What Does BigCommerce Acquiring Feedonomics Mean?

BigCommerce acquired Feedonomics at the end of July 2021. Here's what I think it means having spent a large majority of my career in and around this space:

  • This is one area where Shopify approach has been to build its own integrations to the channels or have its direct channel partners (i.e. Tiktok/Walmart) build integrations.

  • This sector is not hugely profitable, so it could be rolled up. Not necessarily a prediction.

  • The marketing channels (i.e. Walmart etc) are notoriously terrible at integration tech, and you often need some kind of translator technology for a few reasons:

    • Each channel has different marketing & integration requirements so even good data needs to be augmented and improved to be optimal.

    • Brand data is very bad, incomplete, inconsistent, different than what the channel needs, or all of these.

    • Brands need to connect to other systems (ERP and PIM mostly which these vendors can help with) I think ultimately while BigCommerce is primarily SMB today, it is aiming up-market at Enterprise. Shopify is not aiming at Enterprise.

The big questions coming out of this:

  1. Will Feedonomics shut off Shopify integrations?

  2. Will Shopify respond in some way? There are many other providers of this service already integrated to Shopify, they don't need to.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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