Critizr, Europe’s leader in customer interaction management, has today (26th January) announced the acquisition of Dublin-based retail customer experience and messaging start-up ServiceDock.
The deal, completed at the end of December 2020 for an undisclosed sum, will strengthen Critizr’s position within UK and Irish markets, as well as augmenting the capabilities of the Critizr Connection platform with ServiceDock’s advanced instant messaging technology.
The announcement marks an ambitious next step in Critizr’s goal to be the leader in omnichannel experiences for retail, offering powerful solutions that connect conversations between store teams and customers to drive a culture of customer-obsession through the organisation.
Critizr will now integrate ServiceDock into its Critizr Connections platform for the company’s joint client base, with ServiceDock Co-founder Oisin Ryan and Tech Lead Lourenco Ferreira joining the Critizr business as consultants.
Commenting on the news, Aurélien Dubot, Critizr’s VP of Marketing said: ‘Since Critizr was founded, our mission has been to help many of the world’s leading retail brands create stronger, more meaningful and valuable relationships with their customers. The challenge for businesses today is how to keep pace with the rapidly changing array of digital channels people now use to talk to the brands they shop with, as well as the sheer volume of messages they have to manage.
‘Our acquisition of ServiceDock is an exciting next step in providing the best solution on the market for our clients to meet this challenge. ServiceDock’s small but very impressive team has created game-changing social conversation technology which will integrate seamlessly to augment our successful Critizr Connection platform. At a time when our world is becoming increasingly message-centric and the customer journey ever more sophisticated, we’re thrilled to be teaming up with them. They are a company that shares our ethos and commitment to creating simple, effective ways for brands to facilitate real time conversations between local staff and customers, for the best customer experience possible. Together we will drive a dynamic next wave of convenient, interactive and personable store conversations for our clients in the UK and globally’.
- Aurélien Dubot, VP of Marketing, Critizr
ServiceDock was founded in Dublin in 2016 to help retailers and physical stores build stronger relationships with customers, leveraging all the channels people love using – across web, mobile and social messaging. Founded by current CEO Oisin Ryan and Leonardo Correa, the business raised €500,000 of early investment and signed up brands such as Woodie’s, Musgrave and Esquires Coffee to use its messaging app and interface solution.
Oisin Ryan said: ‘When I first met with the Critizr team I was struck by the similarity of our vision in terms of both product offering and the value we could deliver to physical retailers, and we both understand the potential messaging apps like WhatsApp and Google’s Business Messages have to revolutionise physical retail. Our business has successfully onboarded many of the biggest retailers in Ireland onto our platform, which is something we are immensely proud of. When the opportunity arose for us to join forces with Critizr, we jumped at the chance. It gives us the opportunity to bring our store messaging expertise and product knowledge to a greater client base, and to be at the forefront of this movement in a much more meaningful way than we could achieve on our own.’
Critizr Connection is Europe’s leading Customer Interaction Management platform. Founded by Critizr in 2012 and used today by over 80 of Europe’s biggest companies across 27 countries, it is transforming the way businesses interact with their customers, take action, resolve issues and create stronger relationships across multiple channels. 30,000 professionals use Critizr Connection every day to make sure that every customer matters and to support the digital transformation of their businesses.
