Recently, when MBJ asked entrepreneur Aly Hancock how things were going for S+V Technologies — the local software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup — she said, emphatically, that they were rolling.
It’d be hard to disagree with her. MBJ had last spoken with Hancock and Mike Rude — former FedEx executives and the co-founders of S+V — in March. And since then, the company has gained a significant amount of momentum. It has a federal trademark pending for the term “Stock in Motion,” which refers to both S+V’s flagship product, and what Hancock and Rude believe could become widely known as a third inventory class, in addition to “in-stock” and “out-of-stock.” It’s successfully completed a beta test of its product, which showed positive results. It’s gearing up to raise $2 million to $3 million in seed funding, which will help it build out a team.
And, it’s officially gone live on Shopify, where it can provide its offering to the e-commerce platform’s more than one million clients, as they prepare for peak season.
“We firmly believe, now that we’re in market, as we start to turn on all the channels of marketing … that this is going to have a really fantastic market demand,” Rude said.
How it works
Stock in Motion, S+V’s primary product, is a platform plug-in for online stores. In addition to the inventory classes “in-stock” and “out-of-stock,” it provides consumers and merchants with a third option, also called “stock-in-motion.”
Merchants based in the U.S., Canada, and United Kingdom are able to sell inbound products rather than wait for them to arrive at a fulfillment center, provided they’re in-route by air, road, or rail. Essentially, they can start to sell products that haven’t arrived yet, but are on their way. It also provides them with more visibility of their products, while they’re in route.
“For them, having something predictable for when stock will arrive is a big deal for their business,” Hancock said.
Greater visibility could be a big deal for consumers too.
In addition to being able to buy products sooner, shoppers can track inventory that’s considered “stock-in-motion,” through a Google map.
Let’s say you’re shopping online and looking for a pair of hiking boots. If the pair you want falls under the “stock-in-motion” category, it will still have an estimated arrival date for when you’d receive the product. You’ll also be able to click on a line that says, “see item in motion,” which will take you to a Google map. There will be a pin in the product’s original location, a pin in the fulfillment center it’s headed to, and a line drawn for all the transit that’s already occurred.
If the pair of boots' ultimate journey takes it from Dallas to Nashville, and so far, it’s traveled from Dallas to Little Rock, and Little Rock to Memphis, the line will stop in Memphis.
So, now that this offering is officially available on Shopify, what’s next?
'All the merchants'
In its first quarter on Shopify, S+V wants to have 500 merchants using its program, and in the first year, it hopes to get 3,000 to 4,000. The eventual goal, however, is bigger than that. As Hancock said:
“Obviously, we want all the merchants.”
It’s also primarily targeting small and medium-sized businesses. That doesn’t mean, however, that it isn’t open to reeling in big fish as users.
“Our application is open to anyone,” Rude said. “We’re laser focused on the small to medium segment, but that does not limit us from introducing the app to larger corporations.”
To help build its customer base, S+V is forging strategic partnerships with companies that already have Shopify merchants as customers. The startup can then co-market with them, and offer both of their products in a bundle. So far, S+V has secured five strategic partnerships, and it’s in discussions to begin six more.
It also plans to expand “Stock in Motion” into four other major commerce platforms next calendar year, after solidifying its features on Shopify: BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
And S+V’s entrance into the world of e-commerce comes as companies continue to grapple with the challenges posed by the supply chain, and Rude and Hancock are well aware of this. Their offering, they believe, has hit the market at an ideal time.
“We’re going into peak season, there’s still a lot of chaos in the supply chain, and Stock in Motion is going to align at the right time, by helping these merchants cut down on inventory carrying costs, and helping them gain additional days of sale,” Hancock said. “And then, they can provide confidence to their consumers. That’s really the big thing here."
