Showpad Becomes a Launchpad for AR: The CRM Rising Stars Awards 2018

Showpad, providers of a cloud-based sales enablement platform, in July launched what is being hailed as the first augmented reality application for B2B e-commerce and sales enablement.

The AR capabilities, which are supported through Apple’s ARKit, promise to provide a more immersive buyer experience. With them, salespeople can leverage 3-D models through Showpad’s iOS mobile app to leave lasting impressions with prospects. They can project virtual product displays within the context of the buyers’ actual environments. 

Salespeople tasked with selling large, complex products, such as robotic arms, medical devices, construction equipment, compressors, or other machinery, can showcase products without having to place them in costly brick-and-mortar showrooms.

“Our augmented reality functionality delivers the buyer experience of the future. It’s visual, interactive, and immersive,” says Pieterjan Bouten, CEO and cofounder of Showpad. “We’re empowering salespeople to not only tell buyers about their products, but also to virtually engage with them for a deeper level of understanding. We’re excited to be the first to deliver this functionality to the sales enablement industry and support our customers as they compete in the digital world.”

But this is not the only thing that has set Showpad apart in recent months. The company, which was founded in 2011 and maintains headquarters in Belgium and Chicago, in March launched Shared Spaces, a platform for salespeople to share content with prospects through branded, personalized, and secure web pages. With Shared Spaces, sales teams can build personalized journeys for each buyer, sharing only the content needed for each stage of the buying process and adding content as deals progress. 

Buyers can ask questions directly through the platform, and sales teams can respond either within Shared Spaces or link to additional content if needed. Shared Spaces also provides analytics on content usage, views, interactions, and more. 

And in June, Showpad acquired LearnCore, a provider of sales training and coaching software. The deal enables Showpad to deliver a full platform that leverages data analytics and artificial intelligence to optimize content, deliver content recommendations for sales, and provide personalized training and coaching at scale. 

Vishal Shah, CEO of LearnCore, cited Showpad for its “strong record of product innovation,” noting that it is “clearly executing to become a game-changing company that’s redefining how companies sell and market their products.”