Data Enabler Zooz Leverages Data To Drive Revenue

When 90 percent of Chinese customers are abandoning online purchases at the payment phase, that should tell merchants something. But to learn from the data, first they need to see it. Zooz gives them a window into the data so that merchants can apply the facts to improve business results.

“Payments generate considerable amounts of data about the customer journey and transaction results, but merchants generally lack the tools to access and analyze this data,” said Zooz CEO Oren Levy.

“We’re not just an additional payment processor,” Levy said. “We aggregate data from many different sources and process payments through several different processors, so our data is the richest and most unique in the industry.”

For instance, if a merchant had the aforementioned data about Chinese customers, “the company could devise a strategy to encourage more purchases and boost revenues, such as starting to support the popular Chinese e-wallet Alipay,” Levy said.

Zooz pulls data from all of a merchant’s financial solutions and third-party integrations into one central, easily visible portal, which has a number of benefits.

First, it can help detect and avert fraud by making trends easier to spot. Zooz also offers secure data storage and protection for consumer information. The platform is level 1 PCI-compliant, saving merchants the trouble and expense of becoming compliant themselves.

Second, the platform facilitates cross-border eCommerce by supporting multiple payment methods (including e-wallets) and acquirers. It helps optimize transaction acceptance rates by showing which card types or currencies are most likely to be declined.

Third, it’s configurable. Whether they’re merchants, SaaS companies, or service providers, Zooz has the flexibility to scale as the company scales. Levy believes that’s one of the things that sets Zooz apart.

“A lot of companies claim they are data enablers, but many of them are pure data plays with no ability to create actionable data,” Levy said. “In other words, even though a BI solution may provide some insights based on your data, you still have to implement all the improvements on your own.  Our system doesn’t just provide the data and tell you what to do with it; it does it for you.”

PYMNTS caught up with Levy to find out where the idea for Zooz came from and how it’s helping merchants in the real world.

PYMNTS: Can you give the history on the founding and launch of the company?

OL: Ronen Morecki and I founded Zooz in 2010 and launched the company in 2012.  We started with $1.5 million in seed funding, and since then have raised a total of $39.5 million in four investment rounds.

PYMNTS: Why was the company founded? What was the grand idea that sparked it?

OL: When we founded Zooz, we wanted to eliminate the friction of mobile checkout and create a seamless process for users and merchants. We were determined to transform the payments ecosystem. Although our business focus has expanded greatly since then, we remain committed to providing merchants with a seamless, optimized payment process.

PYMNTS: Can you show me some data or proof points on how the company has helped retailers?

OL: Kiwi.com is a flight search engine that provides an intuitive user interface for finding low-cost flights to destinations worldwide. It attracts a wide international audience of travelers, and as such requires the ability to accept payments from users worldwide. After integrating with Zooz, they experienced a 1,269 percent rise in processing volume and a 19 percent increase in conversions. We also helped them to save 45 percent of their transaction costs.

Waves is the world’s leading developer and supplier of software-based audio signal processing tools for the professional, broadcast and consumer electronics markets. Its extensive e-Commerce operations process transactions from studios and audiomasters globally.  We helped them optimize processing fees by 12 percent, increase their conversion rate by 4 percent, and see 11 percenthigher card acceptance rates.

PYMNTS: Can you give me some personnel growth numbers?

OL: We started the company with two employees, and we now have 80.

PYMNTS: What’s the company culture like?

OL: As data-driven as possible.  We are both a startup and a company that sells enterprise software, so our culture is a mix between a cool, upbeat work environment and a very serious and responsible work ethic.  We have all the positive aspects of a young and energetic company, but are also serious about ensuring that our enterprise customers are happy, satisfied and have trust in our system.

PYMNTS: Looking back since founding, what has been the proudest moment for the organization?

OL: When we were a very small company, a luxury fashion brand decided to start working with us.  Having a big retailer put their trust in our technology at such an early point meant the world to us.

PYMNTS: What has been the biggest hurdle? How did the company overcome?

OL: From the beginning, our biggest hurdle involved convincing the large retailers to work with a tech start-up.  However, once mid-sized customers began to use our system and provide validation, it wasn’t long before enterprise customers followed suit.