When the shopping malls and high streets of the world reopen their doors after the coronavirus crisis a ‘new normal’ is expected to take hold and retailers will need to connect with shoppers in new ways.
Octaplus, an app launched last year by Malaysia-based Alchemist Codes, aims to connect consumers to retailers and other industries in new ways, using artificial intelligence (AI).
Via a single digital platform, Octaplus enables consumers to get cashback offers, make price comparisons, view and give product reviews, as well as offering the opportunity to contact companies directly via social media style messaging system.
Alchemist Codes is, as of 26 March, wholly owned by AIQ Ltd (LON:AIQ), the first acquisition since it floated as a shell loaded with £4mln of cash.
AIQ chairman Graham Duncan says ‘AI Codes’ is generating revenues from Octaplus and has successfully delivered chat applications to clients in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
WATCH: AIQ Ltd's Graham Duncan details acquisition of Alchemist Codes
Octaplus is an attractive proposition to retailers and other consumer-focused industries as it provides “big analytical data” for companies that need to acquire and retain shoppers who were increasingly shifting towards making purchase via their mobile devices.
By obtaining data in realtime and thanks to the AI capabilities, Octaplus can allow retailers to quickly adapt their offering to changing consumer habits and trends, or in anticipation of those changes, Duncan says, as well as building brand awareness and enabling easy handling of customer issues via the messaging platform.
Al Codes believes Octaplus has the ability to become a market leader in the Malaysian e-commerce space due to early mover advantage, and future plans are to broaden geographically into more of Asia and then via the Asian diaspora to Europe and elsewhere.
Alchemist Codes generated 1.2mln ringgit (£0.2mln) in its last half-year results to 31 October 2019.
Importantly, and incredibly rarely for a tech startup, Alchemist Codes “has been profitable from day one”, says Duncan.
As well as Duncan, a former capital markets director at accountancy firm Mazars and more recently a consultant specialising in London-listed tech firms and Asia-based companies, the board of AIQ includes London-based Harry Chathli and the two Malaysia-based founders Nicholas Soon and Marcus Lee, and has now added Alchemist Codes founder Charles Yong Kai Yee.
With AIQ completing the acquisition of Alchemist Codes in a £2.3mln all-share deal at 17.8p per share more than two years after floating, Duncan says the board was “mindful of not rushing into our first acquisition”.
“We’ve looked at a lot of companies in that period and with Alcodes I think this is the first one that’s really grabbed our attention and we can see the potential and attraction we’ve not seen in others.”
The plans to grow the business are initially focused on expanding the user base among consumers and business-to-business clients.
From Al Code’s R&D program new functionality and features will be added, mainly funded by internal cash flow, says Duncan, but partly from AIQ’s balance sheet, which showed £3.7mln as of its October 2019 year end.
“For Octaplus it’s very much about growing the user base and developing a program of marketing and additional features and then we can see some significant growth,” says Duncan.
“There’s a long way to go but there’s a lot of growth out there and we’re excited by the opportunity.”