering advanced markets, keeping in mind our offerings and capabilities.
What are the current challenges you see in the Indian market, particularly about e-commerce?
In the e-commerce space, we’re facing several key challenges. The foremost issue is the increasing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), a significant concern for every B2C and e-commerce player today. Another challenge is the proliferation of data across multiple channels. Brands find their sales data scattered across platforms like Shopify, marketplaces, and offline stores, while advertising spend and consumer engagement data sit on platforms like Google, Facebook, and social media channels. Managing and leveraging this data complexity is a major hurdle.
Additionally, there’s a trend of low retention rates as consumers have many options and little brand loyalty. At Netcore, we’re tackling these challenges by focusing on enhancing customer experience and engagement through our platform. We drive revenue from existing customers and support growth efforts amidst rising CAC. Our expertise lies in building customer data platforms and data lakes that unify and provide a holistic view of consumer interactions. Take a beauty commerce platform, for example. We help the beauty commerce platform integrate data from online and offline interactions, social media engagements, and past purchases into a unified profile. This comprehensive view enables the beauty commerce platform to personalise customer experiences and tailor recommendations based on individual preferences and behaviours. With our personalisation and AI-driven capabilities, we ensure that each customer interaction with the beauty commerce platform is meaningful and fosters long-term loyalty in a highly competitive market.
A major concern raised was customer dissatisfaction in India when interacting with bots, particularly due to difficulties in understanding and resolving queries. How does Netcore’s AI experience address these challenges differently?
We recently launched the Netcore Co-Marketer, our AI-powered virtual marketing assistant. This tool is designed specifically for marketers, not consumers, aiming to help marketing leaders, like those at a beauty commerce platform or Forest Essentials, gain deeper consumer insights by leveraging our powerful data engine.
The Netcore Co-Marketer provides marketers with meaningful insights into consumer behaviour across various channels. It assists with brand affinity-based segmentation and optimises delivery based on user preferences. For example, if you interact more on WhatsApp and I prefer emails, the AI adjusts the delivery method accordingly.
Our AI also offers predictive analytics, which provides insights into expected sales based on the past six months’ data and trends. What previously took days of computation and logic can now be done in real-time. Additionally, it helps marketers set goal-based campaigns. For instance, it can automate campaigns to acquire customers at a specified cost, driving better conversions.
We’ve started seeing significant uplifts in conversions, with some reports indicating up to a 40% increase. This is just the beginning, and as the Netcore Co-Marketer continues to refine its capabilities, we’re getting closer to the dream of creating personalised experiences and segments of one.