Many companies don't have a clear mission statement, which weakens their product offering. Pitch like "we're like Uber but in location-you-name-it" is not something customers want to see.
When we first heard of Image Recognition for retail for the first time, we knew nothing about the market and competition. We've spoken with the guys from Poland and couldn't understand how their solution worked. Then we started gathering information on Trax, Planorama, and other players and couldn't believe that people in the loop had been deeply rooted in the solution. It hasn't been working practically without someone doing the final check in the background.
And the price has been extremely high! The minimal project cost to the customer has grown to 20 000 USD per month.
Out of curiosity, I checked Trax's pricing, which was active some years ago, and I understood why it's getting so expensive. A few years ago(I don't have a to-date price list), Trax has been charging 30K per integration and 10K per data migration. So a typical setup cost could be 50 000 USD. The price per photo depends on the "complexity" of the category: beer and beverages have been easy. However, some types could add up to 90% per photo price. Language other than English adds up to 50% per photo price. Plus, you should have been paying a license fee for the platform.
Compare it with our pricing: fixed cost per setup - 5000 - 10 000 USD and price per visit that starts from 0.19 USD. All categories are good for us. Any language is available. Integration - fixed cost or nothing (if the customer is using some competitor). Application and dashboards - free of charge if you use IR. Real-time Image Recognition.
So I would need to choose just one line to describe our mission, then it would be "Make Image Recognition affordable!".
PS With no hidden costs and add-ons.
