Wayfair Buys Trumpit In Third Acquisition To Boost Customer Engagement
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Move Adds photo and video messaging to its mobile app
Mobile messaging app Trumpit has been acquired by Wayfair in an effort to expand the online furniture retailer's customer service options on its own mobile app. The move means that photo and video messaging will be added to Wayfair’s mobile app, an important expansion of their current customer service options. With the present app, users can only email or call the company via the “Contact Us” section of the app.
The acquisition not only gives Wayfair access to Trumpit’s intellectual property but brings seven new employees as part of the deal, including co-founders Bill Gianoukos, Carl Nehme and Nick Lizotte, and gives them the right to hire more Trumpit staff. And while the technology is a nice asset, Tech Crunch asserts that Wayfair was more interested in acquiring the talent than the tech.
“Bill and his team at Trumpit have developed valuable mobile technology and expertise that is core to Wayfair’s overall product strategy,” said Ed Macri, Wayfair CMO, in a statement. “We are excited to welcome the very talented engineers and product leads from Trumpit to join Wayfair’s fast-paced, entrepreneurial workplace as we work together on breaking new ground in mobile innovation. Mobile is a key driver of our rapid growth and ongoing success as we continue to raise the bar on customer experience,” he added.
Macri acknowledged that they have “tremendous knowledge and experience that will help us accelerate out mobile and messaging roadmaps,” as well as video- and photo-based messaging technology.
“As we continue to build out our customer service experience, we will leverage this technology to greatly enhance communications between our customer service and sales teams and our customers,” a company spokesperson told Tech Crunch. “This could range from helping in sales to helping customers who may have a problem with an order. We will be able to share visuals – photos and video – quickly and easily between customers and our service reps,” they noted.
It also is Wayfair's third acquisition, following the company's 2013 acquisition of DwellStudio and its 2015 acquihire of CustomMade. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal also comes just as Wayfair is ramping up investments to push innovation across the company, according to Bostinno.