merx

I’m thrilled to announce that merx has successfully raised a £1M pre-seed funding round, led by the incredible team at VentureFriends, with participation from Ascension! 🚀 At merx, we're on a mission to empower brands to engage directly and personally with customers through WhatsApp and other conversational channels. When Mo and I started Merx, we saw a fundamental shift taking place in digital commerce. None of the existing, one-way, marketing channels are fit for an AI-first world, the way consumers engage with brands is changing rapidly, and brands need a platform to manage new, AI-first channels across the entirety of their journey. We are now enabling some of the biggest brands in the world to amplify their brand on conversational commerce, engaging more meaningfully with their customers. And we are just getting started. This investment will advance our development of AI systems that expand the way brands engage with their customers, and fuel our expansion. Huge thanks to Apostolos Apostolakis, Fivos Tsoukatos at VentureFriends, Toyosi Ogedengbe (Ascension), Loyal VC and the team at Antler, who’ve supported us from day one. A heartfelt thank you to our amazing team, our early supporters, and all partners who believed in our vision from the start. Want to learn more about how we're shaping the future of conversational commerce? Visit us at hellomerx.com or feel free to DM me directly. Stay tuned for more updates—this is just the beginning! #CustomerEngagement #AI #ConversationalCommerce #WhatsApp

We're thrilled to welcome Jessica Cole as the newest advisor at merx! Jess brings an exceptional background, having led transformative initiatives in Own Brand and Masterbrand strategy at Asda, international growth and customer strategy at Selfridges, and advised many of the world’s leading Retailers on customer strategy and digital propositions. Her expertise in data-driven customer engagement and passion for cutting-edge, customer-centric solutions align perfectly with merx's mission. Our team is incredibly excited to collaborate with Jessica, whose distinguished experience underscores her unique insight into retail innovation. This wealth of retail and strategy experience makes her the perfect addition to our team as we continue to push the boundaries of conversational commerce. Welcome aboard, Jess!

Meta just announced HUGE changes to their WhatsApp API pricing 🚨 📲 Service (inbound) conversations will be free from November 2024! 📲 Utility messages (i.e. delivery updates, outbound) will be free from April 2025 📲 Template pricing replaces conversation pricing (key for marketing) At merx, we believe this is a bold step from Meta to make WhatsApp even more competitive. As much as we like to say that the 2-way conversation nature of WhatsApp can't be directly compared to email or SMS, we see our clients needing to build a business case vs old channels. For Service, the conversation shifts from price to CX. Why would you ask customers to send an email, or log in to a website to ask a question? For updates (Utility), WhatsApp has become the cheapest channel with the highest open rates. For Marketing, comparing Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) vs email and SMS becomes easier. Our bet? the changes in service and utility pricing will significantly increase WhatsApp ROAS. We believe that if a customer receives value from a brand that sends them updates and support on WhatsApp, they will be considerably more engaged when receiving marketing messages (e.g. Product launch announcements).

Not too long ago I was a Consumer Goods consultant talking with my clients about the latest The FMCG Guys podcast. So it was a real highlight to be a guest on the podcast and have a conversation with Daniel Torres Dwyer about what we are building at merx. 👉 Listen in here: https://lnkd.in/efyz9J-C 🚩 We cover: - My background in Accenture working with FMCG companies - Starting merx, a Conversational Commerce company and getting backing from Antler - What a customer journey looks like on WhatsApp - Benefits and recommendations of use for FMCG Brands - The future of brand engagement with consumers Let me know what you think!

Unlocking Conversational Commerce with WhatsApp and GenAI with merx's Pietro Cammerini 🗣️✨💬 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/d4UTKEEz Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dY32ym8S Brands are becoming more and more obsessed with understanding with their consumers, but how can they effectively engage in a two-way dialog?WhatsApp, With 97% open and 70% engagement rates and 150 Billion daily messages, could well be the untapped channel for that. Combine that with AI, and it can be a solution deployed at scale. Tune in to learn about: - Pietro’s background in Accenture working with FMCG companies - Starting a Conversational Commerce company and getting backing from Antler, one of the world’s top Venture Capital firms - What a customer journey looks like on WhatsApp - Different use cases across the full marketing funnel - Benefits and recommendations of use for FMCG Brands

📣 "𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞... 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨-𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬"  Find out WHY this is such a huge opportunity for brands, and the game-changing AI-powered conversational commerce solution you need to know about - you can catch up on all of this in our recent conversation with Pietro Cammerini  - CEO and Founder of Merx. Sign up here - https://lnkd.in/ecNRBaMT - and the interview will land right in your inbox!  #SpillTheTea #AIsolutions #ecommercemarketing

Our Spill The Tea email series goes live this morning, and we are delighted to speak to Pietro Cammerini, Co-founder and CEO of merx- a brand doing great things for e-commerce 🙌 We chat to Pietro about highs and lows on his way to CEO, where he has found inspiration, what is coming around the corner for conversational commerce, and some pretty hard-hitting questions about tea and biscuits (obviously). If you're not signed up to our monthly interview series, be quick!! Here's the link - https://lnkd.in/ecNRBaMT Thank you Pietro for this brilliant conversation! 💡 Enjoy! #spillthetea #interviewseries #creativemarketing #marketinganddesignagency #exclusiveinterview

merx’s app is now on the Shopify App Store! 🚀 With our new Shopify app, businesses on the world’s largest commerce platform can now seamlessly harness the power of conversational commerce to engage customers directly. https://lnkd.in/etS6EPnJ With merx, you can extend your store on WhatsApp, use tailored AI assistants to engage customers through their shopping journey and sell more with GDPR-compliant Marketing campaigns. Key benefits of the Merx Shopify integration include: - Boosted customer engagement through real-time, personalized conversations on your Shopify store - Increased conversion rates and average order values with smart product recommendations and streamlined checkout - Reduced support costs by automating common customer inquiries and transactions - Valuable data insights to optimize your marketing and merchandising strategies #ecommerce #conversationalcommerce #Shopify #merx

merx’s app is now on the Shopify App Store! 🚀 With our new Shopify app, businesses on the world’s largest commerce platform can now seamlessly harness the power of conversational commerce to engage customers directly. https://lnkd.in/etS6EPnJ With merx, you can extend your store on WhatsApp, use tailored AI assistants to engage customers through their shopping journey and sell more with GDPR-compliant Marketing campaigns. Key benefits of the Merx Shopify integration include: - Boosted customer engagement through real-time, personalized conversations on your Shopify store - Increased conversion rates and average order values with smart product recommendations and streamlined checkout - Reduced support costs by automating common customer inquiries and transactions - Valuable data insights to optimize your marketing and merchandising strategies #ecommerce #conversationalcommerce #Shopify #merx

The Secret to Growing Your Brand's WhatsApp Following 📈 Brands are increasingly recognizing the power of WhatsApp to engage customers directly. But how do you actually grow an active WhatsApp subscriber base from scratch? In our new blog post, we share proven strategies top brands are using to rapidly grow their WhatsApp following: 1. Leverage website widgets and pop-ups to invite visitors to join your WhatsApp channel 2. Extend exclusive WhatsApp-only offers and content to your email list 3. Use QR codes in-store and on packaging to make joining seamless 4. Promote your WhatsApp community on social media like Instagram 5. Run targeted ads that send customers directly to WhatsApp conversations The key is providing real value to build trust and long-term engagement. Check out the full guide to unlock the secrets of WhatsApp commerce success →link in the comments Let me know if you have any other questions! I'm happy to discuss more ways to leverage WhatsApp and merx to grow your brand. #WhatsAppMarketing #WhatsAppCommerce #ConversationalCommerce