Matt Gertner, the visionary Founder and CEO of Salsita, has steered his firm in direction of groundbreaking improvements within the eCommerce panorama. Established in 2010 in Prague, Salsita began as a small software program growth company centered on internet and cellular app growth. Through the years, it has grown right into a multidisciplinary staff of over 70 high designers and engineers, specializing in creating refined 3D product configurators with built-in AI know-how.
Matt’s inspiration for the 3D product configurator with an AI chatbot got here from recognizing the challenges customers confronted with conventional configurators. His imaginative and prescient was to simplify the complicated configuration course of, remodeling it into an intuitive and fascinating conversational expertise. When he encountered ChatGPT, Matt noticed its potential to revolutionize person interplay, resulting in the event of Salsita’s Conversational Configurator. This progressive resolution integrates a real Conversational UI, making it user-friendly and seamlessly mixing into the general configurator expertise.
Salsita’s Conversational Configurator is designed to boost buyer satisfaction and engagement, significantly within the furnishings and luxurious items sectors. By offering real-time steerage and personalised help, it helps prospects create customized merchandise with ease, decreasing the frequency of deserted configurations and returns. This know-how has already proven vital promise, with profitable implementations for high-end manufacturers like L’Atelier Paris Haute Design.
Below Matt’s management, Salsita continues to push the boundaries of eCommerce know-how, aiming to combine conversational AI throughout varied product classes. With a eager concentrate on innovation and person expertise, Salsita is poised to form the way forward for eCommerce, providing options that cater to the evolving wants of each retailers and customers. Pleased Future Ai talked to Matt about he and his firms journey to now.
Introduction to Salsita:
Are you able to inform us about Salsita and what impressed the creation of the 3D product configurator with an AI Chatbot?
“We have been working on configurators for a few years now. Having done a number of configurator
implementations for clients, one of the most common issues is that users find them relatively difficult to use Mastering a 3D configurator is a much more involved task than most of the things people do on a typical e-shop: searching for products, adding products to their cart, paying, etc.
Imagine your grandmother trying to create her cabinets from scratch using the PAX configurator on the IKEA website, and you’ll see what I mean.
When I saw ChatGPT, I felt immediately that it could hold the key to making complex configuration tasks
easier for the average user. This led to the implementation of our Conversational Configurator, which turns the configuration ordeal into a pleasant, natural conversation.”
Behind the Configurator:
● How does the AI chatbot in your configurator work, and what makes it distinctive in comparison with different AI options out there?
“The chatbot is given a bunch of information about the company and product, as well as instructions on how to assist the user during the configuration process. It is then able to provide guidance, advice and answers to the user in a way that is similar to a human sales representative or designer.
What makes the approach unique is that it is a true Conversational UI rather than just a chatbot bolted onto an existing UI. We have done a huge amount of UX design and research to make sure that the chat
interface is seamlessly integrated into the overall configurator experience.”
Influence on eCommerce:
● In what methods do you consider conversational AI and your 3D configurator will form the way forward for
eCommerce, significantly when it comes to comfort and sustainability?
“There are a few dimensions to this:
– For configurators, we expect this technology to make it easier for consumers to create the product
of their dreams. Whereas we know from our clients that a lot of users currently abandon the
configuration process, we expect more users to make it through to the end and buy something,
because they can get help and advice when they need it.
– For e-commerce more broadly, we’ve spoken to a lot of brands, and they all recognize that the
current buying experience (which we call the “sea of thumbnails”) is suboptimal. Conversational UI
can allow a extra human, approachable expertise that results in increased engagement and gross sales,
since patrons usually tend to discover the product they need and to have the arrogance to make the
buy.
– When it comes to sustainability, the secret’s to cut back the frequency of returns that outcome when individuals purchase
one thing that doesn’t truly meet their necessities. By offering assist and steerage by way of
Conversational UI, we considerably scale back the danger of this taking place.”
Firm Background:
Salsita was established in Prague in 2010. Are you able to share some insights into the corporate’s journey and development over the previous decade?
“Salsita has had an exciting journey since its inception in 2010. We started as a small software development agency focused on web and mobile app development. Over the years, we’ve expanded our expertise and services, growing into a multidisciplinary team of over 70 top designers and engineers. Our growth has been driven mainly by referrals and repeat business from our existing customers, which I feel is a testament to the quality of our team.
