GoKwik’s Global Expansion: Acquires Shopify App Return Prime
GoKwik, an eCommerce enabler, on Tuesday said it has acquired Return Prime, a global returns management app in the Shopify ecosystem. Founded in 2021, Bengaluru-based Return Prime by Sashwat Swaroop provides a customer return platform for managing returns and converting them into revenue opportunities. Brands use the platform to automate return logistics, refunds and replacements, among others.
The acquisition marks GoKwik’s entry into international markets of UK, Europe, and the US. With online shopping continuing to grow, especially post-COVID-19, return management has been the key differentiator for merchants. In this regard, with this acquisition, GoKwik had positioned itself at the forefront of this trend, since their solution would improve both the customer experience and bump up revenues for the merchants globally while helping them increase the CLTV. Building in India for the world comes innate in our DNA.
Now, with D2C booming, leading-class payments systems, fast-changing digital infrastructure, and more people shopping online than ever, we have an incredible advantage. Operating in such a heterogeneous market where every day there’s a unique perspective on how shoppers’ function and what they want, the learning curve that we’ve experienced has geared us to not only help brands in India but scale that knowledge down for solution-making globally,” said Chirag Taneja, GoKwik’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
Shopify is among the topmost e-commerce platforms in the world, with more than $1 trillion lifetime GMV processed and an authoritative presence in the US, UK, Australia, and 170 countries with millions of merchants. Further, by acquiring Return Prime, GoKwik strives to add yet another layer to its suite of solutions tailor-made for eCommerce brands.
Taneja said, “Over the last three years, we have grown our product offerings to tackle the challenges at their core-all with a common theme of driving more GMV for our merchants. The Return Prime acquisition is a big step in that direction, opening the whole Shopify ecosystem to our solutions. We are very excited about this new chapter and what we can now do to support eCommerce brands across the world, using everything we’ve learned on the way.” Return Prime currently houses about 6000 Shopify brands across more than 50 countries.
With the acquisition, GoKwik plans to onboard 10,000 new merchants in the next 6 to 12 months by leveraging Return Prime’s technology and existing relationships to tap into new markets. This strategic push is estimated to increase revenue manifold, GoKwik forecasts its overall business to grow 3 times by the end of this year and 10X in the next three years.
Shashwat Swaroop, Co-Founder, Return Prime said, “At Return Prime, we have enabled eCommerce brands in the Shopify ecosystem to turn returns into revenue by streamlining and optimizing the returns process.
With GoKwik’s large capability set, we believe this is a great opportunity to shape our solution to the next level, add deeper layers of innovation, and help brands further increase their revenue streams. With a common zeal to build solutions that solve the entire gamut of eCommerce, we look forward to creating new avenues for eCommerce brands across countries to thrive”.
Its entry into international markets also comes at a time when globally, the eCommerce landscape is abuzz with action. Key Shopify players like Klaviyo, that went public last year in the US have proved incredible businesses are being built globally for a secularly growing eCommerce. GoKwik uses best-in-class data, technology, and AI/ML capabilities to solve merchant problems by predicting customer intent. These, put together with the returns management competence of Return Prime, further the suite of solutions that GoKwik has been offering to meet the fast-evolving needs of the merchants.