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Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

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Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#31

Post by hef19898 »

lammalamma25 wrote: post #26

What's your relationship with carriers? I spent a bit of time with "Large E-commerce company" We would have 3rd party sellers not delivering on time (or sometimes not delivering at all). They would claim FedEx/UPS was late or FedEx/UPS would claim it was on time but the 3rd party shipped with a different account than "Large E-commerce Company." It was a big headache for the people ensuring delivery and bad customer e…

Ah, sounds familiar! We didn't use carriers managed by the dropshipping supplier but rather in-house managed ones. Helped but made edge cases not covered by existing in-house solutions a real pain.

I like what I see so far from Convictional. But one thing that puzzles me with similar start-ups is the disregard for actual operations. Has nothing to do with Convictional so. But since I see that as an opportunity I put my money where my mouth is.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#32

Post by rogerkirkness »

technotarek wrote: post #30

OPs: I feel like we might have some synergies if you extrapolate a bit out from what our product does on its surface. I can't put my finger on it exactly though. See the How can I list my shop question at https://attic.city/owners .

Yeah Attic sounds interesting and relevant. In general we're a platform and vertical agnostics enablement solution that doesn't suck, and so it's possible we could help you integrate directly with the sellers of the antique furniture. founders@convictional.com and we can talk more offline.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#33

Post by hef19898 »

rogerkirkness wrote: post #17
swalsh wrote: post #12

I think as trade tensions increase with China, there is going to be a huge market opportunity for people in the US to start overtaking some of that business that AliBaba currently owns. As a US based solution, you guys are tapping into a real opportunity here. Good luck. * Quick idea, you guys should buy a warehouse, stick it in the middle of Odgan Kansas, and charge suppliers to store their stuff there, than ship it…

It's funny you say that because some of the largest distributors in the world are basically what we have + a 3PL facility attached to it. Our hope is to partner with distributors who do the physical stuff and provide better software, which so far is working pretty well. We would be really out of our depth on the physical side of things at this point. Shopify just waded into their own 3PLs though which is interesting.…

Wasn't aware of the Shopify thing. I'm currently venturing into the physical things, which is one of few things actually good at anyway. So maybe we can have a chat one day? I'm based in Germany, so probably no immediate synergies, but I could imagine that customers might be interested in a combined solution of your tech and an carrier-independant party running daily operations.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#34

Post by rogerkirkness »

hef19898 wrote: post #33
rogerkirkness wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny you say that because some of the largest distributors in the world are basically what we have + a 3PL facility attached to it. Our hope is to partner with distributors who do the physical stuff and provide better software, which so far is working pretty well. We would be really out of our depth on the physical side of things at this point. Shopify just waded into their own 3PLs though which is interesting.…

Wasn't aware of the Shopify thing. I'm currently venturing into the physical things, which is one of few things actually good at anyway. So maybe we can have a chat one day? I'm based in Germany, so probably no immediate synergies, but I could imagine that customers might be interested in a combined solution of your tech and an carrier-independant party running daily operations.

Totally, roger@convictional.com if you want to continue the conversation.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#35

Post by rogerkirkness »

hef19898 wrote: post #31
lammalamma25 wrote: post #26

What's your relationship with carriers? I spent a bit of time with "Large E-commerce company" We would have 3rd party sellers not delivering on time (or sometimes not delivering at all). They would claim FedEx/UPS was late or FedEx/UPS would claim it was on time but the 3rd party shipped with a different account than "Large E-commerce Company." It was a big headache for the people ensuring delivery and bad customer e…

Ah, sounds familiar! We didn't use carriers managed by the dropshipping supplier but rather in-house managed ones. Helped but made edge cases not covered by existing in-house solutions a real pain. I like what I see so far from Convictional. But one thing that puzzles me with similar start-ups is the disregard for actual operations. Has nothing to do with Convictional so. But since I see that as an opportunity I put…

I agree with this. I don't think it's a software only problem, and we ran business units like this before we got into the software side. The operations side is harder (generally speaking) it's more that the enablement tech that exists isn't working for current sellers. That's partly on us to fix, and partly endemic to small sellers not having B2B sophistication. So solving the problem also requires solving the physical logistics problems and education gaps that exist. So far we're just focused on the software and to a lesser extent education. There are really good operators out there that we're trying to partner with, who tend to be weaker at the tech.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#37

Post by technotarek »

rogerkirkness wrote: post #32
technotarek wrote: post #30

OPs: I feel like we might have some synergies if you extrapolate a bit out from what our product does on its surface. I can't put my finger on it exactly though. See the How can I list my shop question at https://attic.city/owners .

Yeah Attic sounds interesting and relevant. In general we're a platform and vertical agnostics enablement solution that doesn't suck, and so it's possible we could help you integrate directly with the sellers of the antique furniture. founders@convictional.com and we can talk more offline.

Will do. We're already "integrated" with nearly 1000 stores in 13 markets with upwards of 300,000 indexed products. Currently just a B2C focus though. I think there's another possible angle here.

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#39

Post by hef19898 »

rogerkirkness wrote: post #3
windsurfer wrote: post #2

Drop shipping has been the bane of my online shopping experience. Products are often not as advertised and returns can be a huge hassle, so it has become a word I avoid. How do you plan to raise confidence for consumers in this practice?

We actually agree with this, we saw that inside Shopify. Bigger retailers are getting smarter about this and enforcing vendor SLAs. Meaning requirements like: 1. Accurate product listings 2. 3. No manual steps, only automated / integrated 4. Easy returns, funded by sellers 5. Sellers based in the same country Drop ship can range from very small and generally not very durable online retailers to massive and very sophi…

True for Amazon. There are cases, after some really hard internal fighting, of Prime enabled Dropshippers, meaning you even see the "order in x minutes for next day delivery" message. So it is definitely doable, hard work but doable. And every tech improvement to make that easier is very welcome!

Re: Launch HN: Convictional (YC W19) – Supplier Network for Retailers

#40

Post by ChrisGrouchy »

tjscott wrote: post #38

The name is interesting. The connotations for me are of either something in the justice system, or something oddly religious. I’d never have guessed that it was b2b related. What’s the story behind it?

Before Amazon was named Amazon, one of the original ideas for its name was Relentless.com (btw, the domain relentless.com still redirects to amazon.com). We liked the word "conviction" and what it represents. Conviction.com wasn't available, but convictional.com was available. So we bought it.
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