BigCommerce makes first acquisition since going public

Barely a year after SaaS eCommerce platform BigCommerce went public, the company has announced details of its first acquisition: a full service data feed management platform called Feedonomics.

Feedonomics provides a massive data feed for mid-market and enterprise merchants. The platform ingests, unifies, enhances, and syncs data back to existing systems.

BigCommerce intends to leverage Feedonomics to expand the number of global marketplace and advertising channels for merchants, and to help merchants increase cross-channel product sales.

BigCommerce CEO Brent Bellm says Feedonomics is, quite simply, a product feed optimisation and syndication solution for eCommerce businesses that want to optimise advertising and sales across ad networks, marketplaces, search engines, and social media sites.

"On average, these channels represent eCommerce merchants' largest non-direct source of sales and one of the largest spending line items," says Bellm.

BigCommerce and Feedonomics will focus on providing a platform for omnichannel selling and maximising return on ad spend.

Feedonomics CEO Shawn Lipman says that the companies have synergy and they are aligned in their visions, culture, and market approach.

"With BigCommerce servicing the critical layer of the eCommerce stack and Feedonomics providing best-in-class technology and service to list products everywhere, merchants of all sizes will be able to take advantage of our true omnichannel eCommerce offerings, to grow their businesses in an increasingly digital-first world.

BigCommerce acquired Feedonomics for US$145 million, of which $80 million was paid in closing, and $32.5 million to be paid at each of the first and second anniversaries of closing or upon the earlier achievement of certain milestones.

BigCommerce was founded in 2009 in Australia. The global company remains strongly connected to its Australian customer base - this year the company worked with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to boost the bank's eCommerce offerings.

Together, the two companies now offer businesses of all sizes to launch and grow their online presence through a website with commerce capabilities and payment solutions, as well as marketing campaigns and social media support.

CBA executive general manager for everyday business banking, James Fowle, said in May: "We're incredibly excited about what our partnership with BigCommerce means for our merchant customers. We've seen a rapid shift online, particularly in the past year, and this partnership will help our business customers more easily establish and expand their online business.

"The partnership means we can support customers from the first design decision all the way to the first sale.