Our pivot towards 3D product configurators that integrate AI technology has been a significant milestone, driven by our desire to specialize and increase the added value we offer to our clients. There are limits to how far you can go as a generalist web agency, especially when you are differentiated more by quality than price. And while it’s been fascinating to watch Prague evolve from a sleepy Eastern European backwater into a vibrant Western city, this has meant that we cannot rely on a low cost base and need to up our game in terms of the solutions we offer.”
Workforce Experience:
With over 70 high designers and engineers in your staff, what distinctive expertise and experience do they create to the event of Conversational Configurators?
“I’m a software engineer by background and training, and our biggest strength has always been in
engineering. We’ve had a lot of success recruiting and retaining talented programmers. In more recent
years, we have made UX a major focus and we’ve managed to build up an exceptionally skilled team in that area as well.
With more and more web app logic moving from the back-end tier to the front end, front-end frameworks like React have exploded in popularity. Over the years, this has led to us acquiring excellent front-end skills. I often say that the secret of our success has been hiring great back-end developers and training them to do front-end development, although of course, we do a lot of back-end development as well.
This turned out to give us the perfect set of skills to work on Conversational Configurators. The configurator user interface requires great front-end chops. You are working with 3D models on desktop and mobile, and everything has to be fast and fluid. The engineering skills of our developers (most of whom have at least a Masters degree in Computer Science) were essential to mastering the ChatGPT API and figuring out the best way to use it in a real-world application. And finally, with Conversational UI being new to most users, you need talented UX designers and researchers to create an experience that users will embrace and want to use.”
B2B2C Market Focus:
How did you determine the B2B2C eCommerce market as a key focus for Salsita, and what challenges and alternatives have you ever encountered on this house?
“I’m reminded of the bank robber who, when asked why he robbed banks, answered “Because that’s where the money is.” eCommerce is a superb market to be in as a result of there’s some huge cash flowing by means of it in a transactional manner that makes it simple to indicate ROI on know-how investments. We additionally landed a configurator gig in 2019 with SCUF Gaming (now a part of Corsair), which opened our eyes to the potential of the B2B2C alternative. So to some extent, our entry into this market was only a query of luck and
circumstances.
For my part, the massive alternative within the eCommerce house proper now could be the transfer in direction of headless or
composable commerce. Up to now, most eCommerce implementations had been primarily based on big-iron monolithic platforms from firms like SAP and Adobe. Extra not too long ago firms have seen the profit in shifting. In direction of a extra modular structure the place the front- and back-end are decoupled. Consequently, there may be much more scope for firms to enter the market with best-of-breed elements that may be pieced collectively like Lego with merchandise from different distributors.
This has opened up the prospect of innovating in particular areas of the eCommerce panorama by taking
benefit of the most recent AI applied sciences. The primary problem proper now could be reducing by means of the hype and noise within the AI house in order that options like ours, which incorporate rigorously designed UX and plenty of strong engineering, get the publicity they deserve. It’s additionally confirmed harder than we anticipated to get customers to check out and embrace Conversational UI after they’ve usually been upset by chat-based person interfaces within the pre-ChatGPT period.”
Product Vary:
Your configurators cater to a variety of merchandise together with furnishings, kitchen and tub, outside residing, and luxurious items. How do you make sure the configurator meets the particular wants of those various product classes?
“In this respect, our background as a service company has been extremely valuable. It is in our DNA to gain a deep understanding of the client’s requirements and do a thorough analysis of the appropriate solution, before we kick off development. Naturally, this leads to budgets that are higher than for generic cookie-cutter solutions, of which there are a lot in the configurator space. Nonetheless, thanks to our configurator platform the cost is far lower than for true custom development.”
Innovation in Furnishings Customization:
Are you able to present examples of how your Conversational Configurators are getting used within the furnishings business to boost buyer satisfaction and engagement?
“Our first 3D configurator client was a Dutch furniture company called KILO. It is a great case study in how 3D configurators can impact a brand selling configurable products directly to consumers. Before they had a configurator on their site, customers had to come into their store in person to buy a custom piece of furniture. Now they can do the design themselves on KILO’s website. We automated the whole process from design to manufacturing, so when the customer submits their order the 3D design goes straight to the CNC machines that cut the wood. It is then flatpacked and shipped, with minimal intervention needed from staff at any point in the process.
A good example of the conversational aspect is Centro Cushions. They are a spin-off of a successful US
upholstery business allowing customers to design and order their own custom cushions and pillows. We
used Conversational UI to create “Fabrizio”, a bot that helps you select the correct material from a whole lot of
options. You possibly can ask in plain English for a pet-friendly material with crimson stripes, and it’ll instantly
present you the choices that match your standards.”
