IR RESEARCH

INTERNET
R E TA I L E R
the global leader in ecommerce data

Ranking, data and analysis of the

top ecommerce technology providers.

Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand

INTRODUCTION
A growing number of retailers are seeing the RETAILER SURVEY
benefits of utilizing the services of a vendor NEW TECHNOLOGY: IN HOUSE VS. VENDOR
rather than handling every facet of their When implementing a new technology, do you typically
ecommerce operation themselves. use a vendor or try to build the technology in house?

In fact, 66.0% of Internet Retailer’s 2019 Top 1000

retailers use a vendor to power their ecommerce
In house
platform, compared with 34.0% who manage all,
or at least some, of their platform management 35%
in house; 84.2% of Top 1000 retailers use a vendor Vendor
for email marketing, compared with 15.8% that 65%
handle it in house or at least partially in house;
and 79.2% of Top 1000 retailers use a vendor for
personalization services compared with 20.8%
that handle it in house or partially in house. Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

Additionally, 65% of retailers choose to use a

vendor—compared with 35% who selected in
house—when implementing a new technology,
according to Internet Retailer’s 2019 Ecommerce
Technology Survey of 160 retailers conducted in
August 2019.

RETAILER SURVEY

TOP REASONS RETAILERS USE A VENDOR What are your reasons for using a vendor? (Multiple responses allowed)

70% 64% 48% 37% 30% 15% 2%

We don’t have Vendors are We’ve found it We’ve found it is Our employees There is more Other (increased
the expertise specialized in is faster to get a cheaper to use a are too busy accountablity agility, keeping
in house their fields project completed vendor than build with other when we use an pace with newer
when using a vendor from scratch projects outside vendor technology)
Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

2 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 INTRODUCTION
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

RETAILER SURVEY

RETAILER SPENDING PROJECTIONS FOR ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY

Will your spending on ecommerce technology and services increase, decrease or remain the same over the next year?
Remain
the
Increase 81% same 17%

Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019 Decrease 2%
And retailers trust vendors have the expertise marketing to fulfillment—vendors offer a slate
that their own staff don’t to upgrade or of services that can provide retailers with
implement new technology. 70% choose a everything they need to get their ecommerce
vendor because they don’t have in-house operations up and running, or to improve upon
expertise and 64% do so because vendors are outdated practices. Plus, many retailers are
specialized in their field, according to the survey. ready to invest in more technologies. 81% of
(Respondents could select multiple responses). survey respondents said they plan to increase
48% of retailers found it faster to get a project their spending on ecommerce technology and
completed when using a vendor, and 37% said services in the next year to add more services
it is cheaper to use a vendor than build the and technology to their operations. That
technology from scratch in house. suggests the time is ripe for vendors to market
their services to retailers that are ready to
Across nearly every aspect of ecommerce— boost their offerings to keep up with growing
from ecommerce platforms to site design to ecommerce demand.

3 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 INTRODUCTION
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

86% of online merchants plan to increase their improve conversion rate (71%), retain existing
ecommerce technology spending to attract customers (57%), better personalize shopping
new customers, according to the survey, experiences (49%), improve mobile shopping
making it the top response. (Respondents could experience (47%), reach more buyers
select more than one answer.) Other reasons through social media (42%), and enhance
to increase spending include the following: cybersecurity measures (14%).

RETAILER SURVEY

REASONS RETAILERS SPEND ON ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY

What are your main reasons for spending more on ecommerce technology over the next year? (Multiple responses allowed)

Attract new customers

86%
Improve conversion rate
71%
Retain existing customers
57%
Generate more sales from repeat customers
54%
Better personalize shopping experiences
49%
Improve mobile shopping experience
47%
Reach more buyers through social media
42%
Improve desktop and mobile website performance
41%
Generate more traffic and sales through mobile commerce
40%
Support more cross-channel shopping and marketing/merchandising
36%
Increase ticket size
26%
Mobile site development
20%
Enhance cybersecurity measures
14%
Mobile app development
13%
Other (kiosks, operations and fulfillment)
5%
Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

4 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 INTRODUCTION
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

RETAILER SURVEY

CHALLENGES IN UPGRADING ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY

In general, what are the main challenges you face in upgrading your ecommerce technology? (Multiple responses allowed)

47% 36% 32% 17% 13% 11%

Lack of funds Not enough Too many older Too many options Getting management Other
experienced staff systems to integrate to choose from approval
Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

But upgrading technology is not always easy. (32%), too many options to choose from (17%)
The No. 1 challenge for retailers that want to and getting management approval (13%).
upgrade technology is lack of funds, which 47%
of survey respondents selected. Even so, plenty The message is clear: Ecommerce retailers want
of merchants plan to significantly increase their better-performing sites on all devices, to reach
spending: 9% will increase their ecommerce more customers, convert more shoppers to buyers
technology spending more than 50% over the and encourage those shoppers to come back by
next year, while 50% of respondents plan to providing fast shipping and top-tier customer
increase spending 10-25%. service. But checking all those boxes on their own
can seem insurmountable to some. Vendors can
Other challenges to upgrading ecommerce take over some, if not all, of those tasks to deliver a
technology include not enough experienced seamless shopping, shipping and customer service
staff (36%), too many older systems to integrate experience for retailers’ customers.

RETAILER SURVEY

HOW MUCH RETAILERS PLAN TO SPEND ON ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY

How much of an increase in ecommerce technology spending do you anticipate over the next year?

More than
5% or less 5.1%-10% 10.1%-15% 15.1%-25% 25.1%-50% 50%

10% 19% 25% 25% 12% 9%

Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

5 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS HAVE EVOLVED 9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FULFILLMENT MATTERS FOR CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS 15

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 18

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGIES 26

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

KEY 2019 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CONCLUSION 37
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ABOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The author
Internet Retailer Research

CHARTS
New technology: In house vs. vendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Types of technology retailers
want in a new platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Top reasons retailers use a vendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Features retailers look for
Retailer spending projections when selecting a vendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
for ecommerce technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Top 1000 website traffic from email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Reasons retailers spend on
ecommerce technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Top 1000 email marketing characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Challenges in upgrading Top 1000 website traffic from email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
ecommerce technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Top 1000 email marketing characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 30
How much retailers plan to spend
on ecommerce technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Past vendor project evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ecommerce platform plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Past vendor project timeline and budget . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Affiliate Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Order Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Channel Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Payment Security/Fraud Prevention . . . . .74
Content Delivery Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Payment Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Content Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Customer Relationship Management . . . .51 Search Engine Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Customer Reviews & Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Security Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Customer Service Software & Support . . . 53 Shipping Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Ecommerce Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Site Design & Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Email Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Site Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Fulfillment Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Social Media Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fulfillment Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Web Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
International Ecommerce Services . . . . . . .67 Web Hosting/Cloud Services . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Marketing & Advertising Services . . . . . . . .71 Web Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Mobile Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

SPONSORED CONTENT
Pepperjam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Radial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Certona (Kibo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Adobe (Magento) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Kenshoo (Search Engine Marketing) . . . . 84
Mailchimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Pitney Bowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Saddle Creek Logistics Services . . . . . . . . . .62 SLI Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
eShopWorld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Kenshoo (Social Media Marketing) . . . . . . .99

7 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 HOW
ECOMMERCE
PLATFORMS
HAVE
EVOLVED
HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
HAVE EVOLVED
Ecommerce platforms are the most-used vendor RETAILER SURVEY
technology, as 58% of merchants use a vendor to ECOMMERCE PLATFORM PLANS
power their ecommerce sites or apps, according Are you looking to switch
to the August 2019 Internet Retailer Ecommerce ecommerce platforms?
Technology Survey.

But ecommerce platforms don’t look like they

used to. The once-simple tools that serve as
the backbones to retailers’ ecommerce sites are
increasingly extending their reach by integrating
with online marketplaces, offering fulfillment
services and bolstering retailers’ mobile
commerce offerings.

And with good reason: Ecommerce is surging, and

that’s driving shoppers to demand more from
online retailers. In turn, that’s leading merchants
to expect more from their ecommerce platforms. 28% 72%
Yes No
However, only 28% of retailers are looking to Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

switch ecommerce platforms in the coming year.

This is good news for certain vendors since 72% are tenant, software-as-a-service environment, in
content with their current ecommerce platform. which a vendor hosts software used by multiple
clients. Retailers are also looking for internally
But for those looking to switch, respondents developed and internally hosted platforms
have specific technology criteria they’re where the retailer hosts it on its own web server
looking for in a new platform. 33% of retailers (18%); headless commerce in which the front
want commercial software adapted for them end and back end of a commerce platform
and hosted externally in a single-tenant are de-coupled and stand independently of
environment, while 27% are seeking an one another (9%); internally developed and
ecommerce platform that provides a multi- externally hosted in which a retailer develops its

10 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS HAVE EVOLVED
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

RETAILER SURVEY

TYPES OF TECHNOLOGY RETAILERS WANT IN A NEW PLATFORM

What type of technology are you most likely to choose for a new platform? 

4% 33%
Commercial software adapted for
Commercial software us and hosted externally in a
hosted internally single-tenant environment

9%
Headless commerce/
microservices approach

9%
Internally developed
and externally hosted

27%
Multi-tenant SaaS
18% (software as a service),
in which a vendor hosts
Internally developed
and internally hosted software used by multiple clients

Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

own server hosting system but uses a third-party a rapid push to add tools to simplify the process
company’s server to store and host it (9%); and of creating and updating an ecommerce site and
commercial software hosted internally in which rolling out video and 3D-modeling tools to all
a retailer uses services, applications or other merchants, in addition to setting up a network
components from a service provider but keeps it of fulfillment centers throughout the United
all in house (4%). States to help merchants using its ecommerce
platform deliver products more quickly and
Both online retailers and platform vendors for a better price. Plus, ecommerce platforms
intend to benefit from the growing ecommerce are more robust than ever as they seek to help
market by beefing up their offerings. For merchants gain sales and amplify (and simplify)
example, Magento Commerce, which Adobe their business operations.
Systems Inc. bought in June 2018, recently
added Amazon integrations and Google Take Adobe, which is rapidly expanding
Shopping ad tools. Canadian ecommerce Magento’s scope. The ecommerce platform
platform vendor Shopify Inc., meanwhile, is on in May 2019 launched the Magento Amazon

11 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS HAVE EVOLVED
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

Dynamic pricing and

competitor price
comparisons are
among the sales tools
offered by Magento’s
Amazon Sales Channel.

Sales Channel that lets Magento merchants

integrate their product catalogs with Amazon’s
marketplace. This enables merchants to manage
their Amazon listings from their Magento
dashboards. Adobe also recently rolled out
Amazon Sales Channel in Magento for Europe,
further extending its relationship with Amazon,
and allowing brands to more easily manage
and sell products on Amazon’s marketplace;
integration of Magento commerce platform with set prices for their products on the site. For
Adobe Stock; and a multi-cloud infrastructure example, it informs merchants when their prices
service with Microsoft. are within 5% of the average price on Amazon.
That information then prompts a merchant to
The integration is a natural fit for Magento, given offer other incentives to stand out, such as free
that 60% of retailers that use its platform also shipping, he says.
sell on Amazon, says Jason Woosley, Adobe’s
vice president of commerce product and A merchant can also tie the pricing feature to
platform. To use the feature, merchants add its inventory. For example, a retailer can use
Amazon as a sales channel from their Magento the tool to set a trigger to increase its price on
administrative page, then select which products Amazon by 5% if it has fewer than five SKUs of
they want to list on the marketplace. The feature a particular item in stock. A seller can also set
includes a pricing module that helps retailers product prices to adjust to the current price

12 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS HAVE EVOLVED
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

30%
listed in the Amazon Buy Box, or adjust to the Sales growth for hula
lowest competitor price for an item without hoop accessories retailer
sacrificing set margins. Hoopologie after it
implemented Magento’s
Moreover, building a connection with Amazon’s Amazon Sales Channel
marketplace can generate other benefits. The
new feature leverages the massive trove of
information included in Amazon listings by
allowing Magento merchants to sync those
product details into their Magento catalogs.
For example, if a merchant sells a video game
console but its Magento catalog listing doesn’t
include the release date, the Amazon Sales
Channel can import that data from the Amazon
page and add it to the merchant’s product
information on its own ecommerce site.

Hoopologie, a supplier of hula hoop tubing and

accessories, in September 2018 became one
of the first retailers to use the Amazon Sales
Channel in Magento to sell on Amazon. Because
Hoopologie didn’t sell on Amazon prior to the
Magento integration, the ecommerce platform
helped the retailer directly manage its inventory
on Amazon. Magento also delivered competitor
reporting on pricing to help the merchant ensure
its products are priced competitively on the
marketplace, says Melinda Rider, Hoopologie’s
founder. After implementing Amazon Sales
Channel, Hoopologie’s sales grew 30% as
Amazon helped the retailer extend its reach
through a new channel with a wider audience
than its existing customer base, Hoopologie says.

Z Natural Foods is another retailer using the

new Amazon integration from Magento. While

13 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 HOW ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS HAVE EVOLVED
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

the retailer sold products on Amazon prior to

using Magento’s Amazon Sales Channel, the
integration eliminated the need for the retailer to
rely on two separate teams to manage its listings
across Amazon, its ecommerce site and other
The Magento PWA
channels, says Jon Parker, the retailer’s director. studio integrates
That helped Z Natural Foods cut up to 70% of with PayPal-owned
Braintree, allowing
the management time it required in the past to
merchants to accept
run its own site and its Amazon Seller Central debit and credit card
account separately. transactions.

Adobe in May also added Google advertising

tools to Magento. The Google Shopping Ads
Channel for Magento Commerce integrates
with Google Merchant Center and Google Ads
so merchants can manage their Google Ad
campaigns from their Magento accounts.

Merchants can create a Google Merchant Center

account through Magento, then automatically
claim and verify their website, set up shipping
and tax rules, and conform their Magento
catalogs to Google’s requirements. In the Google who to target and which ad creative to show.
Shopping Ads Channel, merchants fill out the Merchants can also track the performance of their
product attributes Google needs to create ads— campaigns within Google Shopping Ads Channel.
for example, color, size and product category.
Magento then adapts the merchant’s product Adobe also added payment acceptance
data to adhere to Google’s standards. It then capabilities to the Magento PWA Studio. The
sends the data to the Google Merchant Center. progressive web app studio, announced in
October 2018, helps merchants and developers
Through the Magento administrative dashboard, create progressive web apps. A PWA is a set of
retailers can also create Google Smart Shopping design and technology standards that offer the
campaigns that allow them to set a daily budget look and feel of an app, but in a mobile website.
and let Google optimize the campaign for the Now, the PWA studio integrates with PayPal-
highest conversions by automatically choosing owned Braintree for merchants to accept debit
which products to advertise, how much to bid, and credit card transactions.

