Since its founding in 2018, Buynomics has evolved from a promising start-up to a leading company in the field of revenue growth management (RGM) - a management principle for increasing sales and earnings with the help of appropriate measures. With an AI-based system, the company already supports global market leaders in areas such as efficient pricing and the optimization of sales and product portfolios. By accurately simulating the behavior of potential buyers, companies can make data-driven, customer-focused, faster and more profitable business decisions. As a result, they can improve their market position in real time across multiple channels.
In an interview with Buynomics, we take a look behind the scenes of this success story. Co-founder Dr. Sebastian Baier explains what makes the technology so special and how companies can benefit from it. We also talk about the company's plans for the future.
Your innovation brings promising advantages for companies. Can you briefly explain how your system works and how it benefits your customers?
Our solution revolutionizes revenue growth management by simulating real customer decisions based on state-of-the-art technology. Using our virtual shoppers, we create digital twins of real consumers. They react to price changes, promotions or product adjustments in exactly the same way as real shoppers in the marketplace. This enables our clients in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), retail and telecommunications industries to make data-driven business decisions quickly and reliably. This typically results in 3 to 6 percent more profit and up to 80 percent time savings in the decision-making process.
From startup to international player - which milestones have been particularly formative for the development of Buynomics and what are you most proud of today?
The development of our virtual shopper AI to create digital twins was a formative milestone. This was a true paradigm shift in the RGM industry compared to traditional or backward-looking methods. While other solutions have tended to be descriptive, Buynomics predicts how customers will behave - and what specifically needs to be done to achieve optimal results. Other key moments have been the acquisition of high-profile clients such as Unilever, Danone and Vodafone, which quickly gave us international credibility. We are particularly proud of the fact that in just a few years we have acquired customers in more than 20 countries, almost all of them remotely. Our solution has established itself as a global pioneer in data-driven price and range optimization.
What makes North Rhine-Westphalia such an attractive location for your company - and what role does NRW play in your future growth strategy?
We have found outstanding talent in Cologne and the surrounding area. We especially appreciate the open and international culture in NRW. It makes it easy to attract employees from abroad, who quickly feel at home here. The airport and rail infrastructure is generally good, although there are problems with punctuality and frequency. Further modernization measures, e.g. in the areas of transport, availability of reliable childcare or security, would further strengthen NRW as an attractive location for innovative and young companies.
What are Buynomics' plans for the future and what are your next steps in terms of international expansion?
Our vision is to become the central decision-making platform, the "commercial operating system", for companies in the consumer goods, retail and telecommunications sectors. To achieve this, we are continuously expanding our solution. Among other things, we are developing additional functionality in areas such as trade promotion management, market research and price monitoring. In the U.S., we are building an additional team to be closer to our customers and to better capitalize on the large local potential. In Asia, we are focusing on business development across the Asia-Pacific region to expand our presence in the fast-growing local markets. We are also tapping into new sectors such as automotive, electronics and software. The next big step is to expand our go-to-market team to bring our innovations to potential companies around the world. And second, we want to integrate our solution more deeply into our customers' workflows.
You have already been part of the NRW pavilion at the Mobile World Congress several times – how did the cooperation with NRW.Global Business support you and how did you benefit from the event?
The cooperation with NRW.Global Business, both during the preparations and at the Mobile World Congress itself, has always worked smoothly and to our complete satisfaction. The opportunity to be present at the world's leading trade fair for telecommunications has paid off for us in terms of brand visibility as well as concrete customer acquisition. We would love to come back!
What are the reasons why you would recommend other companies to participate in an NRW pavilion organized by NRW.Global Business?
The NRW.Global Business pavilion offers us the ideal platform to represent our brand in the best possible way at one of the largest trade fairs in the world. The combination of introductions to relevant partners and the exchange with companies in similar growth phases makes the offer particularly attractive.