Less than a month after opening its first international office in Portugal, Boston-based Salsify is expanding to Texas following the acquisition of an Austin-based chat startup.
Salsify, a product experience management platform with 250 employees, announced on Thursday it has acquired Welcome Commerce, a chat technology that enables brands to connect directly with consumers on retailer e-commerce sites.
The deal includes all assets and talent from Welcome. Their Austin headquarters will now be a Salsify office, while the company's co-founder and president, Dan Herman, is joining Salsify as vice president. Moving forward, Welcome's technology will be known as 'Salsify Chat.'
The just-rebranded product integrates with any chat and customer service tool, so e-shoppers can initiate a real-time conversation with product experts. The technology is used by brands such as P&G, HP and Purina is one of the few third-party systems working with Walmart and Target.
"Brands are looking for every possible way to connect with their consumers on the digital shelf. Chat enables them to do so in real-time, right at the moment of purchase decision... Chat is a keystone feature in the future of commerce for brands," said Jason Purcell, co-founder and CEO of Salsify, in a statement. "These chats also provide unique insight into customer questions and concerns, which can fuel product content development."
The acquisition was finalized just before Cyber Week, one of the busiest times of the year for e-commerce in the U.S. Last year, digital transactions on Cyber Monday reached a record $6.59 billion, making the day after the Thanksgiving weekend the largest online shopping day in U.S. history.
To date, Salsify has raised a total of $98.1 million in funding, led by Greenspring Associates, Underscore VC, Venrock, Matrix Partners and North Bridge. In August this year, the company moved to a new, three-story headquarters on Federal Street, which can accommodate up to 400 employees.