14 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
FULFILLMENT
MATTERS FOR
CUSTOMER
EXPECTATIONS
FULFILLMENT MATTERS
FOR CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
It’s not just Magento making moves to broaden up a network of fulfillment centers in the U.S. to
its appeal to online merchants. Shopify also has help merchants using its ecommerce platform
been busy lately, announcing a series of steps to deliver products to shoppers more quickly and
help online merchants compete in the cutthroat cheaply and better compete with Amazon. A
retail landscape. In June, it announced plans to Shopify spokeswoman says the company has
spend $1 billion over the next five years to set negotiated low rates with warehouses and
shipping companies for its merchant
customers.

The response has exceeded the vendor’s

expectations with “thousands” of
merchants expressing a desire to be a
part of Shopify’s early-access program,
Shopify chief operating officer Amy
Shapero said on Shopify’s second quarter
earnings call on Aug. 1, 2019.

Shopify plans to spend $1 billion over

the next five years to set up a network
of fulfillment centers in the U.S.

16 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 FULFILLMENT MATTERS FOR CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

820,000
The Shopify Fulfillment Network is a
geographically dispersed network of
fulfillment centers that uses machine learning
to weigh a number of factors, including Global number of retailers using the
the closest fulfillment centers and optimal Shopify ecommerce platform
inventory quantities per location to ensure
fast, low-cost delivery, Shopify wrote in a blog
post announcing the network. Shopify built
the network to support multiple channels:
retailers’ ecommerce sites and apps, physical
stores, as well as sales that take place on
Instagram, eBay and Amazon. It will also
support returns and exchanges, Shopify says.

37 retailers in the Internet Retailer Top 1000

use Shopify as their ecommerce platform
provider. Plus, the vendor works with more
than 820,000 merchants in 175 countries
and the Shopify Fulfillment Network aims to
provide the “best shipping and fulfillment
rates” for its merchants, says a company
spokeswoman. This may lead it to rethink the
typical fulfillment approach by leveraging
the vast number of merchants it works with
to combine packages from various Shopify
merchants to lower shipping fees for both
consumers and merchants. Storing items
from different merchants in warehouses
also could provide Shopify with another
revenue stream.

Shopify is working with logistics firms to offer

the service to merchants of all sizes shipping
from warehouses in seven states: Nevada,
California, Texas, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio
and Pennsylvania.

17 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING
AUTOMATION
WITH
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
MARKETING AUTOMATION
WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence-based marketing tools are “AI isn’t a product in of itself; it’s a technology
not one-size-fits-all. While some retailers take that’s embedded in existing capabilities,”
a hands-off approach that lets the algorithm he says.
do the heavy lifting, others prefer to use the
technology’s insights to help inform their And selecting the right vendor with the right
human-based marketing decisions. That reflects offerings can be a challenge. Retailers have a
the nature of the technology, says Joe Stanhope, specific criteria they look for when selecting a
vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. vendor for a specific technology, according to

RETAILER SURVEY

FEATURES RETAILERS LOOK FOR WHEN SELECTING A VENDOR

What are the main things you look for when choosing which vendor to work with (Multiple responses allowed)
Responsive team
64%
Technology that is easy to implement and use
54%
Great references
53%
Works well with my other technology systems
52%
Low price
31%
Ability to stop service when wanted without incurring a fee
31%
Willing to negotiate on fee structure
31%
Free trial period
29%
Guaranteed response times if something goes wrong
29%
A package that offers many features in one system
27%
Willing to negotiate on contract terms
27%
Short contract terms
17%
Other
3%
Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

19 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

88%
Portion of marketers who
have adopted AI or are in the
planning stages of doing so
Source: Forrester Research Inc.

the 2019 Ecommerce Technology Survey. 64% of Adore Me partly attributes a 15% year-over-year
retailer respondents want a responsive team, 54% revenue jump to Optimove-driven campaigns
want a technology that’s easy to implement and in its first year of use in 2016. That email sales
use, 53% want to use a vendor’s technology that growth has in part helped the retailer reach an
will work well with their other technology systems, Internet Retailer-estimated $117.5 million last
31% want a low price and 27% want a package that year, up from $42.9 million in 2015, the year
offers many features in one system. (Respondents before it began using the technology.
could select more than one response.)
Adore Me is hardly alone in adopting AI-powered
Lingerie retailer Adore Me handed over the marketing tools into its marketing strategy;
reins to its email marketing campaigns to 88% of marketers have adopted AI or are in
digital marketing vendor Optimove’s artificial the planning stages of it, up from 43% in 2016,
intelligence-powered algorithm about four according to a 2019 Forrester Research Inc.
years ago. The algorithm combines the lingerie survey commissioned by marketing platform
retailer’s shopper history and website behavioral Albert.ai. There’s good reason for the rapid
data, as well as its product data to determine the adoption: It works. 58% of marketers said AI-
emails it sends to various groups of shoppers. powered marketing tools are more effective at
For example, if a consumer adds a product to analyzing and leveraging data than their prior
her shopping cart but doesn’t check out, the techniques; 50% reported AI-powered tools
algorithm draws on the behavioral patterns drove more effective marketing campaigns than
of the retailer’s customer base to determine non-AI-powered tools; and 42% said such tools
whether she’s more likely to buy after receiving increased their return on marketing spend.
an email that directs her to a similar product at a (Respondents could select more than one
lower price or with a coupon code. response.)

20 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

In addition to sales, Adore Me’s AI-powered

campaigns have produced a number of other
benefits. For example, Optimove’s technology
is behind Adore Me’s onboarding quiz. The quiz
asks the shoppers seven different questions
to find the style of bra and underwear that
best matches her personality and preferences.
Questions range from her preferred bra style
for everyday wear to her preferred type of bra
padding. The quiz tallies those results and
displays a “showroom” for the shopper featuring
appropriately sized bras, underwear, swimsuits
and loungewear that best match her answers.

The retailer requires a shopper to provide

her email address to access the showroom.
By identifying the shopper and means of
communicating with her, Adore Me can then
send her personalized marketing messages
tailored to her preferences.

“It’s low maintenance for us,” says Nicolas

Capuono, Adore Me’s vice president of customer
engagement.

Optimove’s predictive customer modeling

tools use customer data to build models of the
types of customers that visit its site and helps
retailers target shoppers who will likely make a
purchase, as well as identify additional products
the customer might buy. That technology
enables Adore Me to finely target shoppers with Shoppers who complete Adore Me’s onboarding quiz can
access a personalized showroom and sign up for a lingerie
emails based on their customer personas. The box tailored to their style preferences.
more narrowly tailored the persona, the more
Adore Me believes it knows about the shopper,
Capuono says.

21 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

‘Customer engagement is happening in so

many channels so quickly that human beings
alone can’t do it manually anymore.’
—Joe Stanhope, vice president and principal analyst, Forrester Research

Adore Me identified 60 unique customer That type of tailored approach would be nearly
personas in 2017, one year into the program. impossible for a human to maintain. However,
That specificity helped it boost its average order AI not only makes it possible, it creates a better
value 22%, as well as helped spur a 2.3 times experience for consumers, says Forrester’s
growth in the number of repeat customers from Stanhope.
2017 to January 2019. Adore Me continues to
refine its approach and now has about 170 “Customer engagement is happening in so many
personas that it markets to on a monthly basis, channels so quickly that human beings alone
the retailer says, but declined to provide more can’t do it manually anymore or with standard
recent results. rules because there’s so much data,” Stanhope
says. “You need AI or automation to help make
The technology has helped the retailer better sense of this level of complexity.”
understand its customer base by making
educated guesses as to what prevented Women’s fitness apparel retailer Sweaty Betty
shoppers who only placed one order from also uses Optimove to power its marketing
returning, Capuono says. For example, the campaigns. But the apparel retailer takes a more
shopper may have been turned off by an item’s hands-on approach, preferring to dig deep into
price or color. “We capture a phenomenal the data. Roughly 18 months ago, the 20-year-
amount of data that we are able to use to find old U.K.-based retailer found itself struggling
out why now,” he says. “Based on that, we tailor to reach online shoppers because it lacked the
our message to them.” ability to follow consumers’ paths to purchase
or the best way to communicate with them, says
That message might be a coupon code or a Emma Crepeau, the store-based retailer’s vice
15-minute chat with an Adore Me stylist to better president of performance marketing.
match her to a product. “Artificial intelligence is
an asset,” Capuono says, noting that it helps the After it began working with Optimove at the end
retailer determine what attributes matter to a of 2018, Sweaty Betty gained insights into its
particular type of customer. data, including how individual customers shop

22 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

on its site, as well as the ability to control all of its

marketing—via email, direct mail and social—from
the marketing vendor’s platform. “We can see
what channels are driving performance,” she says.
That enables it to efficiently target consumers.

The retailer leverages the AI-based technology

for its data analysis and to better understand
its customers. Plus, it tells Sweaty Betty what
to do to drive more shoppers to its website, the
best channel to reach them and when to reach
them, she says, without revealing more. Sweaty
Betty used Optimove to launch 1,500 marketing
campaigns across all of its channels in the first
quarter of 2019. The retailer would have been
unable to scale its marketing efforts without it,
Crepeau says.

“The platform is only as good as the data,” she Insights from the Optimove platform led Sweaty Betty
says. That was a lesson Sweaty Betty learned to highlight its power leggings in ads on Facebook and
Instagram because a significant share of consumers buy the
early on because it wasn’t using its customer data leggings after seeing them on those social media sites.
in the beginning to inform marketing decisions.

Since the integration, Sweaty Betty has “The platform enables us to see which products
doubled the size of its customer relationship on which channel are great for recruitment and
management team—but did not disclose how repeat rate,” she says. For example, because
large the team was prior to the integration—to a significant share of consumers buy Sweaty
better leverage the Optimove platform’s insights. Betty’s power leggings after seeing them in
The data-driven approach led Sweaty Betty to Facebook and Instagram posts, the retailer
switch gears with its marketing spend. In 2016, regularly highlights those leggings in its ads on
the retailer spent about 80% of its marketing those Facebook Inc.-owned platforms, she says.
budget on direct mail and catalog. Now, after
realizing it could generate a lot more revenue “We looked at repeat rate by month from
via social media, 60% of its marketing budget is recruitment rate and identified clear trends,”
spent on social media, with the remaining 40% Crepeau says. For example, it’s found that a large
split between email and direct mail. share of consumers who made a purchase in

23 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

‘There’s a fine balance, we make sure we keep in

touch and not assume the data is correct’
—Emma Crepeau, vice president of performance marketing, Sweaty Betty

January 2017 also made a purchase in January Before it began using data platform company
2018 and January 2019. Those insights have AgilOne, Tumi’s brand marketing and
helped it model its expected monthly sales, as performance marketing data lived in distinct
well as helped it look for ways to recruit those silos and its revenue was declining. But AgilOne
customers in other months. helped it streamline and understand the data its
site was generating.
“We know how much it costs to retain a
customer and how many returning customers In 2017, the first year it began using AgilOne,
are coming to the website,” she says. “With a Tumi sent 40 million fewer emails and still
specific sales target in mind, we now know how earned more revenue from them. “We’re sending
many customers we need to recruit and how less email and making more money,” says
much it costs to acquire those and that ties into Charlie Cole, Tumi’s chief digital officer.
our marketing budget.”
Tumi uses the technology from AgilOne to help it
Because of the change in marketing mix and understand customers better and how to target
data transparency, Sweaty Betty drove a 40% specific customers looking for specific things
year-over-year improvement in conversion rate. rather than sending a mass marketing message
And its cost per acquisition fell by 75%. to everyone. For example, if it wants to send
an email about women’s backpacks, with the
“We’ve grown by leaps and bounds in terms of mountain of data that AgilOne pulls from, Tumi
what we’re doing with artificial intelligence,” can send an email to female customers who have
Crepeau says. Even so, it’s careful not to taken a specific action on the site. Additionally,
abandon the human element. “There’s a fine it has used these AI-powered targeted emails
balance, we make sure we keep in touch and not to drive more customers into its stores as well,
assume the data is correct,” Crepeau says. which is important as its stores generate about
20% of overall revenue, Cole says.
Like Sweaty Betty, luggage retailer Tumi
leverages AI-based technology to help it better “We already knew who the customer was from
understand how consumers arrived at, and however they accessed us, be it from email,
navigated, its ecommerce site. visiting the website or coming from social media,”

24 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 MARKETING AUTOMATION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

Cole says. “Now, we are doing a much better job

connecting people to the in-store purchase.”

The retailer leverages AgilOne to track logged-in

consumers’ browsing behaviors, as well as their
path to purchase. That data helps Tumi send

‘The AI is
more targeted, personalized emails.

completely
“The AI is completely hands off,” Cole says.
“We don’t do anything.” Tumi relies on the

hands off.
“expertise” of the machine-learning technology,
but it still takes time to analyze things from the

We don’t do
back-end every now and then to ensure that the
data the AI is pulling from is accurate.

Tumi’s next step is to apply the data it’s collected anything.’

to customer service. When a shopper calls in,
—Charlie Cole,
Tumi has her phone number linked to her email chief digital officer,
and account information. In the future, Tumi Tumi
wants its agents to tap into that information for
product recommendations or making the service
more personalized.

AI provides retailers with a streamlined way to

reach its shoppers and to personalize marketing
campaigns. It may never get to the point of being
fully hands off, but it allows retailers to make
more informed decisions about whom to target,
what kind of message might convert them and
how to keep them coming back.

“If you can use AI to scan, analyze and apply data,

you can craft better experiences because you
understand the customer better and make better
timing and choices about which channel to use to
reach customers,” Forrester’s Stanhope says.

25 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 EMAIL
MARKETING
STRATGIES
EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGIES
Email is still one of the most dependable ways to TOP 1000 WEBSITE 1 TRAFFIC FROM EMAIL
reach a shopper base for many retailers: 83.7% Median share by merchant type
of merchants surveyed for Internet Retailer’s 3%
2019 Digital Marketing Survey use email for their
digital marketing. (The runner-up was social
media advertising at 65.8%.) Therefore, many
2% 2% 2% 2%
retailers find email to still be a lucrative tool.

Perry Ellis International Inc., which operates

a number of ecommerce sites including
CallawayApparel.com, is one of those retailers.
The men’s apparel retailer decided to focus on
email and wanted a simple way to cut through
the clutter of consumers’ inboxes by getting the Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000
right message to the right consumer at the right Call Center Brand
Manufacturer
time. 1. Reflects retailers’ primary URL
Source: Internet Retailer analysis of SimilarWeb traffic data

Of course, that’s easier said than done, says

Linda Sestrick, the retailer’s vice president of If a shopper on CallawayApparel.com looks at
ecommerce and digital marketing. “We try to big-and-tall items but doesn’t make a purchase,
avoid blasting out messages that might be for example, it will place that shopper in
relevant,” she says. “That requires us to search Callaway’s extended sizes affinity group, which
for behavioral signals based on how a shopper is it then uses to power a personalized email
interacting on one of our websites.” marketing program. If the shopper takes another
action, such as adding an item to his shopping
Since 2016, the retailer has worked with retail cart but not completing a purchase, it may send
marketing vendor Bluecore to send triggered an abandoned cart email.
emails after customers take a specific action.
Perry Ellis has plenty of company among retailers The platform uses a combination of testing and
investing in email; 39% of retailers said they artificial intelligence-powered automation to
implemented email marketing technology from determine how and when the retailer sends
a vendor in the last year, according to Internet an email, Sestrick says. Removing the human
Retailer’s 2019 Ecommerce Technology Survey. element helps eliminate the retailer’s biases.

