Gaurav Kachhawa, Gupshup’s chief product officer, said in an interview that average customer spending has climbed by around 10% in the last year, with artificial intelligence playing a significant role.
Gupshup, a SaaS-based conversational messaging platform that claims to serve roughly 80% of India’s unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion or more), has benefited from the rise of artificial intelligence and is seeing an increase in client budgets for experimental digital initiatives, according to a top executive at the company.
“There are a lot of tailwinds supporting the business because of the way the conversational internet is evolving. Every firm has realized the importance of engaging with customers, therefore, there is a lot of digital expenditure going on because people want to be more efficient,” Gupshup’s chief product officer, Gaurav Kachhawa, said in the interview with Mint.
He noted that average customer spending has climbed by around 10% in the last year, with artificial intelligence playing a significant role. “As companies across industries and geographies added more business verticals, cut down on physical stores, and increased their budgets for digital channels, we saw a lot more demand for our tools,” she told Mint.
In FY23, the company’s revenue increased by 43% to ₹1,619 crore, while profits increased by 22.5% to ₹49 crore. However, expenses increased by around 44% to ₹1,562 crore due to investments in new capabilities.
It released a conversation cloud last week, which includes a set of tools for AI-powered B2C engagements. The function consists of three components: converse, advertise, and communicate, which will assist customers in crystallizing customer interaction, expanding their user base through ‘Click to WhatsApp’ and Instagram ads, and increasing open-message rates, according to the business.
Gupshup said it was also benefiting from the purchases it made. In 2022, Gupshup bought five firms in four months to strengthen its software services stack and integrate AI into its products, as “every company now wants an AI system for which they need help from enablers like us,” Kachhawa said to Mint.
Gupshop, which has been profitable in the past two financial years, has been in talks to list on the public market for some time now. According to an article by Deal Street Asia, the company planned to raise a pre-IPO capital round and list by the end of 2022 but those plans were shelved due to weak market conditions
However, Kachhawa said the company would consider listing in India or the US over the next 12-18 months. He went on to say that it is already operating like a public service internally to address key performance indicators, but that going public is determined based on how the markets perform.
It intends to increase its footprint in global markets. Currently, it derives around 20% of its revenue from sources outside India and plans to expand this to at least 50% as part of a multi-year plan
Beerud Sheth founded the company in 2004 as an SMS network in India. Today, it operates throughout the Americas, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. It claims to serve more than 75,000 customers in retail, gaming, food and beverage, healthcare, advertising, and BFSI.
California-based Gupshop allows merchants to communicate with customers through various media channels, such as voice, SMS, email, and WhatsApp. Swiggy, Marks & Spencer, and HDFC Bank have all used their services. Initially, the provider was based on group SMS.
