Uber Co-Founder’s ‘Operator’ Shopping Service

Operator is a new app that is being called a “Request Network,” with the goal of combining the best parts of brick-and-mortar and online shopping. The app uses a network of human “Operators” to fulfill a broad range of commercial requests from customers who want to enjoy an easier online shopping experience while also utilizing the assistance of an expert when making their purchases.

Two years ago, Operator’s CEO, Robin Chan, and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp started to build Operator within Camp’s startup studio Expa, which has raised $50 million from name-brand investors and has also released the restaurant reservation and payment app Reserve. The concept was to meld the biggest themes in technology together, which they saw as mobile, messaging and the on-demand economy. Now, two years later, Chan provided TechCrunch with a detailed look into his startup. The app is currently in private beta, but it will be letting in more users from the waitlist soon, which can be signed up for at operator.com. Chan hasn’t provided specifics about when there will be a public launch, beyond saying, “when it’s ready.”

Chan and Camp realized that “messaging was going to be a very big theme in the age of the Internet,” while thinking that natural language and messaging could potentially take the place of keyword queries entered into search boxes. However, the two felt that messaging hadn’t yet been applied to commerce. This is where the idea for the app began, with the goal to “unlock the 90 percent of commerce that’s not on the Internet.”

A key goal of Operator is to provide an increased level of convenience to consumers. The app aims to offer the convenience of shopping anytime from your phone, while providing a customer with the expert advice that would normally come only from an in-store employee, but without locking the consumer into shopping at a single physical location. Additionally, the app will remove the need for the customer to conduct research into the various options that are available, which they may not be qualified to do or interested in doing themselves.

“E-commerce bifurcates in two ways,” says Chan. “#1. ‘I don’t want to talk to a human being’-commerce, like vending machines. This is the commerce that e-commerce is optimized for. Then there’s #2. ‘I want a lot of service.’ That range of products is quite wide and it doesn’t perfectly fit on the Internet.” Chan explains that this is the reason that they are going after this market.

Chan is the former head of Zynga’s Asia Business Division. He describes Operator as “The switchboard for goods and services.” Chan explains that, “You used to dial ‘0’ and there was a human being on the other end. Why isn’t there an app on your phone where there’s a group of people helping you?”

The company provided TechCrunch with the following official information and screenshots about how Operator works.

1. Operator’s homescreen is an outbox of your requests. To start a new one, you send an instant text message in Operator that you want a new pair of Rayban Club-Master sunglasses, a stuffed lion for a child’s bedroom, or most anything else. You can send photos too if that helps.
2. The request is routed to Operators with expertise on or an affiliation with the right product category, brand, or store. They will research the best thing to buy for you. Rather than computers, Operators are real humans, and you can see their name and face in the message thread.
3. The Operator messages you back with purchase options that you can give feedback on. You can tap in to check out a product in greater detail, with photos from multiple angles, description, and pricing. Once the Operator shows you something that’s right, you hit the “I’ll take it” button and they buy it for you with your credit card on file.
4. Operator sends you receipts in-line, and has the product shipped to you as fast as you need it.

To facilitate this, Operator will partner with retailers. Large stores may use their own employees to respond to Operator requests. For smaller retailers, Operator may provide its own staff who are familiar with the company’s inventory. Chan makes it clear that convenience is only one aspect of the service, with expertise being another key component of the app’s value. “There are many, many things in your life where a human being can give you better service than a bunch of reviews on an e-commerce site,” says Chan.

It’s certainly an interesting concept. Although Operator’s business model isn’t yet clear, it’s easy to imagine the possibility that customers will eventually be charged to use the service. This brings up the big question as to whether or not consumers would be willing to pay for the convenience and expertise that a service such as Operator could provide. Alternatively, there is the possibility that Operator would keep the service free for customers, and would instead utilize other methods for monetization. For example, if the app can reach scale, there could be the potential to charge retailers to use it. Another concept could be for Operator to sell its insights into customer preferences to businesses to provide them with details about who their customers are. Certainly, another possible revenue stream could be sponsored placement, which always has potential when there is search and discovery around commerce. At least at this point, the company says that it’s not going to charge fees to customers or businesses to earn money. The idea is to scale first, and generate revenue later.

Perhaps by combining the simplicity and convenience of messaging with the robust visual aids of mobile shopping, while offering the expertise of a salesperson, Operator has the potential to explode in popularity upon its release. It’s an innovative concept, and it will be very interesting to see whether or not consumers and retailers jump on board.

“I don’t think retail is dead. I think retail needs to find a new equilibrium,” says Chan.

What does it say about today’s customers if this concept is successful?