27 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGIES
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

“Not every message resonates with every The retailer’s email marketing success has
shopper,” she says. “That’s why we test different helped it boost its online sales 80.6% in 2017,
messages at different times to see which Internet Retailer estimates. However, the
audience should see which message and which retailer’s online sales decreased 11.0% in 2018,
time.” according to Internet Retailer.

Personalizing the messages a consumer receives Although Perry Ellis isn’t a web-only retailer,
is crucial to driving a shopper to open the email. the web-only retailers in the Top 1000 sent a
Based on a consumer’s actions, the retailer median 167 unique emails in 2018, according to
may send the items the shopper looked at, an Internet Retailer analysis of MailCharts’ email
related items or items in the same category. marketing data from Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2018.

TOP 10001 EMAIL MARKETING NUMBER OF ANNUAL

UNIQUE EMAILS SENT
CHARACTERISTICS 409
Medians by merchant type 262 217
160 167
1. Reflects retailers’ primary brand
Source: Internet Retailer analysis of MailCharts email marketing data
Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000
Call Center Brand
Manufacturer

SUBJECT LINE LENGTH PORTION OF EMAILS

IN CHARACTERS THAT WERE PROMOTIONAL
41 40 42 40 64%
36 55% 50% 52%
37%

Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000 Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000
Call Center Brand Call Center Brand
Manufacturer Manufacturer

PORTION OF EMAILS PORTION OF EMAILS

THAT WERE MOBILE OPTIMIZED THAT WERE ANIMATED
88% 80% 88% 83% 18%
76% 16% 14%
13%
9%

Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000 Catalog/ Consumer Retail Chain Web Only Top 1000
Call Center Brand Call Center Brand
Manufacturer Manufacturer

28 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGIES
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

50% of those emails were promotional, and When breaking down the Top 1000 retailers by
88% of the emails were mobile optimized. Retail category, apparel/accessories retailers, like Perry
chains sent a median of 409 unique emails—64% Ellis, sent 379 unique emails in 2018, according
were promotional and 76% were mobile to Internet Retailer’s analysis of MailCharts’
optimized. Therefore, retail chains are sending email marketing data. 54% were promotional
shoppers emails, in some cases, more than once emails and 80% were mobile optimized.
a day and 144% more emails than web-only
retailers, who are more conservative in how often The retailer is currently testing new personal-
they contact their email lists. ization elements on its site. The AI-powered tool

TOP 1000 WEBSITE 1 TRAFFIC FROM EMAIL

Median share by merchandise category

CATEGORY PORTION OF 2018 TRAFFIC FROM EMAIL

Apparel/Accessories
3%
Automotive Parts/Accessories
2%
Consumer Electronics
1%
Flowers/Gifts
3%
Food/Beverage
3%
Hardware/Home Improvement
2%
Health/Beauty
3%
Housewares/Home Furnishings
2%
Jewelry
2%
Mass Merchant
3%
Office Supplies
2%
Specialty
2%
Sporting Goods
2%
Toys/Hobbies
2%
Top 1000
2%
1. Reflects retailers’ primary URL Source: Internet Retailer analysis of SimilarWeb traffic data

29 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGIES
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

allows Perry Ellis to show shoppers recommend-

ed items on product pages based on similar
items purchased by other consumers.

“We have such a wide portfolio of products,

it doesn’t always make sense just to show
someone looking at a shirt other shirts,”
she says. “Drawing on shoppers’ previous
interactions, they might be interested in shoes,
fragrance or underwear.”

TOP 10001 EMAIL MARKETING CHARACTERISTICS

Medians by merchandise category
PORTION OF EMAILS THAT WERE:
NUMBER OF SUBJECT LINE
ANNUAL UNIQUE LENGTH IN MOBILE
CATEGORY EMAILS SENT CHARACTERS PROMOTIONAL OPTIMIZED ANIMATED
Apparel/Accessories 379 37 54% 80% 23%
Automotive Parts/Accessories 135 41 68% 86% 9%
Consumer Electronics 76 42 45% 85% 11%
Flowers/Gifts 301 41 68% 36% 22%
Food/Beverage 213 44 59% 86% 11%
Hardware/Home Improvement 121 42 65% 80% 8%
Health/Beauty 206 41 54% 85% 19%
Housewares/Home Furnishings 160 40 56% 86% 14%
Jewelry 239 34 39% 81% 17%
Mass Merchant 374 42 56% 77% 7%
Office Supplies 63 42 36% 72% 10%
Specialty 159 44 51% 90% 11%
Sporting Goods 185 42 44% 63% 9%
Toys/Hobbies 169 47 41% 88% 8%
Top 1000 217 40 52% 83% 14%
1. Reflects retailers’ primary brand Source: Internet Retailer analysis of MailCharts email marketing data

30 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 KEY 2019
MERGERS AND
ACQUISITIONS
KEY 2019 MERGERS
AND ACQUISITIONS
Since 81% of survey respondents in Internet the last 15 years, bought site search vendor
Retailer’s 2019 Ecommerce Technology Survey SLI Systems in January 2019. SLI is used by 47
said they plan to increase their spending on retailers in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 1000,
ecommerce technology and services in the including Lenovo Group Ltd. and Rugs Direct,
next year, some retailers may be looking for and ranks No. 5 among site search providers
vendors that offer a full suite of services. Their to the Top 1000.
investment and spending then can be less
spread around as they can get more offerings As part of the deal, Andy Tryba, Think3 founder,
from one vendor that can fulfill multiple became SLI Systems’ CEO. “SLI has a great
needs. In the last year, vendors have been busy history of bringing innovation into the retail
buying each other up to make for more robust search space. Now as a part of the ESW and
companies with more holistic offerings for their Think3 family of companies, we will invest
retailer clients. further in enabling strong search ROI for our
customers and enable them to continue to
For example, ESW Capital, which operates the grow their businesses,” Tryba said. “The added
Think3 portfolio, a $1 billion private equity resources to SLI will enable us to scale, grow
fund that purchases software-as-a-service and increase the speed to which we bring our
companies and has acquired 75 companies over innovations to market.”

75
Companies
acquired
by ESW
Capital,
which operates the
Think3 portfolio, a
$1 billion private equity
fund that purchases
software-as-a-service
companies

32 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 KEY 2019 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

The Handshake
Rep mobile
app, recently
purchased by
Shopify, allows
sales reps to
access their
company’s
product
catalog, check
inventory,
enter orders
for customers
and check
order history
on mobile
devices.

For example, SLI recently launched new filtering, register, allowing store associates to check out
analytics and merchandising tools, including consumers throughout a store.
software that allows merchandisers to boost,
suppress or hide various product attributes Then, in September, Shopify announced plans to
based on shopper behavior, and a tool that buy 6 River Systems Inc., a robotics warehouse
enables retailers to test boosting selected fulfillment vendor, for $450 million.
products to the top of search results or “above
the fold” on a page to promote visibility. 6 River Systems’ cloud-based software and
mobile robot named “Chuck” will be added
Another significant move came in May when to Shopify’s Fulfillment Network and will help
Shopify bought mobile commerce firm Shopify’s warehouse associates with daily
Handshake Corp. for a reported $100 million. tasks, including inventory replenishment,
Founded in 2010 in New York, Handshake picking, sorting and packing. Shopify expects
developed the Handshake Rep mobile app this to increase the speed and reliability of its
that’s designed for sales representatives to warehouse operations and is a “critical step to
access their company’s product catalog, check accelerate its growth,” Shopify says.
inventory, enter orders for customers and
check order history on mobile devices. And that With the 6 River acquisition, Shopify aims to
followed a new point-of-sale hardware Shopify add important talent from the vendor, as two
launched in April that can be detached from the of its executives have previously worked at

33 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 KEY 2019 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

Amazon.com Inc., says Samad Samana, senior In July, performance marketing company Merkle,
vice president at investment banking firm owned by Dentsu Aegis Network, acquired a
Jefferies Group LLC. majority stake in data and analytics company
Ugam for an undisclosed amount.
“The deal gives Shopify the ‘technical know-
how’ as it adds intellectual property to its Co-founder and CEO Sunil Mirani continues to
broader fulfillment ambitions,” says Brian lead Ugam; however, Ugam was renamed to
Peterson, a vice president at investment banking Ugam, a Merkle Company. Mirani will report to
firm Raymond James Financial. Craig Dempster, president of Merkle Americas.
Ugam’s analytics and digital solutions include
6 River was founded by executives who came retail analytics, survey analytics, technology
from Kiva Systems—now Amazon Robotics—and implementation, data engineering and digital
it operates in more than 20 facilities across the product content solutions.
U.S., Canada and Europe. It fulfills orders for
companies including Lockheed Martin Corp. and “Ugam is vital to the execution of Merkle’s
Office Depot Inc. multi-year analytics strategy of creating a ...
shared analytics service across Dentsu Aegis
The deal, poised to close in the fourth quarter, Network,” Dempster said. “With its experienced
is expected to increase Shopify’s expenses by management team, highly educated workforce,
about C$25 million ($19 million) in 2019, with no scale and vertical market expertise, Ugam
material impact on its revenue for the year. will bring high-end analytics capabilities,

6 River Systems’ cloud-based software and mobile robot named “Chuck” will be added to Shopify’s Fulfillment Network and will help
Shopify’s warehouse associates with daily tasks.

34 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 KEY 2019 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

along with a broad spectrum of analytical PromoteIQ’s technology “reaches millions of

decision support.” shoppers daily and powers millions of dollars of
vendor marketing revenue on behalf of some of the
Merkle handles search engine marketing services largest online retailers and brands in the world,”
for 26 retailers in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top PromoteIQ wrote in a blog post announcing the
1000, such as Nordstrom Inc., 1-800-Flowers.com acquisition. “We’ve spent the last few years helping
Inc. and Urban Outfitters Inc. companies build and scale their vendor marketing
programs with strong success, and now we are
In August, Microsoft Corp. bought marketing taking the next step in that journey.”
automation vendor PromoteIQ, which works
with manufacturers and online retailers to place PromoteIQ said it plans to use Microsoft’s size,
sponsored ads for products on ecommerce sites expertise in AI and machine learning and global
of retailers, including Kohl’s Corp., Office Depot footprint to grow its business. Microsoft powers
Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. The service enables the ecommerce platform for five retailers in the
online retailers to earn revenue from ads placed Top 1000.
on their ecommerce sites and advertisers to target
ads at shoppers based on their on-site activity. “We’ll have more plans to share on this front in
the coming months, but we are confident that
PromoteIQ maintained its brand and became this acquisition will accelerate PromoteIQ’s
a division within Microsoft Advertising, Rik van growth and expand Microsoft’s reach and scale
der Kooi, corporate vice president of Microsoft globally,” PromoteIQ writes.
Advertising, wrote in a blog post.

“PromoteIQ’s technology strategically

complements Microsoft’s current retail
advertising offerings, and together, we can
enable retailers with a portfolio of technology
solutions to modernize their ecommerce
platforms and maximize their monetization
opportunity,” he wrote.

PromoteIQ, recently purchased by Microsoft, enables

online retailers to earn revenue from ads placed
on their ecommerce sites and advertisers to target
ads at shoppers based on their on-site activity.

35 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 KEY 2019 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

163
Then, in October, ecommerce platform provider Top 1000 retailers that
Kibo Software Inc. announced it would acquire use Kibo or Monetate for
personalization and testing vendor Monetate for personalization
an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will give Kibo’s customers access

to Monetate’s testing and optimization software,
such as A/B testing, content personalization and
audience building and targeting. The acquisition How Kibo integrates the technologies together
will allow Kibo to provide a “holistic suite of will be key to its success, says Arthur McManus,
solutions” to its clients, said Kibo CEO David Post chief technology officer at ecommerce
in a press release announcing the acquisition. consultancy FitForCommerce, which has worked
with both vendors.
“Through the combination of Certona
and Monetate, we’ve created the leading “The combination of Certona and Monetate at
personalization engine in the market, which will Kibo is the literal definition of doubling down on
enable retailers to make the most of customer personalization, which is now the table stake and
intent-driven data, deliver exceptional content competitive differentiator for brands and retailers
experiences, and measure incrementality to wanting to serve the customer,” McManus says.
optimize customer lifetime value at scale,”
he said. Kibo has more than 600 B2B and retailer
clients that use any of its services, including its
In addition, Monetate’s clients will have access ecommerce platform fulfillment software and
to Kibo’s order managing system, cloud order managing software.
ecommerce software and software from its
previous acquisition of personalization and Kibo itself is a result of several mergers and
search vendor Certona Corp., acquired in acquisitions. Private equity firm Vista Equity
February 2019. Partners formed Kibo when it combined three
companies—MarketLive Inc., Shopatron and
Since the acquisition, Kibo has had the most Fiverun—in January 2016. Vista had acquired
personalization clients in Internet Retailer’s Top ecommerce platform provider MarketLive and
1000 of any other vendor in the Top 1000, with 83 order-fulfillment software firm Shopatron for an
Top 1000 clients totaling $52.46 billion in sales. undisclosed price in late 2015 and then bought
Monetate has 80 Top 1000 retailer clients with mobile point-of-sale vendor Fiverun. Kibo
web sales totaling $39.34 billion, according to acquired personalization provider Baynote Inc.
Internet Retailer. in September 2016.

36 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Given the examples above, it’s clear that vendors their project with a vendor over the last year was
play a key role in the success of many retailers. completed on time and on budget. However,
Whether it’s an increase in conversion rates 30% said their project was completed later than
and sales, more email opens and personalized planned and over budget, 9% said their projects
experiences, or a better fulfillment network, were on time but over budget and another 9%
vendors are providing valuable services and said their project was done later than planned
expertise retailers might otherwise lack in house. but came in under budget. A lucky 3% said their
project finished on time and under budget.
There is still room for improvement, however, as
Internet Retailer’s 2019 Ecommerce Technology Vendors continue to bolster their tools and
Survey found. 61% of retailers said their last features to help online retailers sell more—and
project over the past year with a vendor went as more easily. Retailers who take a critical look at
expected, but 14% said it went poorly overall. the offerings of various ecommerce technology
providers and take advantage of the ones that
Timeliness of a project being delivered and budget make sense for their business stand to gain more
issues could be a factor in retailers’ reasoning for sales by satisfying shoppers’ appetites for easy,
a project going poorly. 36% of respondents said seamless online shopping.

