Exclusive: Instant checkout company bags $3.5M

TAGS Commerce, an instant checkout company, raised $3.5 million in a pre-seed round to help it scale its technology so that it can work with large brands, CEO Daniel Abas tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Online shoppers abandon shopping carts on retailers’ websites at a 75.7% rate, according to a Coresight Research survey.

What's happening: The fundraise brings TAGS Commerce out of stealth mode.

• Investors were XRC Labs, Gaingels, Not Boring and Tiny Capital.
• TAGS' customers include the L.A. Lakers, Foot Locker, Parade and Young & Reckless.

How it works: The company enables consumers to instantly check out online or off through a buy button that can be placed anywhere.

• When a buyer activates a Tag, a pre-loaded shopping cart appears offering one-click functionality.
• The process eliminates several purchasing steps and isn’t found only at the tail end of an online shopping experience.
• These tags can also be used at physical locations as well, such as on magazines or brochures.
• They can even be linked on social media, podcasts and other types of conversational commerce.
• “TAGS sees the world as the store instead of trying to get the world to your store,” Abas says.

Of note: The functionality allows retailers to generate organic traffic and conversions without the need to spend on advertising.

• The company sees an average 64% order conversion at its checkout, reducing abandonment trends.

What’s next: TAGS plans to partner with brands to refine its own products, and focus on more e-commerce integrations, such as with big commerce and commerce cloud.

• Already integrated with Shopify, it is working on doing so with Magento, the open-source e-commerce platform, Abas says.
• He also hopes to introduce new activation methods and support various media formats.
• Eventually, it will introduce a "speak to buy" functionality in its road map ahead, Abas says.