We spoke with BFore co-founder, Abhinav Sharma, about creating an app that helps shoppers research high-value products such as cars and electronics. Abhinav has worked as a product manager at a number of startups in India and is passionate about making the product research journey an easy and joyful activity, like using Bubble's no-code visual web editor.
What problem does your company solve?
Abhinav Sharma: Researching high-value products such as electronics and automobiles can be challenging. Most shoppers feel that they need to research a product before purchasing, which can take upwards to 3 weeks. BFore eases the burden of product research (What model to buy? From where?) by providing the user with personalized, easy-to-consume research insights so that they can make informed buying decisions.
How does your app work?
We are building a high-engagement conversation interface that responds to a user’s input by delivering recommendations for products and nearby stores via chatbots. The chatbots help users articulate their needs in a simple yet personalized way. Their personalized product recommendations can shorten product research journeys from 2 weeks to under 5 minutes.
Tell us a little about your background and how you discovered no-code tools like Bubble.
Before co-founding BFore, I was a product manager at multiple startups in India. As I was looking for ways to build a web application without coding, I found Bubble.
Why did you build your app on Bubble?
Bubble allows our product managers to work directly with the technology, which helps us learn from user interactions so that we can make changes quickly. By democratizing the development process, Bubble has enabled us to go to market in a shorter period of time than what was previously possible. Now, we can focus on improving user experience, including issues related to bugs, servers, and data loss, without investing in a large development team.
What has been your traction or success so far?
We launched an MVP (minimum viable product) on Bubble in April 2019 that focused on two categories: televisions and refrigerators. In the past year, we have validated demand, identified supply, and built two revenue streams. BFore has provided service to more than 14,000 users. This has enabled more than 2,300 unit sales, resulting in more than $1 million in GMV (gross merchandise value).
What are your future plans for your app?
Down the road, we are hoping to provide an even more intuitive experience for our users by including AI-powered natural language chat options on our Bubble app. We want our users’ experience to resemble a real-world interaction, like one that they would have with a salesperson at a store.
About Bubble
Bubble is a leader in the no-code movement. Bubble offers a powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform that allows users to build fully customizable web applications and workflows, ranging from simple prototypes to complex marketplaces, SaaS products, and more. Over 400,000 users are currently building and launching businesses on Bubble - many have gone on to participate in top accelerator programs, such as Y Combinator, and even raise $365M in venture funding. Bubble is more than just a product. We are a strong community of builders and entrepreneurs that are united by the belief that everyone should be able to create technology.
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Do you want your app featured by Bubble? Reach out to us and tell us about your app. In addition to this series, we sometimes select our best apps to showcase on our website.