RETAILER SURVEY RETAILER SURVEY

PAST VENDOR PROJECT EVALUATION PAST VENDOR PROJECT TIMELINE AND BUDGET
Thinking of your last project with a vendor over the past Thinking of your last project with a vendor over the past
year, how did it go? year, how did it go in terms of timelines and budget?

No such
project 14% 11%
Went better
than expected
On time and on budget
36%
Later than planned and over budget
30%
14%
Went
poorly
No such project over the past year
13%
overall On time and over budget
9%
61%
Went as
Later than planned and under budget
9%
expected
On time and under budget
3%
Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019 Source: Internet Retailer Ecommerce Technology Survey of 160 retailers in August 2019

38 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Leading Vendor SPONSORED CONTENT

PEPPERJAM
RANK IN 2019

5 74
AFFILIATE TOP 1000
MARKETING RETAIL
CATEGORY CLIENTS

Pepperjam is a performance PRIMARY URL YEAR

1999
marketing technology and LAUNCHED

service provider powering

Pepperjam.com
growth for acquisition

$12.53 BILLION
marketers seeking a scaled TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
CLIENT WEB SALES
alternative to their primary
sales and marketing chan-
nels. Ascend, Pepperjam’s TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY

cloud-based affiliate mar- Web only: 26 Chain: 14 Manufacturer: 25 Catalog/Call Center: 9

keting lifecycle platform,
delivers fully-integrated
partner discovery, recruit-
ment, tracking, payment TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES

and a brand safety and fraud $40M or less: 12 $40-125M: 40 $125-500M: 17 $500M or more: 5
prevention suite, automating
the full affiliate lifecycle and
powering over $1 billion in
gross merchandise sales. KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Away Performance marketing
Marketers using Ascend, technology and services for
Dollar Shave Club brands, partners, influencers
are supported by a com-
Everlane and agencies.
prehensive service team MSC Industrial Supply Pricing: Flexible model in
including an unparalleled Shutterfly including, SaaS, performance,
in-sourcing practice.
WeightWatchers and agency fee structures.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 555 E. North Lane, Suite 5045 Matt Gilbert, CEO
retailers are included. The information on this page is
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from Conshohocken, PA 19428 Tom Szymanik, SVP, Finance
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 877-796-5700 Maura Smith, CMO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with Maura Smith,
Chief Marketing Officer,
Affiliate marketing: the most Pepperjam
efficient and cost-effective
channel marketers can leverage

Affiliate has evolved into a leading channel for customer channel. But still, too many marketing organizations overlook
acquisition and revenue generation. And it plays a critical role the category’s evolution, plagued by legacy perceptions that
throughout the customer-controlled purchase path. To discuss scale is isolated to coupon and cash-back publishers, that tasks
how affiliate serves as the most versatile, efficient and cost- are manual, and attribution data is not available for export
effective channel marketers can leverage, Internet Retailer spoke into a marketers’ single source of truth. While legacy network
with Maura Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at Pepperjam, an models continue to perpetuate those practices, that model is
affiliate marketing technology solutions provider. dead. Marketers who understand this have an advantage over
those who have failed to challenge legacy perceptions.
Why is affiliate marketing the sophisticated
marketers’ secret channel? What are some of the challenges retailers
Sophisticated marketers understand that being omnipresent face with regard to affiliate marketing?
in today’s customer-controlled purchase path is imperative, A lack of education leads to a misinterpretation of the channel’s
but they also know how expensive it is to rely too heavily on opportunities and strengths. All perceived challenges—
primary, pay-for-access channels like paid search and paid including affiliate as a last-click channel, marketers lacking
social. They need a scaled, transparent solution that offers affiliate expertise and the inability to quantify its incremental
the ability to pay for outcomes vs. paying for audience access. contribution to overall revenue—can be remedied by learning
They’re finding that solution with affiliate. The combination about affiliate, and what individual providers offer that best
of scale, new technology automating historically manual aligns with marketers’ needs. Marketers must stop settling for
processes, and a pay-for-performance model are delivering the status quo, allowing historical inertia to stymie strategies
a material subsidy to the cost of pay-for-access channels. that realize the best returns.
It delivers operating leverage in unit economics needed to
maintain growth trajectories without sacrificing profitability. How can they overcome these challenges?
Marketers should revisit their affiliate strategy and ensure
How is affiliate marketing versatile, efficient they’re working with the right partner to help cultivate
and cost-effective? expertise needed to unlock the channel’s potential. They must
Affiliate’s unique versatility is that it encompasses all forms of educate stakeholders and socialize channel fundamentals
marketing including media publications, influencers, review and facts so they can leverage affiliate as a primary channel to
sites and savings destinations. Affiliate’s efficiency and cost- derive immediate value.
effectiveness lies in its composition; its pay-for-performance
model enables marketers to pay partners upon conversion. Pepperjam helps marketers gain operating leverage necessary
Affiliate revenue can guarantee the ability to self-fund the to deliver against growth and profitability targets and offset
program and can generate a return that offsets costs to remain the high costs of other channels. Our cloud-based affiliate
in other primary channels. Affiliate is credited with a 12:1 return marketing lifecycle platform, Ascend , delivers fully-integrated
on advertising spend, according to the Performance Marketing partner discovery, recruitment, tracking, payment and a
Association—something no other channel can claim. brand safety and fraud prevention suite, automating the full
affiliate lifecycle and powering more than $1 billion in gross
Do retailers understand the potential merchandise sales. Marketers using Ascend are supported by
a comprehensive service team including the category’s only
impact affiliate can have on their business? in-sourcing practice.
Sophisticated marketers that actively leverage affiliate
understand the impact it has on new customer acquisition
and revenue generation. They invest resources into affiliate
strategies—they don’t just “check the box” and think their
work is done. BI Intelligence reported that more than 80% of
marketers will be investing or increasing their investment in the
 AFFILIATE MARKETING RANKS #1 IN
CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND IS CRITICAL
TO DRIVING REVENUE GROWTH.
But you need the right partner—one that doesn’t lull you into accepting the status quo.
Good enough is no longer enough. Meet Ascend™.

rm
ecycle platfo
The affiliate lif

Track
Discover

Protect
Pay

Our cloud-based affiliate marketing lifecycle platform, Ascend™, delivers the category’s only
fully-integrated partner discovery, recruitment, tracking, payment and brand safety and fraud
prevention solution. Powering over $1B in gross merchandise sales and supported by a comprehensive
service team including the category’s only “in-sourcing” practice, your affiliate promised land awaits.

Settle no more. Escape your status quo affiliate provider at pepperjam.com/ascend.

 TOP 10
LEADING
VENDORS BY
CATEGORY
TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS
BY CATEGORY
METHODOLOGY
The coming pages identify the Leading Vendors directly with retailers, through a third-party
to the Top 1000, a ranking of the ecommerce data source such as BuiltWith or Ghostery,
technology and service companies that the or via the vendor.
Top 1000 e-retailers in North America rely on
the most. To determine each vendor’s ranking, Charts and rankings take into account
Internet Retailer compiled a list of clients each consolidation among ecommerce technology
vendor serves among the retailers ranked in providers, unless otherwise noted. Client
the 2019 Internet Retailer Top 1000, totaling counts and sales figures for some vendors in
the number of clients across 27 categories. the rankings include the services provided by
Rankings are based on the number of Top 1000 companies they’ve acquired or merged within
clients held by each company in each technology recent years.
category. Only parent companies of retailers
are included. Full-page company profiles are paid by
advertisers. However, the rankings and the
Internet Retailer identifies merchants’ content itself were compiled by Internet Retailer
technology providers by confirming them researchers and editors.

43 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

AFFILIATE MARKETING

1
Affiliate marketing is one of the
oldest online marketing strategies CJ Affiliate1
in ecommerce, but it can be one of Top 1000 Clients: 168 Client Web Sales: $349.22B
the most effective, too, as it’s easy

2 Rakuten Marketing
to measure success and failure.
Easier to measure than, for example,
Top 1000 Clients: 98 Client Web Sales: $147.79B
television commercials or billboards,

3
where tracking an advertisement
to a final sale is murky. Affiliate Awin
marketing, which means paying Top 1000 Clients: 91 Client Web Sales: $29.84B

4
publishers to mention your brand
and/or link back to your site, can Impact
be less risky than other forms of
Top 1000 Clients: 85 Client Web Sales: $111.94B
online advertising in terms of cost

5 Pepperjam
since most retailers arrange a cost-
per-acquisition payment structure,
where they only pay a publisher if Top 1000 Clients: 74 Client Web Sales: $12.53B

6
the traffic from a particular ad drives
a sale. Some retailers choose to Gen3 Marketing (OPM Pros) 2

operate their own affiliate networks Top 1000 Clients: 56 Client Web Sales: $23.23B
and manage the multiple affiliate
links to their site from blogs,
forums or social channels, while
others work with major affiliate
7 AvantLink
Top 1000 Clients: 35 Client Web Sales: $20.06B

8 Acceleration Partners
network operators.

Top 1000 Clients: 24 Client Web Sales: $20.15B

9 ForwardPMX 3

Top 1000 Clients: 15 Client Web Sales: $5.85B

10 Streamline Marketing
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 12 Client Web Sales: $185.34B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. CJ Affiliate is owned by Publicis Groupe. 2. In February 2019 Gen3 Marketing acquired OPM Pros.
3. In January 2019 Forward3D and PMX Agency merged and rebranded as ForwardPMX.

44 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Affiliate Marketing SPONSORED CONTENT

IMPACT
RANK IN 2019

4 85
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Impact was founded in 2008

PRIMARY URL YEAR

2008
to deliver real-time actionable LAUNCHED
insights across marketing Impact.com
channels and devices, devel-
oping a digital marketing

$111.94 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
platform with buyer journey CLIENT WEB SALES
insights, attribution modeling,
built-in ad fraud detection
and the automation of TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
marketing workflows. In 2019, Web only: 35 Chain: 18 Manufacturer: 24 Catalog/Call Center: 8
Impact launched its Impact
Partnership Cloud to address
the technology needs of
marketers and business devel-
TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
opment leaders for partner-
ship automation. With its part-
$40M or less: 12 $40-125M: 27 $125-500M: 26 $500M or more: 20
nership automation platform,
retailers can manage their
different types of partnerships
in one place. Impact’s plat- KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
form gives retailers access
Walmart Affiliate marketing, influencer
to performance metrics The Home Depot marketing, mobile partner­
and actionable insights and Kohl’s ships, business development,

custom tracking solutions, as Dick’s Sporting Goods analytics and attribution and
StitchFix fraud protection services.
well as tools to identify and
block fraudulent partners.
1-800-Flowers Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 David A. Yovanno, CEO
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 350 Fifth Ave., 36th floor
retailers are included. The information on this page is Per Pettersen, Co-Founder/
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from New York, NY 10118 Chief Strategy Officer
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 917-720-2883 Roger Kjensrud, Co-Founder/CTO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

Four Key Steps By Mike Head, GM,

to a Killer Career Partnership Cloud,

Impact

in Partnerships
Home Depot and Pinterest, Walmart and Buzzfeed, Crocs and „ Social media team: Demonstrate how you can augment
AAA—partnerships are taking off right now in retail, emerging this team’s results by expanding their capabilities. For
as the “it” channel for driving revenue and growth (30+% of example, partnership automation makes the seemingly
total revenue in some cases). By partnerships, I mean trusted impossible possible, managing high-maintenance, low-
relationships that contribute to purchase decisions like social touch partners with ease.
influencers, brand to brand, publishers (think Time Magazine)
and a new generation of affiliates. 3. Prepare for objections and plan your
This trend is making partnership management skills highly guardrails
marketable, and a new career path is emerging alongside the Here’s how to address some of the objections you might hear:
new channel. You need only look at the organizational charts
of top retail brands for evidence of this shift as titles like “vice „ Brand protection: How will you be sure your partners
president, growth and partnerships” (Levi Strauss & Co.) have align with your brand image and preserve your brand’s
become commonplace. value? The “guardrail” here will be in your recruitment and
vetting processes—the tools you’ll have in place to identify
So, how do you get your foot in the door and/or up the ladder in and continually monitor brand-aligned partners at scale.
this hot field? „ Sales cannibalism: How will you know if the sales you pay
for wouldn’t have happened anyway? You’ll need to make
1. Do your homework good attribution tools part of your proposal to show you
can measure and prove incrementality.
You’ve bolstered your overall knowledge, augmenting your sales, „ Headaches for finance: Your finance team will need
marketing, relationship management and negotiating skills. Now, reassurance about how you’ll handle payments and
to convince key internal stakeholders to invest in you and your budgets without creating accounting nightmares. You will
program, you’ll need to gather up hard facts about the business make it easy—costs are incurred only after a desired action
value of the partnership channel, such as: is delivered (e.g., a sale, new customer, lead), so budgeting
can be percentage-based.
„ Industry data on how partnerships contribute to revenue
growth (Forrester has done some great research providing
4. Build technology into your proposal
powerful validation).
„ Historical data on partners and programs at your „ Reality check: One person with a spreadsheet can’t do it all.
organization. Partnership automation and purpose-built technology will
„ Forecast data on how much partnerships could realistically be crucial if you want to scale a program efficiently, manage
contribute to your business over the next 12 to 24 months. partners effectively, measure accurately and sustain growth
„ The specific types of partnerships you have in mind for over time. Establishing your technology strategy upfront will
expansion at your organization. dramatically reduce the risk and costs of getting your program
off the ground—and will help you convince stakeholders that
you are ready to deliver value from the get-go.
2. Engage key stakeholders
Next, you’ll need to start communicating to your stakeholders Driving at least two times more growth (according to Forrester),
about your proposal, highlighting the partnership channel’s the partnership channel is retail’s engine for the future. To
specific benefits to each team. For example: spearhead and lead a partnership program, you’ll need to secure
buy-in and resources, advocate for yourself and demonstrate
„ Management: Your boss (and likely your boss’ boss) will how you will move the entire business forward.
need to understand how your partnership program will
bring value to them and their roles—bring on the revenue
data here.
„ Business development: A collaborative approach is key.
Find out what their limits are and show them how you
can bring in new partners and scale up what they can
accomplish.
 Sales and marketing without
automation? Unthinkable.
So why aren’t you automating your partnerships?

Affiliates, influencers, B2B—the partnership channel drives 30% of

revenue for some retailers and is overtaking traditional channels when it
comes to ROI. By automating the partner management lifecycle, there’s
no limit to where partnerships can take you.

Discovery, Payments, Time-sucking

screening, and attribution, spreadsheets?
onboarding?  and reporting?  Adios.
 Check.  Done.

