How to get to the investor: a short way through retail
Any startup wants to attract investment. Investments can be obtained in those sectors where there is money. The obvious target is fintech. But he is already spoiled by the attention of startups, and the competition for funding is high. In the last couple of years, startups have become interested in another field - in offline retail. For example, they began to arrange accelerators, such as MEGA Accelerator. From entertainment to customers to optimize logistics - there are many areas where you can apply good ideas. Under the cut, we will describe in more detail the attitude of retail to startups and give tips on how to start working with this industry.
In the period of active development of online commerce, traditional large offline retailers predicted a quick demise. However, this did not happen. This segment continues to attract a significant share of customers, despite the fact that offline does not have the same tools for personalizing and tracking client preferences that are online. Moreover, large Internet sites are entering the offline market. Under these conditions, traditional retailers, such as MEGA, are looking for new technologies that can strengthen their position and return the market share that has gone to new players.
All this is happening against the background of reducing venture capital investments in start-ups for online trading, where the market is no longer just filled with interesting ideas, but has reached the stage of their active competition among themselves. And now these ideas are beginning to gradually migrate to traditional trade and reduce the gap between online and offline purchases.
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In our country, the high interest of retail to startups is quite understandable. Here, against the background of general economic instability, trade feels rather well. Companies of all sizes are on the market, they are more or less stable. And the biggest players have good budgets and a desire to pour them into new technologies.
Accelerator, as a form of interaction with startups, is very suitable for retailers. With him you do not need to inflate your development department and be distracted from current tasks to find new ideas. Retailers get a ready-made collection from which you can take the most promising options, implement pilot projects - and all this in a limited time.
Regular projects in the close framework of large business can develop over the years, but as part of the accelerator they can take off very quickly. A large business by default is not ready for a quick change, and only accelerators can shake it. This is another advantage of the accelerator - if you bring your project just from the street, then it is unlikely to be put on fast rails.
In addition to this, there are many more reasons to participate in retail accelerators:
Each accelerator has its own ideas of what innovations from start-up candidates should be. So, first of all, when looking for an idea, it is most reasonable to study the conditions of participation and analyze which niches in the designated market are already occupied.
By the way, the question of the subject can be viewed from the angle of technology. Which of them are most in demand in online trading or in related market segments? Big data analysis? Personalization of services? Somewhere at the intersection of the technological interests and inquiries of the retail itself is the very idea that will lead you and your team to the accelerator.
When selecting startups in any accelerator, a potential customer always wants a clear business case. The idea, which can give results in 20 years, is unlikely to interest anyone: we need predictions on terms and clearly noticeable advantages (improved KPI, savings, audience involvement, etc.). True, too mundane improvements can be implemented without your team, so retail does not need them. We need to find a balance between the "bright future" and "everyday present."
Another point: large customers tend to value ideas that can be scaled to a foreign market. However, as the illustration above demonstrates, competition in the global market is much tougher.
MEGA Accelerator became the first Russian accelerator in the offline retail segment. So far, it has been held twice - in 2016 and 2017. The first accelerator helped promote several ideas for entertainment in shopping centers. The winner of 2016, the Surfancy project from the SensArt team, will be deployed in MEGA Khimki. The second accelerator MEGA was supported by the well-known company Global Venture Alliance. The organizers focused on the transformation of MEGA shopping centers into a meeting and communication area, organizing new channels of interaction with visitors, as well as back-office automation. The pilot launches of the winners have recently ended, their results can be read in one of the previous blog articles .
Why offline retail
In the period of active development of online commerce, traditional large offline retailers predicted a quick demise. However, this did not happen. This segment continues to attract a significant share of customers, despite the fact that offline does not have the same tools for personalizing and tracking client preferences that are online. Moreover, large Internet sites are entering the offline market. Under these conditions, traditional retailers, such as MEGA, are looking for new technologies that can strengthen their position and return the market share that has gone to new players.
All this is happening against the background of reducing venture capital investments in start-ups for online trading, where the market is no longer just filled with interesting ideas, but has reached the stage of their active competition among themselves. And now these ideas are beginning to gradually migrate to traditional trade and reduce the gap between online and offline purchases.
')
In our country, the high interest of retail to startups is quite understandable. Here, against the background of general economic instability, trade feels rather well. Companies of all sizes are on the market, they are more or less stable. And the biggest players have good budgets and a desire to pour them into new technologies.
Why retail accelerator
Accelerator, as a form of interaction with startups, is very suitable for retailers. With him you do not need to inflate your development department and be distracted from current tasks to find new ideas. Retailers get a ready-made collection from which you can take the most promising options, implement pilot projects - and all this in a limited time.
Regular projects in the close framework of large business can develop over the years, but as part of the accelerator they can take off very quickly. A large business by default is not ready for a quick change, and only accelerators can shake it. This is another advantage of the accelerator - if you bring your project just from the street, then it is unlikely to be put on fast rails.
In addition to this, there are many more reasons to participate in retail accelerators:
- With luck, you will close the financial issue and be able to fully concentrate on the technical part of the startup.
- You will understand what is happening inside a large business. Often, young developers do not have such knowledge, and because of this, their solutions are not in demand “as is”. Inside the accelerator, they will get answers to the main question “Why haven’t we bought our great idea yet?”
- The accelerator provides business tips, including on management techniques and other non-technical aspects of the project. Such a replacement for the missing MBI. For a team that did not have experience in starting a successful business, this is extremely important.
- Accelerator is an aid in marketing a startup itself. Even if the organizer does not become a client of a startup, the whole world will hear about the idea approved by the jury through the industry media.
- If the startup reaches the pilot stage, it will be possible to test it in real conditions - on customers and visitors. This is the best test of the models underlying the business plan.
- You will have the opportunity to share experiences, you can make useful contacts among colleagues. Sometimes you can even get your team of like-minded people right among other accelerator teams. Sometimes the community formed by the accelerator around the project gives rise to new successful ideas.
Search for ideas
Each accelerator has its own ideas of what innovations from start-up candidates should be. So, first of all, when looking for an idea, it is most reasonable to study the conditions of participation and analyze which niches in the designated market are already occupied.
By the way, the question of the subject can be viewed from the angle of technology. Which of them are most in demand in online trading or in related market segments? Big data analysis? Personalization of services? Somewhere at the intersection of the technological interests and inquiries of the retail itself is the very idea that will lead you and your team to the accelerator.
When selecting startups in any accelerator, a potential customer always wants a clear business case. The idea, which can give results in 20 years, is unlikely to interest anyone: we need predictions on terms and clearly noticeable advantages (improved KPI, savings, audience involvement, etc.). True, too mundane improvements can be implemented without your team, so retail does not need them. We need to find a balance between the "bright future" and "everyday present."
Another point: large customers tend to value ideas that can be scaled to a foreign market. However, as the illustration above demonstrates, competition in the global market is much tougher.
A little bit about our accelerator
MEGA Accelerator became the first Russian accelerator in the offline retail segment. So far, it has been held twice - in 2016 and 2017. The first accelerator helped promote several ideas for entertainment in shopping centers. The winner of 2016, the Surfancy project from the SensArt team, will be deployed in MEGA Khimki. The second accelerator MEGA was supported by the well-known company Global Venture Alliance. The organizers focused on the transformation of MEGA shopping centers into a meeting and communication area, organizing new channels of interaction with visitors, as well as back-office automation. The pilot launches of the winners have recently ended, their results can be read in one of the previous blog articles .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/351264/
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