Addressing the growth of e-commerce storefronts often requires considering alternatives to expensive technology. However, sellers often overlook the more cost-effective and efficient options that already exist in their technology stack.
Krepling, an e-commerce platform, is one solution designed for mid-market sellers who want more control over their tools and workflows. According to predictions, e-commerce sales will reach $8.1 trillion by 2026. New platforms like Krepling simplify the process of growing your online business.
Krepling is a no-code platform for merchants to help build and maintain increasingly complex ecosystems across the technology stack.
The company works with more than 600 merchants in more than 35 countries around the world. These companies can choose the integrations they want without any coding experience, making the process seamless.
Founded in 2020, the software developer employs a team of 10 people to run the company, which was co-founded by Liam Gelada and his brother Travis. They launched a retail startup about four years ago, which eventually led him to found Krepling.
“Throughout that journey, we discovered that e-commerce has evolved into more than just selling through a website. Today, e-commerce is something that merchants themselves have created, and it is a process that spans the entire web. We find that they often involve complex payment flows leveraging a number of different integration services and automation,” Liam told E-Commerce Times.
The Gelada brothers built the technology entirely in-house. This could evolve into a move towards open source as it leverages a more or less modular stack. But for now, he noted, it's completely proprietary software.
Meet vendor expansion needs
Gerada said merchants are expanding their technology stacks to optimize costs to reach more consumers across different channels such as email and SMS. The two brothers realized that the current e-commerce landscape did not offer or encourage the level of flexibility merchants needed.
Often the basics were missing. In some cases, automated marketing or the ability to retrieve abandoned carts was simply more than an online system could handle.
“We find that e-commerce integration is often tightly tied to individual e-commerce services, which is a challenge for engineers who don't have a focus or don't want to build a multi-year roadmap. It presents unique challenges for sellers and individuals,” he explained.
This typically represents 90% of the mid-market category. The brothers tackled this integration problem by building a no-code response to this problem into their platform. This approach allows merchants to take advantage of all of their best tools and integrations to transform the consumer buying experience from across the web into a rich one, he added.
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Gerada said current data shows that vendors are far less willing to pay for integrated solutions that range from $10 to more than $15,000 per month.
In today's economic climate, merchants do not want to migrate. They are concerned about the risk of downtime and disruption to their existing technology stack. The cost associated with other headless platform options is also a major barrier.
That's where Krepling comes in.
“There was very little friction. Distributors recognize the need to move quickly in this environment. Sometimes reducing costs can be as simple as looking into the technology stack,” he says. said.
Marketing plans empower mid-market sellers
Gelada's marketing plan is not focused on relocating sellers. Instead, the company simply offers solutions that give consumers control over the data and integration they deliver.
This approach is key to making the Krepling platform more innovative. This is achieved by cultivating an experience built for the middle market.
For example, most mid-market merchants are looking to expand their infrastructure, integrate different services, open multiple stores, and improve access to data.
Current tools aren't flexible enough to provide sellers with that level of maintenance, Gerada argued.
Standalone tools like Shopify and WooCommerce already exist and are great for getting started, offering uncomplicated and easy-to-use tools. However, he noted that as retailers begin to expand, they begin to use broader technology stacks.
Krepling's unique selling point is that it allows sellers to develop multiple storefronts under the same account. It also provides access to data across the entire e-commerce stack.
“This gives you complete visibility into data across your entire technology stack, from email and payments integration to marketing integration automation, and eliminates the need for separate data silos,” says Gerada.
Data integration method is important
All your data is organized into one centralized platform, giving you a holistic overview of your data and technology stack. Therefore, sellers can deploy workflows to target specific categories.
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For example, a seller's online store may attract visitors from regions such as Turkey or North America, or visitors who are interested in purchasing a particular product category. Krepling's no-code structure allows sellers to create workflows to target those consumers, aggregate graphics, and receive data points to make it more streamlined without hiring developers or coders. . they can do it themselves.
“That's essentially what sets us apart and separates us from other headless or developer-centric platforms. It gives you complete control and functionality to build scalable and highly beautiful e-commerce experiences,” he said.
Increase franchisee expansion goals
Typically, merchants partnering with Krepling expect to expand their infrastructure within six to 12 months. In addition to their expansion, they have a specific purpose.
- globalization of business
- Launch in a new country while adapting your store to local preferences such as payment practices and customer behavior
- Add channels, payment methods, integrations, and stores
“Essentially, most merchants are focused on what they consider to be the next level of business in e-commerce. For them, that means more expensive e-commerce,” Gerada said. .
They face marketing pressure from system providers who are trying to move away from their current service provider and instead build custom systems and hire developers, all of which comes at a cost.
Krepling's solution offers merchants an alternative approach.
The platform allows you to create multiple dedicated channels for additional payment options and supports data deployment across 6 to 12 stores. Merchants can achieve this without migrating, overhauling their technology stack, or hiring other developers.
“We are a toolkit that sits at the top of the stack, so we enable merchants to add things to their technology stack like launching new countries, adding new purchase channels, adding payment methods, adding stores, etc. “By doing so, you can take your business to the next level,” he said.
Overcoming data isolation
According to Gerada, existing processes often don't work effectively within a seller's e-commerce stack. Even though he had a large system in place, he found that these various components often operated in silos and lacked proper communication.
These systems lack the components needed to track and use data. This issue is one of the main reasons the brothers founded Krepling in direct response to merchants and what they envision as the next level of business on a global scale.
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Midmarket vendors are in the process of adding channels and improving their product offerings by fully integrating business expansion experiences. How the customer achieves these goals is up to the customer.
You can choose a standalone system or let Krepling help you with everything from building a front-end store, integrations to manage your merchant payments stack, or plugging selected components into your existing stack.
Rethinking your e-commerce technology stack
Gerada often observes that new customers, especially mid-market vendors with existing e-commerce stacks, initially take an intermediate approach. But most long-term sellers, he notes, eventually transition to using Krepling's comprehensive full suite of products.
“They're usually already using an existing system. Plugging into that is much friendlier than having to remigrate or replatform,” he suggested.
Outside of technical challenges, Gelada believes most sellers don't realize that they need to rethink their technology stack rather than re-migrate. Most sellers entering the mid-market category find themselves faced with a decision.
Much of the challenge his company faces when consulting with potential new clients is hearing how they perceive their needs. Some vendors are having a hard time understanding that building an e-commerce machine doesn't require re-platforming to rethink growth and strategic advancement.
“As the market becomes more competitive and e-commerce becomes more crowded, we believe the need for the solutions provided by Krepling to bridge the gap in building a broader stack will become increasingly apparent.” Gerada says Mr.