Discover partnership automation at impact.com

 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CHANNEL MANAGEMENT
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
A channel management engine can
be an obvious place for a retailer to ChannelAdvisor
list its products, as these sites largely
Top 1000 Clients: 140 Client Web Sales: $289.94B
draw a motivated buyer. Shoppers

2 GoDataFeed
perusing these sites know what they
want, and they often will come to
them to compare prices. That’s why Top 1000 Clients: 55 Client Web Sales: $18.46B

3
it make sense to have accurate and
updated information on products on CommerceHub
these sites. Many retailers choose to Top 1000 Clients: 51 Client Web Sales: $38.73B

4
manage their own data feeds to these
sites—uploading images, pricing,
product details, reviews, etc.—while
Google
others choose to work with a vendor Top 1000 Clients: 34 Client Web Sales: $34.70B

5 Braze
that can manage these feeds on
retailers’ behalf. In addition, selling
on online marketplaces is becoming Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $10.91B

6
a bigger part of retailers’ ecommerce
strategies. Many retailers who sell
on these channels often do so on
Radial 1

Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $4.09B

multiple marketplaces rather than

7 ROI Revolution
on just one platform. While there are
benefits to diversifying channels,
this strategy can be complex when Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $795.4M

8
managing different inventory, sales
and advertising requirements on Mirakl
different marketplaces. Channel Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $10.12B
management helps retailers and
brands manage marketplace sales
with such features as adjusting
product pricing, SKUs and fulfillment 8 MerchantAdvantage
Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $2.04B

10 Merkle
on marketplaces via one dashboard. 2
This enables sellers to view their entire
marketplace portfolio in one spot. Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $2.47B

10 SingleFeed
Source: Internet Retailer 3
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $562.6M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Radial is owned by bpost. 2. Merkle is owned by Dentsu Aegis Network. 3. SingleFeed is owned by Vendio.

48 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK

1
Content delivery networks intend
to speed up websites and improve Amazon
overall performance by strategically Top 1000 Clients: 346 Client Web Sales: $113.22B
locating groups of computer servers

2 Akamai
around the world to deliver content
to website visitors from the closest
Top 1000 Clients: 344 Client Web Sales: $440.89B
service. In addition to reducing

3
latency, content delivery networks
can improve the performance of Cloudflare
applications by reducing the needs Top 1000 Clients: 101 Client Web Sales: $28.15B

4
for the application to continually
compete for resources on the fly. Salesforce
Many ecommerce applications
Top 1000 Clients: 58 Client Web Sales: $24.33B
come with a content delivery

5 CNET
network solution, or they can be
purchased separately.
Top 1000 Clients: 34 Client Web Sales: $74.54B

6 Rackspace
Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $2.26B

7 Limelight Networks
Top 1000 Clients: 20 Client Web Sales: $191.74B

8 Fastly
Top 1000 Clients: 19 Client Web Sales: $9.36B

9 Verizon Media
Top 1000 Clients: 14 Client Web Sales: $2.98B

10 Cloudinary
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $2.28B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.

49 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Content management systems are
software applications that help Oracle
create and manage digital content. Top 1000 Clients: 35 Client Web Sales: $23.84B

2
In online retail, many ecommerce
platform systems have built-in Adobe
content management tools or offer Top 1000 Clients: 25 Client Web Sales: $18.84B

3
separate tie-ins from an ecommerce
platform to a content management CNET
system. Some content management Top 1000 Clients: 19 Client Web Sales: $255.89B

4
providers allow retailers to manage
their web and mobile apps, sites WordPress
and marketing campaigns from Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $3.35B

4
one location to ensure that product
information, blogs and other Oracle NetSuite 1

content adapts to the consumer, Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $463.0M

6
whether the shopper is on a
desktop, tablet or smartphone. Sitecore
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $4.11B

7 Nativo
Top 1000 Clients: 6 Client Web Sales: $536.1M

8 Guidance
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $1.53B

9 HP
Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $14.61B

9 SAP
Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $13.17B

9 Episerver
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $381.6M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite; their solutions continue to operate independently.

50 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Even as customer relationship
management (CRM) tools become Oracle
more central to many industries’ Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $12.94B

1 Braze
success, some retailers are
content to employ the most basic
version they find. CRMs are useful, Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $10.91B

1 Oracle NetSuite
not just because they simplify 1
keeping track of customers
Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $2.08B

4
and sales, but because of their
versatility and customizability.
Most existing platforms offer
Talkable
Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $613.1M

5
the ability to integrate with
other tools that can upgrade Salesforce
and augment existing business Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $7.73B

6
processes. The top CRM suites
include tools designed to enhance FriendBuy
functions and cover important Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $1.07B

6 HubSpot
gaps in retailers’ operations.
Connecting an organization’s CRM
to communication tools such as Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $590.7M

email clients, voice over IP systems,

even messaging applications can
8 Zendesk
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $690.8M

9
help retailers properly record new
lead information and handle their SAP
initial contact with an organization. Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $6.42B

9
Connecting a CRM to a business
intelligence system, meanwhile, can Veras Retail
offer a useful data stream that can Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $4.75B

9 Epicor
convert data into better insights.

Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $2.68B

9
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only. Microsoft
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $384.7M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite; their solutions continue to operate independently.

51 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CUSTOMER REVIEWS & RATINGS

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Ratings and reviews can help inform
a retailer’s business and product Bazaarvoice
decisions. Retailers can harness Top 1000 Clients: 623 Client Web Sales: $481.61B
feedback data to ensure customers
are satisfied and improve upon
2 Bizrate Insights
Top 1000 Clients: 102 Client Web Sales: $27.36B

3 Trustpilot
any issues. Vendors can enable
retailers to have a ratings and
reviews platform on their product Top 1000 Clients: 79 Client Web Sales: $39.99B

4 TurnTo Networks
detail pages with comments, as well
as photos, to better inform both
Top 1000 Clients: 65 Client Web Sales: $33.01B
the retailer and other customers
who are shopping for the same,
or similar, products. Retailers can 5 PowerReviews
Top 1000 Clients: 57 Client Web Sales: $9.63B

6 Verint
also use social media posts to
gather customer feedback and
Top 1000 Clients: 40 Client Web Sales: $116.96B
data about products.

7 Yotpo
Top 1000 Clients: 25 Client Web Sales: $2.07B

8 ResellerRatings
Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $879.6M

9 Shopper Approved
Top 1000 Clients: 6 Client Web Sales: $1.35B

10 Sprinklr Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $7.74B

10 Google
Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $1.11B

10 Ekomi
Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $246.7M

10
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only. Practical Data
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $184.3M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.

52 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

CUSTOMER SERVICE SOFTWARE & SUPPORT

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Ecommerce customer service
software providers seek to make Narvar
it easier for online retailers to Top 1000 Clients: 161 Client Web Sales: $139.82B
interact with their customers, shift

2 LivePerson
gears to meet changes in consumer
demand and solve problems for
Top 1000 Clients: 120 Client Web Sales: $79.32B
consumers. In addition to software,

2
these vendors provide data that
merchants can use to better Zendesk
understand their customers and Top 1000 Clients: 120 Client Web Sales: $15.58B

4
anticipate their needs, or the means
to collect such data on their own. Oracle
Retailers care about these things
Top 1000 Clients: 84 Client Web Sales: $85.23B
because customers care about them.

5 Bold360
Live chat and click-to-call vendors 1
provide software and services to
help merchants communicate with Top 1000 Clients: 69 Client Web Sales: $18.59B

6
their customers via live chat and/
or create self-service and other LiveChat
agent-assisted help channels, such Top 1000 Clients: 67 Client Web Sales: $7.98B
as email, messaging and social
media. This can include chatbots—
interactive software that uses
artificial intelligence to simulate
7 Verint
Top 1000 Clients: 47 Client Web Sales: $134.63B

8 Olark
human conversation.

Top 1000 Clients: 38 Client Web Sales: $3.53B

9 Radial 2

Top 1000 Clients: 22 Client Web Sales: $14.72B

10 Moxie
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $37.84B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Bold360 is owned by LogMeIn. 2. Radial is owned by bpost.

53 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Ecommerce platforms comprise
technology tools that allow online Adobe (Magento)
merchants to create customer-facing Top 1000 Clients: 136 Client Web Sales: $53.50B

2 Oracle
websites for selling products
and services. They are the digital
welcome mats for shoppers and Top 1000 Clients: 84 Client Web Sales: $99.16B
the backbones of an online retail
operation. Ecommerce platforms
3 Salesforce
Top 1000 Clients: 68 Client Web Sales: $26.07B

4
enable retailers to build a website
and brand via tools and technology
they could otherwise not build in
HCL 1

Top 1000 Clients: 42 Client Web Sales: $51.02B

5
house, such as providing checkout
and payment processing services, Shopify
website layouts and themes, Top 1000 Clients: 37 Client Web Sales: $3.67B

6
marketing tools to promote prod-
ucts and a full content management BigCommerce
system, depending on the provider. Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $1.28B

7 SAP
Top 1000 Clients: 15 Client Web Sales: $17.07B

8 Kibo
Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $1.23B

9 Guidance
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $1.70B

9 osCommerce
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $619.3M

9 Workarea
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $347.3M

9
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only. Oracle NetSuite 2

Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $340.2M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In July 2019 HCL Technologies acquired select IBM products. 2. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite;
their solutions continue to operate independently.

54 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Ecommerce Platform SPONSORED CONTENT

ADOBE (MAGENTO)
RANK IN 2019

1 136
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Adobe offers open PRIMARY URL YEAR

2008
commerce software to LAUNCHED
build and run web stores, Magento.com
handle online purchases,
and support B2C and B2B

$53.50 BILLION
experiences. It also helps TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
CLIENT WEB SALES
merchants sell products
through social media
ads and integrates with
TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
online marketplaces like
Amazon. Adobe’s platform Web only: 71 Chain: 15 Manufacturer: 36 Catalog/Call Center: 14
is supported by a commu-
nity of more than 300,000
developers and includes
services like pre-built
TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
extensions, including
payment, shipping, tax and $40M or less: 32 $40-125M: 67 $125-500M: 31 $500M or more: 6
logistics. In addition to its
digital commerce platform,
Adobe offers SaaS-based
omnichannel software
that’s designed to allow KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Walmart Flexible ecommerce platform
merchants to successfully with options for business
integrate digital and physical Kroger intelligence dashboards and
shopping experiences, and Shutterfly data, order management
applications and a market-
business intelligence soft- Bed Bath & Beyond place of free and premium
ware to enable data-driven Advance Auto Parts software extensions.

decision making.
Scholastic Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
the total number of clients they have in the 2019
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of Gary Specter, VP, Global Head of GTM,
345 Park Avenue Commercial Business
retailers are included. The information on this page is
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from San Jose, CA 95110 Jason Woosley, VP, Commerce Product
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 800-685-3624 & Platform
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation with

Peter Sheldon, senior director
of commerce strategy, Adobe
The right ecommerce platform
can help retailers provide unique
customer experiences

Commerce is going through an evolution. While today, but also five years from now? If they pick the wrong
historically ecommerce sites have focused on selling platform, it’s a huge risk to their business and their bottom
products to shoppers, today it’s much more about line to replace it in a few years.
providing customers with bespoke experiences that fit
their shopping needs and engaging them on the channels What ecommerce platform challenges do
that matter to them. To discuss how ecommerce platforms they face?
can help retailers meet their customers’ expectations and Retailers who had partnered with purely software-as-a-
evolve with the changing ecommerce landscape, Internet service (SaaS) platform vendors are now feeling boxed into
Retailer spoke with Peter Sheldon, senior director of a path and destiny they don’t have control over. They’re
commerce strategy at Adobe. completely dependent on that vendor to provide updates
and innovations to the platform. In today’s era, retailers
What current trends around ecommerce must differentiate by providing highly unique customer
platforms are impacting retailers? experiences. If you don’t have a platform that gives you the
The shift from desktop to mobile is really accelerating. agility to build unique business processes and to test new
Mobile is the predominant source of ecommerce traffic business models, and you are constrained to a particular
today, and therefore it’s becoming the predominant template, that is potentially very dangerous. Therefore, the
source of revenue for retailers. This means that there’s an most complex challenge is having the flexibility and agility
obligation for all retailers to improve their subpar mobile to differentiate in the market.
experience. An evolution in web technology in the form of
Progress Web Apps (PWA) is enabling retailers to re-invent What strategies can retailers implement to
and optimize mobile experience for their customers. address these trends and challenges?
Gaining a competitive advantage today is less about products
What common mistakes do retailers make and more about experiences. Simply put, people today
with regard to their ecommerce platforms? buy experiences, not products. And to create these unique
Many retailers take too short term a view of the investment experiences, retailers need to be able to clearly articulate
they’re making in their commerce platform. Commerce their brand story. They should be investing in unique
platforms today are very strategic. For many retailers, content that not only highlights the products they sell but
ecommerce sales make up a significant portion of their also engaging content that illustrate their brand values and
revenue, and it’s by far the most strategic and fastest mission. To do this effectively, they need the right tools and a
growing channel, outperforming physical stores. So, it’s platform that is flexible enough to allow them to do that.
imperative that they choose a
platform vendor that has long- How can retailers easily implement a
term viability while ensuring platform to do this?
the platform has the capability They can partner with a vendor like Adobe, for example.
to scale with the business, and Our whole DNA is focused on experiences. With a platform
how consumers shop. like Magento Commerce, retailers can tell their whole end-
to-end brand story. And, ultimately, they have complete
Retailers need to ask control and the extensibility to build and innovate at their
themselves: What do we need own pace, as well as grow and evolve with the changing
from our platform not just ecommerce landscape.
Make every
experience shoppable.
For the 8th year in a row, Magento is the digital commerce platform of
choice for more of the Internet Retailer Top 1000 than any other vendor.

magento.com
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

EMAIL MARKETING

1
Many online merchants view
email as their most tried-and-true Mailchimp
marketing channel. But it can also Top 1000 Clients: 179 Client Web Sales: $27.91B
be challenging to target specific

2 Oracle
customers at specific times with
specific needs. Some vendors can
Top 1000 Clients: 98 Client Web Sales: $86.82B
help retailers with personalizing

3
email sends so that a customer
gets a coupon sent to her soon Experian
after she’s abandoned her cart Top 1000 Clients: 97 Client Web Sales: $70.29B

4
or an order confirmation email
with recommended products. Oracle NetSuite 1

Additionally, vendors can help

Top 1000 Clients: 95 Client Web Sales: $9.77B
retailers build and design eye-

5 Listrak
catching and engaging emails to
drive more sales and conversions.
Top 1000 Clients: 93 Client Web Sales: $10.41B

