Omniful Raises $5.8 Million to Launch eCommerce Platform

Omniful, an eCommerce/supply chain startup, has reportedly emerged from stealth with $5.85 million in funding.

As TechCrunch reported Tuesday, the startup, based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has created ordering, warehouse management and transportation management systems that let merchants tap into hyperlocal and omnichannel commerce.

Co-founder and CEO Mostafa Abolnasr told the publication that the pain points for most merchants  inspired him and Alankrit Nishad, both of whom have an eCommerce background, to launch the company.

Those pain points include picking and fulfillment time, tracking inventory flows and aligning different sales channels.

“We started out with a vision to rebuild the technologies that are currently used, and will be used in the future for supply chain, hyperlocal omni-channel retail and e-commerce operations. This required us to rethink basically every feature on a first principle basis, absolutely focused on four pillars: speed, accuracy, scale and efficiency,” said Abolnasr.

“We look at it from an impact and pain point release perspective.”

Omniful is launching during what could be a busy few weeks for the eCommerce world. As noted here last week, a number of retailers have revised their holiday sales forecasts upwards after stronger-than-expected figures during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The steep discounts offered on these peak shopping days drew in budget-strained customers, leading to record-breaking online sales and exceeding estimates.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that around two-thirds of American consumers shopped on Black Friday, with 48% of them making their purchases via eCommerce channels, compared to 37% who did so in-store.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke Tuesday with Terry O’Neil, head of connected commerce and strategic growth for Citi Retail Services at Citi, who spoke of the need for merchants to onboard new payment methods and options to address consumer demand as physical and digital channels begin to converge.

“Merchants should not underestimate the power of a payment product in driving loyalty and repeat purchases,” he told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.

And at this moment now, he said consumers — and by extension merchants — want additional pricing optionality and flexibility at the point of sale, and to get more than just the ability to pay with card brands or digital wallets.

Citi’s research, O’Neil added, has shown that 90% of consumers want merchants to offer multiple payment options at checkout.

“Increasingly, he noted there’s value to be had by introducing those options at the top of the funnel, even before the checkout is on hand, so that consumers are incentivized well before they decide whether or not to click buy or tender their cards at the register,” PYMNTS wrote.