PRESS RELEASE
B2C Partners Recommends Online Storefront “Catalysts” for Small Businesses
Kingston, Mass. – October 15, 2008 – B2C Partners (www.b2cpartners.com), a firm that helps online retailers with technology evaluation and vendor selection, today released a new list of eCommerce platforms that won’t break the bank. Designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking for a new eCommerce technology, the list of more than 50 providers is based on B2C Partners’ extensive industry experience helping retailers with technology evaluation and selection.
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GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) is buying another competitor. Innotrac (NASDAQ: INOC) will bring GSI 30 new clients and additional capacity for outsourced fulfillment and call center services. GSI is paying $52 million for the deal, after which it will boast nearly 5 million square feet of warehouse space and more than 2,000 seats in its call centers. In a similar deal, GSI acquired Accretive Commerce last year.
Mercado Software may be hanging by a thread. Reports from two separate sources today indicate that the company has run out of cash, and dismissed much of its staff — paring down to a skeleton crew to support existing clients. Mercardo president, Corey Leibow, denied the report, but only before hanging up the phone with a terse response, “It’s not true. That’s all I can say right now. Bye.”
The news gives further support to our assessment that a shakeout of the ecommerce platform market is now underway. [click to continue…]
WEBINAR: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23.
Retailers love growing store traffic and improving the brand experience, but mobile devices are rarely part of the equation. Present-day cell phones aren’t ready for mobile checkout — but they CAN be used by in-store consumers as an effective “kiosk on the hip.” In this webinar, Bill Mirabito of B2C Partners will share how mobile technology can help retailers drive cross-channel sales this holiday season. [click to continue…]
Mark Pierce, chief financial officer for MarketLive since May, has replaced Terry Austin as chief executive officer. Mr. Pierce brings to his new role a 15 year background in ecommerce. He held earlier positions at Pinnacle Rock Associates (acquired by Fry, Inc.), Proctor & Gamble, Accenture and USWeb/CKS.
The action is sure to be welcome among clients. It is a good step toward more sure footing in the market. With the change, MarketLive is softening its decision to end support of versions 3 and 4. [click to continue…]
On Tuesday, August 12, another ecommerce platform vendor will announce it is being acquired. This one, among the crews. More details are forthcoming after Tuesday’s announcement.
B2C Partners believes announcements like this will become more common in today’s economy. The market is saturated with providers targeting the enterprise. Few are profitable, even among the good guys. When operating capital becomes harder for vendors to find, finding a suitor may be the only option.
What does that mean for retail clients? Of course, that depends on what survives the aftermath. Generally speaking, hold on to your wallets. When GSI Commerce acquired Accretive Commerce last year, users faced more integration costs to switch toolsets.
B2C Partners recommends retailers review service agreements to ensure they survive future M&A activity. Ongoing support should continue until the client’s original investment has fully depreciated, or for one year beyond the merger/acquisition activity, whichever is later.
SEO takes work. It’s both an art and a science. When you finally achieve prominent page rank for great keywords, it’s essential to maintain that position long-term. But what if your URLs aren’t portable? What if you can’t take that page rank with you, when you switch technology providers?
Consider the case of Demandware clients, many who accept the URL generated by default. Retailers like Barneys New York, House of Fraser, Bare Escentuals, Sanrio, and Playmobil have their storefront URLs stuffed with non-essential elements, including the Demandware brand. Here are some examples: [click to continue…]