6 Twilio SendGrid 2

Top 1000 Clients: 75 Client Web Sales: $18.46B

7 TowerData
Top 1000 Clients: 74 Client Web Sales: $10.83B

8 Bluecore
Top 1000 Clients: 68 Client Web Sales: $55.56B

9 HCL 3

Top 1000 Clients: 47 Client Web Sales: $20.16B

10 BounceX
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 36 Client Web Sales: $14.77B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In June 2015 NetSuite acquired Bronto. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite; their solutions
continue to operate independently. 2. In February 2019 Twilio acquired SendGrid.
3. In July 2019 HCL Technologies acquired select IBM products.
58 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation with

Darcy Kurtz, vice president of
product marketing, Mailchimp
Personalizing email marketing
helps retailers stand out
among the competition

Email marketing is a key channel retailers use to build customer What complex email marketing
loyalty and drive repeat purchases. But with the large amount challenges are retailers currently facing?
of emails hitting consumers’ inboxes daily, it’s vital retailers find
ways to stand out. To discuss how retailers can best leverage Putting your audience at the center of your marketing is key,
email marketing to rise above their competition, Internet Retailer but collecting and understanding multichannel customer
spoke with Darcy Kurtz, vice president of product marketing at behavior data is a complex challenge retailers face. As
Mailchimp, an all-in-one marketing platform. consumers shop in store, online, via mobile apps and on
social media, retailers need to get a complete view of their
customers’ cross-channel interactions and then turn those
What current email marketing trends are
insights into tailored email marketing strategies.
affecting retailers?
In the same way that consumers shop across channels, they
also consume news, entertainment and, therefore, marketing What strategies can help retailers
messages across channels. Consumers are constantly inundated overcome these challenges?
with messages, so they need to see a message multiple times Marketing platforms with built-in tools, such as marketing
across channels before converting. As a result, email is no longer customer relationship management tools (CRM), are critical.
just a standalone marketing tactic. It’s most impactful when A CRM serves as a single source of truth for all of their customer
combined with other channels, like social posting and advertising. data—regardless of what channel those customers are
shopping in. Retailers can then use tags to identify customers
Additionally, consumers have high expectations and want to who shop in a particular channel or who do a certain behavior.
feel connected to brands they interact with. Tailoring messaging Segmentation and behavioral targeting based on tags allows
based on a customers’ site behavior and purchase activity helps retailers to track and better understand who their customers
retailers build relationships with their audience. Behavioral are and how they interact with that retailer’s business. From
retargeting, such as product recommendations, allows retailers there, retailers can develop messaging strategies tailored to
to deliver personalized content to their audience, and increase their needs and automate them.
engagement and conversion.

What are some common email marketing How can they go about implementing
mistakes retailers make? these strategies?
One mistake retailers make is following a one-size-fits-all For small businesses that have fewer resources, it’s critical to
approach to communicating with their audience. An easy fix invest in a marketing platform that fits their budget and allows
is segmenting audience members based on shared traits like them to create personalized content, automate messaging
behavior, preferences and purchase history. Another mistake and reach customers across different channels. Mailchimp’s
centers around the frequency of emails, which can be an outcome platform, for example, empowers small businesses to market
of lack of segmentation. If audiences aren’t segmented, retailers smarter and grow faster. Email is a fundamental tool that
can fall into the trap of sending out too many emails—inundating helps small businesses learn more about their audience so
consumers, driving down open rates, increasing unsubscribes and they can build their brand. Retailers can connect their online
potentially negatively impacting their view of your brand. store to Mailchimp to see all of their audience information in
one place. This allows them to collect helpful ecommerce
data—like a customer’s order history, how much they spent
and whether they’re first-time or repeat customers—so they
can send targeted campaigns that direct traffic back to your
store and generate more sales. And Mailchimp allows them
to automate it all.
So you want to Get the All-in-One
grow your business. Marketing Platform
Now what? that grows with you.
That’s what.
Sock Fancy used the All-in-One Marketing
Platform to put more socks on more feet.
Try it for yourself at mailchimp.com
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

FULFILLMENT SERVICES
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Responding to the precedents
set by ecommerce powerhouses, Amazon
such as Amazon and Walmart, Top 1000 Clients: 6 Client Web Sales: $285.5M
retailers are working hard to

2 Saddle Creek Logistics Services

meet consumers’ expectations
for merchants to deliver products
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $4.43B
quickly and efficiently. Vendors

2
that offer fulfillment services can
help merchants meet shoppers’ Pitney Bowes
demands. Some vendors will house Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $358.1M

4
inventory for retailers, as well as
handle the entire supply chain of PFSweb
fulfilling products all the way to
Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $638.6M
delivering them to the customer’s

4 UPS
doorstep. Some fulfillment
vendors provide retailers with the
necessary technologies—such as Top 1000 Clients: 4 Client Web Sales: $618.2M

6
conveyor belts, robotics or picking
services—to enhance their own GEODIS
warehouse operations. Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $1.87B

7 Bastian Solutions 1

Top 1000 Clients: 2 Client Web Sales: $1.58B

7 Jagged Peak
Top 1000 Clients: 2 Client Web Sales: $1.05B

7 DHL
Top 1000 Clients: 2 Client Web Sales: $432.4M

7 Dotcom Distribution
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 2 Client Web Sales: $133.1M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Bastian Solutions is owned by Toyota Advanced Logistics.

61 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Fulfillment Services SPONSORED CONTENT

SADDLE CREEK LOGISTICS SERVICES

2
RANK IN 2019

5
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
(TIE) CLIENTS

Saddle Creek is a third-party

PRIMARY URL YEAR

1966
logistics provider, specializing LAUNCHED
in designing and delivering SCLogistics.com
omnichannel logistics services
for retailers, manufacturers
and ecommerce companies.
$4.43 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
The company offers fulfillment, CLIENT WEB SALES
warehousing and transporta­
tion services as stand-alone
offerings, or as part of an
TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
integrated logistics solution.
Retail clients have access to a Web only: 1 Chain: 3 Manufacturer: 1 Catalog/Call Center: 0
nationwide network of strategic
fulfillment locations and a full
range of transportation capa-
bilities, including a large private
fleet, brokerage services and TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
extensive relationships with all
major parcel providers. Saddle
$40M or less: 1 $40-125M: 2 $125-500M: 1 $500M or more: 1
Creek also offers advanced
technologies for optimal
visibility and order processing;
scalable resources to handle
seasonal or promotional fluctu- KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
ations; value-added services Logistics services for omni­
Bealls channel fulfillment, ware­
such as kitting and engraving;
the ability to pick, pack and Brandless housing and transportation,
as well as other value-added
ship orders B2B, B2C or Lowe’s services like packaging, kitting,
through marketplace sites; and display building, embroidery
ipsy and engraving.
same-day shipping on most
orders received by 2:00 p.m.
Rack Room Shoes Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 3010 Saddle Creek Road
retailers are included. The information on this page is Mark Cabrera, CEO
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from Lakeland, FL 33801 Tom Patterson, EVP, Operations
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 863-665-0966 Donna Slyster, CIO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation with

Perry Belcastro, Senior Vice
President Fulfillment Services,
Reliable service aligned with Saddle Creek Logistics Services
customer expectations is key to
competing against Amazon

Amazon Prime is a powerful force in today’s ecommerce and cost. Retailers also should establish efficient processes
marketplace. As a result of the subscription membership’s for managing orders so that inventory is pulled from the
premium services, consumer expectations have increased best fulfillment source to ensure the fastest and most
exponentially—particularly around shipping and delivery. affordable service for each order.
To discuss what retailers can do to stand out in this
competitive environment, Internet Retailer spoke with Effective parcel management is also critical. Working with
Perry Belcastro, senior vice president of fulfillment services multiple carriers and shopping for competitive rates can
at Saddle Creek Logistics Services. help. To negotiate the best rates, retailers should take time to
understand all the pricing considerations at play such as point
What are some of the biggest challenges of origin, order volume, surcharges and dimensional weight.
Amazon Prime currently poses to online
retailers? How are advancements in technology
Retailers feel compelled to compete head-to-head helping retailers compete against Amazon?
with Amazon, but shipping every order with expedited Robust technology is essential for providing fast,
service is simply not economical for the average retailer. low-cost service. A sophisticated order management
It’s important to weigh the cost for one- or two-day system, for example, helps to optimize inventory across
deliveries against consumer demand. multiple distribution nodes, route orders for maximum
efficiency and improve cycle times. Automated fulfillment
Consumers are more likely to buy when deliveries are and material handling solutions also can speed order
free, but of course shipping isn’t free for retailers. Whether turnaround and delivery times. Rate shopping technologies
the retailer absorbs the shipping cost or passes it along to and parcel analytics software can help to optimize service
customers, it’s critical to keep shipping costs down. That and cost, ensuring that shipping costs are minimized.
can be challenging as parcel costs continue to rise.
How can retailers quickly implement
How can online retailers balance their these solutions?
shipping and delivery capabilities with Partnering with a third-party provider can help. Saddle
customers’ expectations? Creek, for example, takes a strategic approach to fulfillment
The key is to provide the level of service shoppers expect— and designs solutions to help retailers satisfy demanding
reliably and at the lowest possible cost to the retailer. In consumers. With a nationwide network of facilities, state-
most cases, receiving an order when expected is just as of-the-art technology and extensive parcel management
important to consumers as speed. Consumers are also expertise, we can provide timely, cost-effective deliveries
often loyal to brands, so a strong social media presence on a reliable basis. For example, orders received by 2 p.m.
and brand presence help to offset the “I have to have it ship out the same day at competitive rates.
tomorrow” mindset in most cases.
An experienced provider can help retailers strike the right
What strategies can online retailers balance between cost and service in order to meet or
implement to ship faster and more exceed their customers’ expectations.
cost effectively?
Moving inventory closer to the customer is a good place
to start. Using multiple, strategically located distribution
centers allows retailers to reach 90% of the country using
two-day ground service—helping to reduce transit time
FULFILLMENT SOLUTIONS TO HELP YOU

COMPETE
with PRIME

Today’s consumers expect fast, free shipments. We’ll help you

deliver. With our strategically located facilities, robust fulfillment
technology and parcel shipping expertise, you can provide the
fastest service at the lowest cost.

Contact a fulfillment expert today.

866-668-0966 | sclogistics.com/prime
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

FULFILLMENT SOFTWARE
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Fulfillment software vendors
can help retailers manage their Logistyx Technologies
fulfillment operations much more Top 1000 Clients: 92 Client Web Sales: $75.71B

2 Manhattan Associates
efficiently. For example, some
fulfillment software can give
retailers a single view of inventory Top 1000 Clients: 76 Client Web Sales: $84.56B

3 Radial
across stores and ecommerce, help 1
retailers offer store returns for online
Top 1000 Clients: 55 Client Web Sales: $36.02B

4
purchases or help retailers manage
multiple delivery options including
buy online, pick up in store. Those
JDA Software
Top 1000 Clients: 26 Client Web Sales: $9.36B

5
services can also include ways
to help merchants find the most CommerceHub
cost-effective route to fulfill an Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $23.99B

6
order, such as shipping an online
order from a store that is closer to Oracle
a consumer’s home. Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $3.17B

7 Kibo
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $428.8M

8 HighJump
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $9.27B

8 Speed Commerce
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $1.36B

8 Microsoft
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $426.4M

8 Amazon
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $238.8M

8
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only. Oracle NetSuite 2

Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $230.6M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Radial is owned by bpost. 2. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite;
their solutions continue to operate independently.

65 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
GO BEYOND THE
SHIPPING LABEL
• Leading provider of global, multi-carrier
parcel transportation management systems

• Only FedEx® Diamond/Platinum Compatible

Solution Provider for 6 consecutive years and
8 240+
Employees
• FedEx Diamond status attained for 2019

• UPS Global Platinum Partner

• One of the industry’s largest multi-national,

global, major and regional carrier networks
2B+ 1,000+
Cartons Shipped Clients Around • A robust portfolio of products, solutions
Last Year the World and expertise

Transport Management for Parcel

CUSTOMER SERVICE FINANCE &
PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS
& CONTROL TOWER ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Tender | Procure Optimize | Execute Monitor | Report Accrue | Control | Settle

• Rate simulation • Carrier selection • Lead-time monitoring • Pre-invoicing

• CUG tendering —Dynamic • Exception • Invoice matching
• Freight contract —Static management • Self-billing
compliance • Shipping module • Claims resolution • Abc-costing, cost per
• Labeling • Dashboards & graphs —Shipment
• Carrier EDI • Data warehouse —Material (group)
• Documents • Consignee track —Business unit/factory
• Supplier inbound and trace • Dispute handling
• PO-coverage

Contact Logistyx today for a free consultation

www.logistyx.com | [email protected]
US Phone: +1 877 755 2374 | Intl Phone: +31 (0)75 7991010 © Logistyx Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. (2019)
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

INTERNATIONAL ECOMMERCE SERVICES

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
International ecommerce service
vendors help online retailers take Pitney Bowes
advantage of overseas demand. Top 1000 Clients: 57 Client Web Sales: $46.11B
These vendors offer software and

2 eShopWorld
services such as those that can help
retailers navigate complicated duty
Top 1000 Clients: 12 Client Web Sales: $15.73B
and tax rules, foreign parcel delivery,

3
currency conversions and managing
returns from non-U.S. customers, Radial 1

among other things. Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $8.67B

4 FedEx
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $3.42B

4 UPS
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $1.79B

6 Guidance
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $1.62B

6 MyUS.com
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $517.4M

8 Digital River
Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $4.20B

8 Oracle NetSuite 2

Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $3.17B

8 USPS
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $273.0M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Radial is owned by bpost. 2. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite;
their solutions continue to operate independently.

