GET

Get an accurate view of the market

GO

Go quickly with automations and predictive data

Omni Transformation Assessment

See how you stack up against industry benchmarks with this 5-minute quiz.

Take the assessment →
Sign up for our newsletter | Subscribe →

Learn more about Profitero

We give you powerful visibility into your data and guidance to grow your sales faster.

 

Navigating an evolving eCommerce solution landscape

February 12, 2019
Sandy Skrovan
Written By
Sandy Skrovan

The eCommerce solution landscape continues to evolve at a brisk pace. New solutions are coming on board on what seems like a daily basis. By popular demand, we’ve updated our Developing Your Digital Toolkit guide to capture almost 50 new eCommerce solution providers since we last published in October 2018 — bringing you a total of nearly 250 solutions in this update.

This fresh view of the eComm solutions landscape will help you choose the right partners for your growing eCommerce business. Below is a sample snapshot of our latest Product Content solution landscape map:

eCommerce solution landscape product content

Shifts in the eCommerce solution landscape

There’s also been a substantial amount of consolidation activity in the eCommerce solution space in recent months. Some key developments worth noting:

  • Gladson rebranded as Syndigo, consolidating the 2018 acquisitions of Edgenet, ItemMaster and Webcollage to offer a suite of product content and data solutions.
  • Wunderman Commerce brought together several eCommerce agencies acquired by WPP — 2Sales, Marketplace Ignition, POSSIBLE and Salmon — under a single go-to-market brand.
  • Ascential introduced Edge by Ascential, merging together several recent acquisitions: Brand View, Clavis, OCR and PlanetretailRNG. It also acquired Flywheel Digital, which remains a separate entity under the Flywheel by Ascential banner, for now.
  • iServe rebranded as Pattern and, in October 2018, bought consultancy Practicology.
  • Numerator integrated the companies formerly known as Market Track and Infoscout, bringing together omnichannel marketing, merchandising and sales data.

We think that much of this consolidation is a reflection of growing fatigue with the fragmentation in the marketplace. But, there are also some burning questions on a lot of people’s minds.

What is the implication of all this change?

On one hand, consolidation could make it a lot easier for brands to buy what they need. On the other hand, it could raise some issues. Some questions we hear people asking:

  • “How do incentives and operating models change as companies change ownership or capital structure?”
  • “Do ‘merged’ solutions become easier or more effective to use overnight, or over years?”
  • “Are ‘merged’ solutions truly integrated or is it just packaging? At the end of the day, will I be spending more time navigating separate logins, disparate sets, and separate sales and client teams?”
  • “What best-of-breed capabilities/functions aren’t accessible in the ‘consolidated’ solutions, but might be from point-solution players?”
  • “What cost savings or other efficiencies resulting from the synergistic effects of consolidation will accrue to customers?”

Stay tuned. We’ll keep you posted on additional shake-up in the eCommerce solution landscape. Meanwhile, here are some resources for you to tap:

Profitero Certified Agency Partners

View all posts
Do Not Sell My Personal Information