Unmesh Mayekar, IntouchRewards, Developing and delivering Innovative Technology Solutions

Unmesh, please tell us what Intouch is all about.

Intouch Rewards is focused on developing and delivering innovative technology based solutions to maximize consumer satisfaction. Intouch is easy to implement cloud based solutions, enable selective capture, extraction and transfer of data from various transactional points and delivers it in the form of useful analytics and support applications. Since the proprietary Intouch platform enables data capture without disrupting or changing the existing systems and workflows, and is designed for quick and easy implementation, the solutions have found immediate applicability.

How is Intouch different from other business solutions firms? What are your flagship solutions?

Intouch believes that understanding the needs and pain points of customers is key to delivering customer satisfaction which in turn helps developing lasting relationships with them. Intouch offers a suite of solutions that enable providers to capture and analyze data and gain insights into their business and execute strategies to provide improved offerings to their customer base. Our solutions are easy to implement and easy to use, non intrusive and easy to integrate, flexible and have value driven capabilities. Our solutions are also acceptable to SME’s as well as larger enterprises. Our flagship solution is the IntouchRetail which is all about making the relationship of a retailer with their customers and suppliers more fulfilling. It includes the following offerings, Intouch Monitor which allows you to capture & monitor your store’s transactions on a minute-by-minute basis; Intouch Insights which gives you access to more in-depth and detailed analytics on your store data; Intouch Inventory & Forecasting which gives you the ability to obtain a snapshot of your in store inventory at any time, & track its depletion based upon real time store sales; Intouch Reach-out which gives you the ability to design and execute your own loyalty program and track its success online.

How did the name InTouch come about?

‘Intouch’ in the name refers to the overarching philosophy that attempts to put each user/entity ‘intouch’ with his/her customer’s data in real time. This guiding principal resulted in development of powerful cloud based solutions that would be able to capture, translate and transmit customer related intelligence to the user.

Tell us about your background.

I have over 4 years of experience in running start-ups in the consumer applications industry. I have spent 7 years in Ariba where I was involved in enterprise sourcing, engineering and technology consulting roles. Prior to that, I spent 5 years at AirTouch Cellular(Verizon Wireless) with their R&D Labs. I have a B.E. in electrical engineering from VJTI, Mumbai, an M.S. in computer science from Louisiana Tech and an MBA from Duke University.

Dr. Anant Mahale, my co-founder, used to be the Country Head (India) for i2 Technologies Inc., a global leader in the supply chain management solutions space. He has over 17 years of global experience in the CPG and retail industry sector with over 10 years in leadership roles in consulting and sales in the supply chain management industry. Dr. Mahale has a B.Tech and an M.Tech (IIT, Mumbai), and an M.S. and Ph.D (Princeton University).

Where do you see InTouch five years from now?

We expect Intouch to be a global company with a global customer & employee base and solutions in use across various industry sectors. Our goal is to have at least 1000 installations across India by the end of 2012 and extend the solution footprint to handle the needs across - Retail, Consumer Goods , Distribution and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors. Subsequently our goal will be to penetrate the US and EU markets while continuing to expand within India.

What is InTouch’s revenue model?

Revenue is primarily from sales of the following offerings software license, customization services sales, annual maintenance and usage fees from the customer reach out program.

How big is the team behind Intouch? Are you looking at hiring?

Anant Mahale and I are the founders and our current team size is 8.We have on board 2 directors, 2 members on the advisory board, 2 employees in the business development and sales departments and 2 employees in the development department. Yes – we are looking to hire talent in the following areas implementation & customer support, business Development Sales and in the technical development section.

How has the journey been so far? Let us know about your expansion plans.

The journey so far has been good. Within the SME sector, Intouch currently has 4 customers live, 4 ongoing implementations and 5 more in the pipeline. In addition, Intouch has been independently approached by 5 large enterprises – each requiring between 200 to 300 instances of the Intouch solution. These large scale roll-out programs are currently being detailed out and are expected to run from July 2011 through mid 2012. Our goal is to have at least 1000 installations across India by the end of 2012 and extend the solution footprint to handle the needs across - Retail, Consumer Goods , Distribution and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors. Subsequently our goal will be to penetrate the US and EU markets while continuing to expand within India.

We at YourStory.in wish Unmesh and Intouch much success. To know more about this venture and their cloud based solutions, check out http://www.intouchrewards.com/

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