67 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
International Ecommerce Services SPONSORED CONTENT

ESHOPWORLD
RANK IN 2019

2 12
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

eShopWorld helps brands

PRIMARY URL YEAR
grow their ecommerce sales
2010
LAUNCHED
in global markets, thanks to
its global cross-border ecom-
eShopWorld.com
merce solutions. eShopWorld
provides retailers with tech-

$15.73 BILLION
nology, logistics, services TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
CLIENT WEB SALES
and expertise to drive their
global ecommerce strategy.
It manages digital marketing
strategy for retailers, including TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
customer acquisition, analytics
reporting and optimization for
Web only: 0 Chain: 4 Manufacturer: 5 Catalog/Call Center: 3
each individual global market.
eShopWorld offers a pricing
and payments platform to
manage customized pricing
for different markets, as well as TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
local, market-specific payment
methods and machine-learning $40M or less: 0 $40-125M: 1 $125-500M: 2 $500M or more: 9
powered fraud screening.
Through global carriers and
facilities, eShopWorld opti-
mizes global inventory access,
omnichannel capabilities,
KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
final-mile delivery and returns.
An important consideration in Nike Crossborder ecommerce
global ecommerce is customs, L Brands services for customer acqui­
so eShopWorld also provides PVH sition, market-specific pricing,
customers compliance Estee Lauder checkout, shipping, returns
management, customs/duties and customer support.
Yeti Holdings
risk management and opti-
mized customs declarations.
1-800-Flowers Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 1330 Ave. of the Americas, Suite 23
retailers are included. The information on this page is Tommy Kelly, CEO
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from New York, NY 10019 Stephen O’Riordan, COO
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 353-18809114 Cynthia Hollen, President, U.S.A.
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with Tommy Kelly,
CEO, eShopWorld
How retailers can successfully
create a seamless cross-border
ecommerce experience

As global ecommerce has grown, so has customer expectation. Retailers need to factor in total cost of ownership for meeting all
Today’s consumers expect to be able to order the products they of those challenges, as well as the learning curve that comes with
want, wherever they are in the world. That means retailers must optimizing for each market. From that perspective, cross-border
provide seamless cross-border experiences—giving customers what ecommerce is more about the holistic complexity that comes from
they want, regardless of where they live. To discuss the importance building a best-in-class solution for each market. There is no one-
of creating seamless cross-border experiences for both enterprise size-fits all approach that will deliver on the potential that exists.
size and smaller retailers, Internet Retailer spoke with Tommy Kelly,
CEO of eShopWorld, a global ecommerce technology and solutions How do enterprise retailers’ cross-border
provider working with leading U.S. retailers and brands. challenges differ from those of smaller
retailers?
Why is creating a seamless cross-border Enterprise-size retailers face an additional set of challenges, many
ecommerce experience important for all of which relate to how they position inventory globally and serve
retailers? markets from local or regional inventory pools. In that sense,
Consumers have lots of needs, and by the very nature of the they need to have a single view of inventory and be able to link
transaction, a shopper who chooses to shop across borders up product availability with their ecommerce engine so they can
is attempting to fulfill a need that can’t be met locally. Today’s fulfill orders in the most time-effective and cost-efficient manner.
consumer expectations have been shaped by the way they
live day-to-day and the experiences they have across multiple They also need to be careful not to neglect marketing and
touchpoints and services—whether ordering a taxi, getting demand generation. Larger brands often have the advantage of
something to eat, or shopping online with a domestic brand. existing brand recognition, but they don’t always have the in-
house expertise to execute local marketing initiatives. They also
Retailers that want to succeed in selling across borders need to be need to think about brand consistency—does the cross border
able to meet those expectations, and enable an omnichannel, locally shopping journey support a great brand experience in how
optimized experience that meets the customer where they want to shoppers engage with them around the world?
interact and engage, across devices and locations. Local pricing, and
payments; buy online, pickup in store; return-to-store—these are What are some strategies retailers can
what seamless means when serving international markets. implement to overcome challenges?
Cross-border ecommerce should be planned and executed by
What are the most complex cross-border aligning resources with knowledge, expertise and technology.
ecommerce challenges retailers face? All retailers should partner with a cross-border specialist that
The complexity of serving multiple global markets across borders can help them understand what markets are the best fit for their
can be compared to an iceberg. The shopper sees what is above business, and where they will generate the greatest returns.
the waterline, but hidden below is the enormous scope of
operations and functionality that make up a seamless experience. eShopWorld, for example, works closely with retailers to
gain a deep understanding of their business, customers and
requirements. We find the solutions that will meet the needs of
both retailers and their customers, while never sacrificing the
brand experience. Our mission is to build successful, in-country
businesses for retailers. We don’t just localize their shopping
experiences, we take them to another level completely.
eShopWorld and Coresight Research would like to congratulate our 2019
Top 25 Global eCommerce Power Players! Global selling is currently the most
important growth opportunity for retailers, and this list highlights those who are
showing the world how to do it right.

Watch for nominations for the 2020 list in January: https://coresight.com/

global-ecommerce-power-players/

01 Adam Sussman – VP/GM Nike 09 Nicolas Oudinot – Chief Digital & 17 Kentaro Tanoue – VP Digital
Direct Digital & Geographies, Nike Innovation Officer, Gucci Innovation, Fast Retailing/Uniqlo

02 Marc Lore – President & CEO, 10 Loren Simon – VP of Digital & 18 Steph Korey – Cofounder
Walmart E-Commerce U.S | Jet.Com, Performance, Everlane & CEO, Away
Founder & CEO
11 John Galantic & Gregory Baratte – 19 Sid Jatia – VP, Head of Global E–
03 Andrea Cappi – Group Global President and COO, Chanel Inc.; Global Commerce & Digital, Under Armour Inc.
Digital Business Director, Head, Chanel.com, Chanel
Max Mara Group 20 Stefano Valente – Global VP of
12 Yael Cosset – SVP & CIO, Retail, Burberry
04 Mary Beth Laughton – EVP, Omni The Kroger Company
Retail, Sephora 21 Andrea Trocino – Chief Product
13 Diane Randolph – Chief Officer, ASOS Plc Holdings
05 Andrew Robb – Chief Operating Information Officer, Ulta
Officer, Farfetch 22 Rami Atallah – Co–Founder &
14 Scott Johnson – Head of E- CEO, SSENSE
06 Julie Wainwright – CEO/Founder, Commerce/Digital Technology, Harrods
The RealReal 23 Julie Averill – EVP & CTO, Lululemon
15 Abel López Cernades – Import,
07 Tobjörn Lööf – CEO IKEA Export, And Transport Director, Inditex 24 Andrea Dorigo – SVP/GM Global
Retail, Estée Lauder
08 Matt Carey – EVP & Chief 16 Jane Lu – Founder & CEO, Showpo
Information Officer, The Home Depot 25 Lubomira Rochet – EVP, Chief
Digital Officer, L’Oréal

eShopWorld empowers the world’s best brands and retailers to sell more to shoppers around the world, with
hyperlocalized experiences in 200+ markets. Visit us at eshopworld.com.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

MARKETING & ADVERTISING SERVICES

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Marketing and advertising
vendors help retailers promote Google
their products or website and Top 1000 Clients: 378 Client Web Sales: $81.84B
drive sales and conversions via a

2 Criteo
variety of marketing channels or
advertising avenues. Some of these
Top 1000 Clients: 181 Client Web Sales: $123.07B
services could include customer

3
targeting, sponsored products,
dynamic retargeting, direct Rubicon Project
bidding and audience matching Top 1000 Clients: 139 Client Web Sales: $27.11B

4
on digital platforms.
AdRoll
Top 1000 Clients: 77 Client Web Sales: $14.36B

5 MediaMath
Top 1000 Clients: 73 Client Web Sales: $57.75B

6 Acxiom
Top 1000 Clients: 54 Client Web Sales: $5.38B

7 ChannelAdvisor
Top 1000 Clients: 44 Client Web Sales: $30.30B

8 Tapad
Top 1000 Clients: 41 Client Web Sales: $4.56B

9 Conversant 1

Top 1000 Clients: 33 Client Web Sales: $45.34B

9 PubMatic
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 33 Client Web Sales: $5.47B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Conversant is owned by Publicis Groupe.

71 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

MOBILE COMMERCE
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Mobile commerce involves shopping
and completing online purchases Salesforce
via a mobile device, such as a Top 1000 Clients: 60 Client Web Sales: $33.07B
smartphone. The shift of completing

2 Moovweb
a transaction on mobile devices,
and on smartphones in particular,
Top 1000 Clients: 37 Client Web Sales: $23.97B
is transforming ecommerce and

3
leading mobile commerce to take a
growing share of online sales. Some Branding Brand
vendors offer solutions to make Top 1000 Clients: 35 Client Web Sales: $33.92B

4
mobile commerce even more user
friendly, such as ensuring a retailer’s Mobify
ecommerce site is responsive and
Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $1.83B
performs well on a mobile device.

5 UsableNet
Other vendors offer progressive web
apps, or PWAs, which is a form of
mobile design that formats the page Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $7.57B

6
to the size of the shopper’s screen
and offers the look and feel of an Oracle
app, but within a mobile website. Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $3.03B

7 Mad Mobile
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $5.32B

7 Unbound Commerce
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $4.27B

9 Skava
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $11.27B

9 Guidance
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $1.70B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.

72 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

ORDER MANAGEMENT

1
Order management technology is
especially important for retailers Oracle
that operate both stores and an Top 1000 Clients: 28 Client Web Sales: $10.60B
ecommerce website. A good order

2 JDA Software
management system provides better
inventory visibility for consumers,
Top 1000 Clients: 27 Client Web Sales: $18.08B
which can help generate sales. For

3
example, some order management
systems are designed to allow Oracle NetSuite 1

shoppers to see if a product is Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $5.42B

4
available in a store near them.
Others tell retailers which locations IBM
should fulfill an order based on
Top 1000 Clients: 20 Client Web Sales: $48.34B
efficiency, and in which priority

5 Manhattan Associates
orders should be fulfilled. Systems
can change this logic based on
the type of product as well—such Top 1000 Clients: 15 Client Web Sales: $16.94B

6
as boots vs. jeans vs. T-shirts and
so on. Many order management Radial 2

systems offer greater transparency Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $7.40B
into inventory across channels,
all the way down to the individual
store or warehouse level. Some
retailers allow a customer to reserve
7 SAP
Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $9.85B

8 Microsoft
a product, pick it up at the store of
their choosing and pay for it.
Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.04B

9 Kibo
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $428.8M

10 Monsoon
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 6 Client Web Sales: $777.1M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In November 2016 Oracle acquired NetSuite; their solutions continue to operate independently.
2. Radial is owned by bpost.

73 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

PAYMENT SECURITY/FRAUD PREVENTION

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
With fraud and security top-of-
mind for consumers shopping CyberSource1
online, many online retailers Top 1000 Clients: 39 Client Web Sales: $20.85B
look to vendors for technology

2 Accertify
to help protect themselves from 2
cybersecurity threats and fraudulent
Top 1000 Clients: 26 Client Web Sales: $109.56B
transactions. This includes updating

3
their fraud prevention technology,
ensuring consumers who sign up for McAfee
an account are legitimate shoppers, Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $2.78B

4
differentiating their fraud prevention
strategies for desktop and mobile PayPal
devices and ensuring their vendor
Top 1000 Clients: 20 Client Web Sales: $2.07B
partners have the necessary security

5 Radial
measures in place. Some fraudulent 3
activity can be combatted simply
by updating or changing security Top 1000 Clients: 15 Client Web Sales: $10.02B

6
software, which vendors can assist
with as well. Riskified
Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $2.07B

7 Authorize.Net 4

Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.82B

7 Forter
Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.68B

7 Chase Merchant Services

Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.54B

10 Signifyd
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 9 Client Web Sales: $8.93B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. CyberSource is owned by Visa. 2. Accertify is owned by American Express.
3. Radial is owned by bpost. 4. Authorize.net is owned by Visa.

74 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Payment Security/Fraud Prevention SPONSORED CONTENT

RADIAL
RANK IN 2019

5 15
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Radial is an ecommerce PRIMARY URL YEAR

1999
omnichannel technology LAUNCHED
company that offers retailers Radial.com
services for ominichannel
technology, fulfillment
$10.02 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
and supply chain services, CLIENT WEB SALES
customer service, and
payments and fraud. With its
TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
payments and fraud services,
retailers can eliminate fraud
Web only: 0 Chain: 8 Manufacturer: 7 Catalog/Call Center: 0
and deliver a frictionless
payment experience that
maximizes conversions and
removes consumer frus- TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
tration. Radial’s payments $40M or less: 0 $40-125M: 4 $125-500M: 4 $500M or more: 7
and fraud service handles
every aspect of payments,
taxes and fraud for retailers,
while also guaranteeing
KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
that retailers will never pay
L Brands Omnichannel technology,
for a fraudulent charge. For
The Estee Lauder supply chain services, trans-
payments, retailers will offer Dick’s Sporting Goods portation, payments, fraud and
shoppers the right payment Ralph Lauren customer care services.

tenders in every local and Signet Jewelers

regional market.
Stein Mart Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 935 First Ave.
retailers are included. The information on this page is Pierre Winand, President/CEO
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from King of Prussia, PA 19406 Devang Patel, CTO
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 610-491-7000 Gary Crowe, CFO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
Radial is owned by bpost.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with KC Fox, senior vice
president of technology
Robust fraud prevention strategies services, Radial
help retailers decrease chargeback,
increase sales

Incidents of ecommerce fraud have been steadily rising over where the holes are in your system and taking advantage of
the years and continue to worsen. According to the LexisNexis them. Therefore, retailers need equally sophisticated tools to
Risk Solutions report, retail fraud attempts have doubled combat fraudster attacks.
over the last 12 months with small retailers and mid-sized
retailers selling digital goods being hit the hardest. To discuss What strategies can retailers implement
how retailers can defend themselves against fraudsters while to better manage ecommerce fraud and
still increasing conversions, Internet Retailer spoke with decrease chargebacks?
KC Fox, senior vice president of technology services at Radial,
First, they need to either become fraud prevention experts or
a global omnichannel technology and operations provider.
hire fraud prevention experts. Chances are fraud prevention
isn’t the focus of their business. And it can be detrimental
What common mistakes do retailers make
to your relationship with a customer when you decline
when it comes to fraud prevention? a sale that looks like fraud but is actually legitimate. You
Many retailers tend to not invest enough in their fraud will insult the customer, and they likely never buy from
prevention strategies. And that may be for a few different you again. So retailers really need to invest properly in
reasons. First, they think they won’t have a fraud problem. finding outside sources that can effectively handle fraud
A men’s underwear merchant, for example, might think that prevention for them.
fraudsters are only targeting expensive items, but studies
have shown that they often go after lower cost items to An ideal fraud prevention partner, such as Radial, understands
make their money. how fraudsters work. They can identify retailer’s fraud
vulnerabilities and set in place the appropriate measures
Second, retailers often don’t recognize that they might already to thwart attacks. But on top of that, they can implement
have a fraud problem. They think they’re doing a great job strategies that help retailers optimize for taking more risk with
preventing fraud—and they probably are. But they are doing the questionable transactions to increase sales.
it at the expense of sales by declining what may be perfectly
good orders out of fear those orders are fraudulent. And finally, How can retailers increase good conversions?
many fraudsters manage their fraud on the cheap. Instead of
In addition to working with fraud prevention experts and
investing in robust fraud prevention tools, they try to handle it
investing in the right tools, retailers need to plan for attacks.
internally—delegating the task to lower level employees. Fraud
Understand the various attacks, then have a plan in place
prevention is very complex, so this strategy will never work.
ahead of time for handling those attacks. The easiest way
to do this is to understand your customers really well. The
What are the most complex challenges more you know about your consumer and how they behave
retailers face when trying to manage fraud? normally, the easier it is to identify whether what may seem
There is a very delicate balance between declining potentially like a fraudulent transaction is actually how they behave.
fraudulent transactions and approving valuable sales. That’s That helps you increase conversions.
where retailers struggle. They need the tools and expertise
to delve deeply into those particularly questionable sales
to determine whether they should approve or decline
those transactions.

