Got 30 minutes to kill before that L'Atelier reservation? QueQ could offer up a curated list of suggestions based on your past activities.
The startup, which launched in 2015 as an electronic queuing system, is betting its work with Google AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning experts will raise its activity suggestion algorithm to startup stardom.
QueQ was devised as an application allowing users to skip lines at banks and overcrowded restaurants at malls by enabling consumers to using the app to pick a queue ticket.
The startup has grown 1,000% since last year and enrolled more than 650,000 users. The firm has also signed up most restaurants and department stores in greater Bangkok.
But chief executive Rungsun Promprasith says that was only the beginning.
"The real money is in making targeted suggestions for nearby products and services to users while they wait; making suggestions when consumers are in a store and looking to spend," he says.
QueQ is betting on a market that is still beyond the web's reach -- impulse purchases.
It wants consumers to trust it to tell them how to spend their spare dollars and time. Have 15 minutes? How about walking to the first floor and getting that iced green tea latte you'll probably like -- a suggestion based on your payment history, membership cards, demographic characteristics and physical location.
The web gives consumers a wealth of neatly-organised information, which encourages them to stop, ponder and compare before entering their credit card information -- giving them plenty of time to reconsider their purchase.
In impulse purchases, physical retail is still king. According to a study conducted by creditcard.com, 84% of American consumers claimed to shop impulsively. Of that total, 80% said they made most of their impulsive purchases in stores. Only 6% of buyers made the majority of their purchases via smartphone, and 13% did so on a computer.
QueQ was one of nine Asian startups recently picked by Google for its Launchpad programme. Participating startups will benefit from simulation and prototyping tools, as well as access to top Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firms, on top of leading experts in AI. Past participants of the programme have included Wongnai and Skootar.
"Startups chosen for the programme will benefit from Google's technology, but also have something to give back to the tech giant," says Mr Rungsun. "Like Google, our strength is data. Our business model, however, allows something that until now Google has found tough to crack -- the ability to track consumer behaviour inside of stores.
Mr Rungsun is an engineer by training, having racked up two computer science degrees -- "I am 100% Thai-educated" before going into business.
He started his career as a web developer at a dotcom back when taxi drivers were handing out free stock tips. After the bubble burst, he opted to take his job security into his own hands.
"I decided to build my own software house and asked my boss to tag along. I technically became his boss, but it wasn't awkward at all. I was looking to build a more horizontal organisation where everyone could contribute on an equal footing," says Mr Rungsun.
Mr Rungsun pitches his business model at a Google round table. His company, QueQ, is one of nine Asian startups recently picked by Google for the Launchpad programme.
While the Bangkok-based company worked across industries, projects were hard to come by. The company was dissolved, giving way to a new one called QueQ.
"Seven years in, we started looking for a model that would provide us with a constant revenue stream. Entrepreneurs like to say winning ideas pop into their heads one afternoon on the couch, but QueQ was the fruit of months of studying business models and potential markets," he says.
The company's target segment is high-density cities, so there is not much market for the application upcountry, which has forced them to look abroad for the next stage.
QueQ is looking for a US$1 million (33.3 million baht) investment on a valuation of $8 million.
"We will use the money to expand to Korea and Japan. We had not originally intended to enter the American market, but many mentors have asked us to deploy the app in select US cities, so that's on the table as well," says Mr Rungsun. "We have been bootstrapping, but it has been by choice. We had been unwilling to accept VC funding because of the restrictions that come with it."
He says venture capital is not easy to come by, which is part of the reason the Thai startup ecosystem has remained underdeveloped. "Thailand is not Silicon Valley."
Thai VC firms are much more risk averse than their Bay Area counterparts, he says. They want firms with proven business models, even if they will only turn out a modest profit. They are also sceptical of the Thai market, and prefer to invest in countries with large consumer bases like Indonesia.
"Silicon Valley, by contrast, will invest in 10 promising companies, knowing that nine may fail, but one could be the jackpot," says Mr Rungsun.
Thai firms are especially suspicious of companies that, like QueQ, require hardware, since it's expensive and may represent a barrier to adoption.
This refers to QueQ's quaint printing machines used by participating partners such as retail stores or restaurants to integrate customers who might not have the QueQ app into a single line with those who do. In a way, everyone gets a QueQ ticket -- some a printed one, others through their phones, says Mr Rungsun.
"Describing it as expensive is not quite accurate in our case. You go to practically any department store in Bangkok and you will see our logo at the front desk. Our hardware is our advertisement, which allows us to channel more money product development," he says.
"Queuing is not our main thing, however, it's merely an entry point. Our closest competitors are actually services like Wongnai and Easy Table in Hong Kong. The bulk of our business will come from suggesting things for people to do in their spare time near commercial centres," he says.
QueQ is one of a growing number of startups trying to integrate its online and physical channels into a seamless buying experience.
Online buying has given customers more choices than ever and more information about the products they buy. Instagram, Facebook and Amazon have helped develop a more dynamic retail environment, one in which previously loyal consumers can drift from product to product.
As marketing paradigms shift, there is huge potential for multichannel applications that integrate these new models into traditional shopping centres. For example, there is increasing demand for pickup or exchange services in physical outlets for online purchases, and for placing kiosks that mirror the online shopping experience in brick and mortar stores.
Nike has been integrating digital kiosks into its flagship stores since 2015. These kiosks allow issuers to check for product availability in stores, to pay through their smartphones and to customise their shoes in a virtual reality platform. A complimentary smartphone app guides customers through the store and makes sharing on social media more intuitive.
QueQ will make these recommendations through the location and purchase history information it collects from the app and from the stores it works with.
"We don't integrate a native payment app. Consumers can use any platform they prefer, whether that be Alipay, a credit card, etc," says Mr Rungsun. "Our main revenue stream will come from transactions made through the app. We will offer targeted coupons to consumers to encourage them to use our platform. Then we will take a small cut of whatever transaction they make on QueQ."
He also says the company is contemplating sponsored suggestion results as a revenue stream.
"But 'paid for' results will remain strictly separate from actual search results to maintain the credibility of the service," says Mr Rungsun. "We can tell what department store you are in and how long you've been there. Plus we keep a history of that data to give you suggestions."
In-store tracking is an industry of its own. It can help marketers in a raft of ways, including sending targeted discounts and arranging stores more efficiently. According to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers, almost 40% of shoppers said they would buy more if they received alerts from the stores they like.
QueQ might not be the first indoor tracking system, or the first service to make suggestions based on past behaviour. But its efforts to seamlessly integrate them into the impulse purchase market is picking up steam in Silicon Valley.