Influence on Luxurious Items:
How does Salsita’s know-how impression the customization and buying expertise for luxurious items, and what suggestions have you ever acquired from high-end retailers and their prospects?
“The most effective showcase of our work with luxurious manufacturers is our Conversational Configurator for L’Atelier Paris
Haute Design, a maker of customized French kitchen ranges. The ranges value $30,000 and up, so these will not be impulse purchases and the patrons are usually rich. It’s laborious to make that form of sale in a purely on-line setting. By offering high-quality 3D fashions, we make it a lot simpler for the shopper to see what the ultimate product will appear like and due to this fact make the acquisition with confidence. The conversational facet permits them to get recommendation and ask questions with out having to select up the telephone and name the shop.
Imaginative and prescient for the Future:
Wanting forward, what’s your imaginative and prescient for the way forward for Salsita and the position of Conversational Configurators in remodeling the eCommerce panorama?
“We are already looking beyond configurators to apply our Conversational UI to a broader range of
eCommerce scenarios. We feel that the flow when purchasing a product like a dishwasher, bicycle or skis is similar to that of a configurator, even if they are mass-produced and not made to order. We are therefore
adapting the configurator UX for these types of use cases. The goal is to show the user the best product for their criteria, with a couple of sensible alternatives, rather than overwhelming them with a “sea of
thumbnails” depicting dozens of virtually identical-looking merchandise.
Conversational UI is massively worthwhile in these eventualities as effectively, because the merchandise are sometimes fairly technical and the person is probably not aware of all of the choices or perceive precisely what they imply. When shopping for an oven or a mountain bike, we would have beforehand relied on a salesman or educated pal. Due to Conversational UI, we are able to now confidently make the acquisition ourselves with out exterior assist.”
Collaborations and Partnerships:
Have you ever fashioned any notable collaborations or partnerships which have helped drive the event and adoption of your configurators?
“One of our key partnerships is with L’Atelier Paris Haute Design, the maker of high-end custom kitchens
that I mentioned earlier. We did an initial configurator for them in 2021. As soon as we started working on
the Conversational Configurator after the release of ChatGPT, they were enthusiastic about the idea and
agreed to be our launch partner for this functionality. Since then, they have been an invaluable source of
feedback and ideas, as well as quantitative data about user behavior that we garner from the analytics weinclude as part of our configurator.
When you are using Conversational UI to basically fill the role of a sales representation in an e-commerce
scenario, it is essential to understand in detail how real-world salespeople interact with customers. It is also important to understand your client’s short and long-term goals and how this new technology can potentially help to achieve them. For all these reasons, having a launch customer to work with has been a vital part of the process of bringing our Conversational Configurator to fruition.”
Buyer Help and Coaching:
What sort of buyer help and coaching do you present to retailers and their workers to make sure they will successfully use and profit out of your configurators?
“Once again, our agency background comes into play here and we work closely with clients during the
implementation phase and do an in-depth handover once the project is completed. Because the
development is typically a collaborative effort, the client does not usually need any training in the
configurator itself. We do provide training in any self-service tools we provide for e.g. updating pricing
information, and we are available for any other assistance throughout as part of our maintenance
agreement.
We also implement detailed product and behavioral analytics as part of our standard delivery, and we
integrate these into the customer’s existing analytics infrastructure and tooling.”
Adapting to Market Traits:
How does Salsita keep forward of market developments and repeatedly innovate to satisfy the evolving wants of the eCommerce business?
“Largely it is a pure outgrowth of our advertising and gross sales efforts. Each gross sales name is a chance to
study a bit extra in regards to the market, buyer priorities, competitors, and rising applied sciences. We additionally
attend occasions like Shoptalk Europe, the place we’ve the prospect to talk to actually dozens of related
firms over the course of some days to study in regards to the developments which can be most related to them.
A big a part of my position personally is to remain on high of each market and know-how developments. I actively
observe various web sites and podcasts that present common insights into the place the market is taking us. I additionally publish repeatedly on LinkedIn about areas of curiosity, which is an effective way to strike up conversations with specialists in our business in addition to potential purchasers. Lastly, I write a publication on LinkedIn known as Conversialize in regards to the intersection between Conversational UI and e-commerce, which is a wonderful medium for organizing and getting suggestions on my newest ideas and our product growth initiatives.”
Matthew Gertner – Founder and CEO
Matthew is a serial entrepreneur who studied laptop science and linguistics on the College of Pennsylvania. He nonetheless likes to get his palms moist writing code or torturing his colleagues with detailed code opinions when not trapped in a seemingly endless sequence of conferences and video calls.