Envolve Tech News

Marc Blumberg joins Envolve Tech as Vice President of Sales

2021 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for Envolve Tech! Today we are thrilled to announce the opening of our first overseas office – in New York – and the addition of our first Vice President of Sales, Marc Blumberg.

Marc Blumberg

Marc Blumberg, our new Vice President of Sales

Marc has previously helped startups from the UK and Germany successfully expand into the American market, and is well known in the US online retail community. He was described by our CEO Emma Smith as a “perfect fit” to join the team.

Why open a US office? That decision was easy. During our massively successful Black Friday weekend revenue from our American partnerships began exceeding our UK revenues. The trend only solidified for the rest of Q4. We may be based in the UK, but America is by far our biggest opportunity for expansion in 2021.

Why Marc wanted to join Envolve Tech

Marc was immediately interested in working with Envolve Tech after learning about the company’s tremendous 2020 growth, and how the balance of that growth shifted from the UK to the US in Q4.

“The opportunity for Envolve Tech to grow into the American market has only just started,” Marc explained. “The potential in the near future, let alone several years down the line, is enormous and I wanted to be a part of that.

“I am also extremely impressed by Envolve Tech’s main product, the Virtual Shopping Assistant. It solves a problem every online retailer struggles with – recreating the in-shop experience on a website.

“That’s been a long term aspiration for retailers for years, but the issue has only grown more acute during 2020. Purchases which would be made in-store until recently are now moving online out of necessity. Shoppers still have the same questions they were asking in-store a year ago, but there is no easy way to ask them in an online environment.

“What I find especially exciting is the Virtual Shopping Assistant is disruptive, but in a way that only creates winners. Retailers benefit from lower operating costs and increased sales, customer service agents benefit from having repetitive tasks removed from their workflow, and customers benefit from a better shopping experience and finding the product they want. The only people who don’t benefit from the Virtual Shopping Assistant, really, are the companies that don’t use it.”

How the Virtual Shopping Assistant works

Product related questions make up 60% of online customer enquiries, and these are frequently part of a customer’s purchase decision-making process. After processing enquiries through a series of language analysis layers, the Virtual Shopping Assistant presents shoppers with a carousel of relevant product options to browse through. This keeps customers shoppers onsite and in the sales funnel for longer, and boosts conversion rates by an average of 20%.

The Virtual Shopping Assistant can also respond to simple customer service enquiries, reducing costs and freeing up human CS agents to concentrate on more complex issues.

The language used by Virtual Shopping Assistants can be customised to match any brand voice, and once installed, Virtual Shopping Assistants go through a regular “retraining” process to further improve accuracy and improve sales conversion rates.

Building relationships with more US partners

Marc has only been with us since Monday, but is already looking forward to introducing the Virtual Shopping Assistant to new potential clients.

“The Virtual Shopping Assistant is still at a relatively early stage in terms of its potential,” he said, “but I would already consider it to be an essential tool for brands that want to stay competitive.

“The buying process is changing, and no retailer big or small can afford to stop innovating, especially in the current environment. That’s what Envolve Tech can offer – innovation that can give you a competitive advantage from day one. That’s exciting.”

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