Additionally, fraudsters are amazingly sophisticated. They’re

intelligent, they adapt, and they’re good at figuring out
SIMPLIFYING
ECOMMERCE
Radial is focused on delivering technology and services to help you:

Deliver orders faster Expose more inventory Scale on demand

Mitigate fraud Inspire customer loyalty

Visit Radial.com to see how our Fulfillment, Supply Chain Logistics, Customer Care,
Payments & Fraud and Order Management Solutions can grow your business.

www.radial.com | +1 877 255 2857

 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

PAYMENT PROCESSING

1
A payment processor is a company
that a merchant works with to PayPal
handle transactions from various Top 1000 Clients: 159 Client Web Sales: $23.51B
payment types, such as credit and

2 Chase Merchant Services

debit cards. Payment processing
vendors enable shoppers to pay for
Top 1000 Clients: 80 Client Web Sales: $291.97B
items on a retailer’s website, either

3
directly on the checkout page or
through a redirect to pay via a third- CyberSource 1

party website. Top 1000 Clients: 47 Client Web Sales: $19.58B

4 Authorize.Net 2

Top 1000 Clients: 34 Client Web Sales: $4.75B

5 Amazon
Top 1000 Clients: 32 Client Web Sales: $3.76B

6 FIS 3

Top 1000 Clients: 31 Client Web Sales: $80.36B

7 Fiserv 4

Top 1000 Clients: 24 Client Web Sales: $46.36B

8 Radial 5

Top 1000 Clients: 14 Client Web Sales: $9.92B

9 Google
Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $10.26B

10 CardinalCommerce
Source: Internet Retailer 6
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $3.14B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. CyberSource is owned by Visa. 2. Authorize.net is owned by Visa. 3. In July 2019 FIS acquired Worldpay.
4. In July 2019 Fiserv acquired First Data. 5. Radial is owned by bpost. 6. CardinalCommerce is owned by Visa.

78 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

PERSONALIZATION
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
A large advantage ecommerce sites
have over their bricks-and-mortar Certona (Kibo)1
competitors is their ability to show
Top 1000 Clients: 83 Client Web Sales: $52.46B
a customer products she might like

2 Monetate
based on past site behavior and
past purchases. Personalization
allows websites to show customers Top 1000 Clients: 80 Client Web Sales: $39.34B

3
products they’re more likely to
buy through a range of marketing Salesforce
channels, such as targeted emails Top 1000 Clients: 62 Client Web Sales: $24.56B

4
and recommended products. Even
with consumers wary of providing
too much data, the benefits of
Bluecore
making them feel unique can Top 1000 Clients: 55 Client Web Sales: $45.58B

5 RichRelevance
be dramatic. Combining buying
history, demographic information,
geographic details and pricing Top 1000 Clients: 36 Client Web Sales: $42.84B

6
data can connect customers with
products they want to buy. Pain
points in personalization include
Nosto
Top 1000 Clients: 31 Client Web Sales: $245.73B
data gathering, analyzing trends to

7 Reflektion
determine the right personalization
options and creating personalized
marketing materials. Data vendors Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $3.73B

8
can provide customer data and
demographics can help inform Adobe
trends, while A/B testing helps to Top 1000 Clients: 18 Client Web Sales: $23.38B
find the most effective marketing
options. Automation and artificial
intelligence are playing a growing
role in determining how companies 9 TowerData
Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $19.53B

9 GroupBy
spend their time personalizing
products for shoppers.
Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $7.54B

9 Deloitte
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $2.70B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In February 2019 Certona was acquired by Kibo.

79 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Personalization SPONSORED CONTENT

CERTONA (KIBO)
RANK IN 2019

1 83
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Certona provides AI-based, real-

PRIMARY URL YEAR

2004
time personalization for retailers LAUNCHED
and brands. The Certona Certona.com
Experience Manager identifies
customers by demographics,

$52.46 BILLION
browsing and purchase history, TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
location and session context, CLIENT WEB SALES
among other factors. This data is
then used to provide customers
with product recommendations TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
and content based on their
in-the-moment behaviors and
Web only: 18 Chain: 40 Manufacturer: 8 Catalog/Call Center: 17
their profile and powered by
a deep-learning algorithm.
All customer data is profiled
using behavioral knowledge,
contextualization, segmentation TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
information and predictive $40M or less: 5 $40-125M: 31 $125-500M: 24 $500M or more: 23
intelligence. Certona gives
clients tools to measure and
test performance and enables
them to manage all aspects of
the personalization process, KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
including audience targeting, All-in-one personalization
product and content recom-
The Home Depot
Kroger platform with applications
mendations, and customer focused on discovery, search,
permissions. Certona also offers
Gap
Nike recommendations and
predictive and visual search content.
solutions, as well as email and
Sears
remarketing personalization.
Victoria’s Secret Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 David Post, CEO
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 717 N. Harwood St., Suite 1900
retailers are included. The information on this page is Meyar Sheik, President/Chief Commerce Officer
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from Dallas, TX 75201 Ram Venkataraman, Chief Product &
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 858-369-3888 Technology Officer
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
In February 2019 Certona was acquired by Kibo.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with Mayer Sheik,
CEO, Certona
Orchestrating customer journeys
by pairing personalization
technology with unified data

Creating personalized customer experiences is table stakes learn about an individual shopper holistically and can
in today’s competitive ecommerce environment. And it’s use that information to deliver a better experience every
more than simply offering product recommendations. To win step of the way.
at personalization, retailers need a 360-degree view of the
customer—one that comprises data from a wide number How can retailers personalize touchpoints
of online and offline channels. Internet Retailer spoke with beyond product recommendations?
Mayer Sheik, CEO of Certona, a provider of ecommerce
By leveraging technology that allows them to predict human
technology, about how retailers can harness that customer
behavior after a few clicks—even for anonymous visitors.
data to personalize every touchpoint of the shopping
Certona’s software, for example, works to understand the
journey—even beyond mere product recommendations.
shopper right away, even if it’s their first time on a retailer’s
site and we know little about them. As they move about the
How has the availability of customer data site, we learn more by observing their interactions. We get
changed in recent years? a better understanding of the types of products they might
The online retail phenomenon gave retailers access to a wealth want to see and the experience they want to have. This allows
of data about customers, beyond just traditional transactional online retailers to dynamically “rearrange the shelf” as the
data. With the customer’s permission, retailers now have customer is “walking down the aisle.”
the ability to collect customer behavioral data. Mobile
shopping introduced new touchpoints that provide additional What challenges do retailers typically
information about shoppers. Options like buy online pick up face with regard to their personalization
in store; buy online, return in store; and reserve online, buy initiatives?
in store provide even more data about customer preferences.
First, many retailers don’t get buy-in from their C-suite,
Then there’s fulfillment—how, when and where customers
which often sees personalization as just an expensive
prefer to receive products. The customer journey is no longer
feature. But personalization isn’t a feature. It’s a corporate
linear. It’s random and unique to each shopper’s habits.
new customer experience strategy. Secondly, retailers don’t
always understand the importance of good data and that they
How can retailers harness that data and use
need it from the start. Only then can they unify and connect
it to personalize the customer journey? it with other operational data to deliver that exceptional
By using software that allows retailers to bring it together personalized experience.
and tie it to an individual shopper. But retailers also need a
unified data structure on the back end that allows them to What strategies can retailers implement to
understand things like inventory levels, product attributes, overcome these challenges?
shopper attributes, promotional items—anything that helps
Make sure the different data silos inside the organization
make the customer experience smooth. There is a lot of
start talking to each other. Data is the high octane fuel for
information to collect, maintain and organize. And the
the personalization engine. Retailers need to make sure it’s
more unified and connected that data is, the better retailers
enriched. Then, start simple, trying out personalization in areas
where you know you have holes. Get some quick wins and get
the organization to understand the value of personalization.
Finally, work with a partner that is not just a technology
provider, but also adds value in terms of best practices. Then
build up from there. But understand that there is no silver
bullet. It’s a lot of nurturing, looking at the data and testing.
Ranked the #1
Personalization Provider
for 11 Years in a Row
Anyone can be buzzword compliant, but the industry’s leading retailers know who they can
trust to deliver one-to-one experiences. Engage your customers and build loyalty with a
data-driven approach to automate omnichannel personalization.

AI-POWERED BEST-IN-CLASS HIGH-TOUCH OPTIMIZATION

INNOVATION CLIENTS SUPPORT EXPERTISE

Discover why Brands Worldwide Trust Certona

for Real-time, Omnichannel Personalization
Go beyond segmentation with Certona, the pioneer in real-time, AI-driven individualization. With
personalization solutions for search, browse and discovery, recommendations, and content, you can
tailor your customer experiences across all touchpoints, including stores, web, apps, and email.

Named a “Leader” in Gartner’s 2019 Magic Quadrant for Personalization Engines, Certona partners with
over 500 brands in more than 70 countries.

WWW.CERTONA.COM
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

1
Search engines make the vast library
of online content accessible, serving
up the most relevant content to
Kenshoo
user queries. But to make money, Top 1000 Clients: 82 Client Web Sales: $247.55B

2
search engines all sell slots in
those search results as ads, helping
retailers target potential customers
ChannelAdvisor
based on what they search for—this Top 1000 Clients: 44 Client Web Sales: $30.30B

3
is called keyword bidding. Search
engine marketing has become a
quick way to not only advertise a
Marin Software
product, but also A/B test product Top 1000 Clients: 38 Client Web Sales: $42.34B

4
page copy, acquire customers and
even show up in competitors’ search
results. While traditional advertising
ForwardPMX 1

agencies will incorporate search Top 1000 Clients: 30 Client Web Sales: $12.50B

5
marketing into many campaigns,
some agencies will help retailers
constantly evaluate search engine
iProspect 2

marketing opportunities via Top 1000 Clients: 27 Client Web Sales: $223.59B

6
software and human help. Marketing
software platforms also have built-
in search engine marketing tools to
Merkle 3

allow easy expansions of campaigns. Top 1000 Clients: 26 Client Web Sales: $33.86B

7
The practice is closely linked to
search engine optimization, which
involves crafting copy and altering
BloomReach
site metadata to rank higher in Top 1000 Clients: 21 Client Web Sales: $32.81B
search engine algorithms. Both
require keeping a close eye on
popular search terms and proper
practices as outlined by various
search engines. However, they are
8 ROI Revolution
Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $1.44B

also highly susceptible to changes

in algorithms and advertising
standards that search engines hold. 9 Google
Top 1000 Clients: 14 Client Web Sales: $3.32B

10 Adobe
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.64B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In January 2019 Forward3D and PMX Agency merged and rebranded as ForwardPMX.
2. iProspect is owned by Dentsu Aegis Network. 3. Merkle is owned by Dentsu Aegis Network.

83 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Search Engine Marketing SPONSORED CONTENT

KENSHOO
RANK IN 2019

1 82
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Kenshoo software is designed

PRIMARY URL YEAR
to help brands and agencies
2006
LAUNCHED
automate and optimize their
marketing spending. Its software
Kenshoo.com
helps clients run ad campaigns
across the leading search

$247.55 BILLION
platforms, including Google, TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
CLIENT WEB SALES
Microsoft Advertising, Yahoo,
Pinterest and Verizon Media.
Using Kenshoo’s software,
retailers gain productivity, perfor- TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
mance and intelligence with
insights-to-action scheduling,
Web only: 25 Chain: 30 Manufacturer: 19 Catalog/Call Center: 8
launching, managing and testing
of campaigns in various markets
across different publishers.
The automation features are
designed to help marketers TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
easily manage large numbers of
accounts or locations. Kenshoo $40M or less: 4 $40-125M: 31 $125-500M: 22 $500M or more: 25
allows marketers to automate
campaign launches and routine
tasks, set alerts for bid and
budget thresholds and create
and scale localized ads. The
KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Kenshoo Search for Local solu-
tion allows retailers to connect Shutterfly Marketing technology platform
offering data-driven insights and
order management systems and Ace Hardware optimization, with SEM technology
CRMs to automatically launch Macy’s that provides direct access to leading
new accounts. It also has tools search platforms and help with
Walgreens tasks like campaign and audience
intended to help marketers
William-Sonoma management.
pinpoint audiences within
specific geographic locations.
Eddie Bauer Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 Yoav Izhar-Prato, Co-Founder/CEO
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 22 4th St., 7th Floor
retailers are included. The information on this page is Alon Sheafer, Co-Founder/
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from San Francisco, CA 94103 Chief Innovation Officer
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 877-536-7462 Nir Cohen, Co-Founder/CTO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with Kate Dubois,
general manager
The customer is at the of search, Kenshoo
center of every successful
search marketing program

Search marketing has experienced an evolution in recent years. What are some strategies online retailers
What used to be as simple as tapping a few words into a search can implement to overcome these
engine has now become more creative-driven. To discuss the challenges?
challenges search marketing presents retailers and strategies
to overcome them, Internet Retailer spoke with Kate Dubois, First, they need to nail the basics. Many retailers still settle for
general manager of search at Kenshoo, a digital advertising sub-par performance and productivity gains via campaign setup
platform provider. and optimization. This includes thinking about where to leverage
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. They really
need to have expertise on best practices and the right tools and
What common search marketing mistakes
strategies in place to do that.
do retailers make?
Retailers often get too focused on promotions, ad formats and They also need to have data and be able to derive insights that
tactics. They need think about the customer journey and then can be made actionable in a search program. Intelligent search
take a more holistic approach with their search marketing efforts. marketing means understanding what your search data says
Retailers should challenge their assumptions about search as about your total customer and total marketing efforts.
well as the data—and dig deeper into whether they are genuinely
delivering growth or just seeking out vanity metrics through
tactics. There is a lot of opportunity in search marketing that How are advancements in technology
retailers may miss when they need don’t have a holistic strategy. helping retailers with search?
AI and machine learning have taken a lot of the manual labor
What complex search challenges are
out of search. Managing keywords, match types and ad copy
retailers facing? at scale took a tremendous amount of human involvement.
First, keeping up with the publishers. The technology changes Now, machine learning and AI have automated a lot of that—
rapidly and marketers need to be agile and informed enough to allowing search marketers to spend more time doing critical
know where to budget and how soon to adopt a new ad type. and creative analysis.
Additionally, new data and privacy legislation is changing retailers’
ability to zero in on relevant audiences, and adding new challenges Technology can also help by constantly monitoring search
to strategies that were previously tried and true. Consumer campaigns in an always-on way, identifying both red flags,
behavior is also changing. There’s an expectation of higher quality like evidence of ad fatigue, and areas of opportunity, like
and better prices, as well as more sharing and transparency in our new audience segments—and surfacing these suggestions
reliance on peer reviews. They’re demanding better experiences in real time.
at every touchpoint, including the ability to easily search for
products. Consumers are having direct relationships with brands,
and are eager to try out disruptors, so there’s more diverse What is the most important take-away
competition on search results pages. And finally, Amazon provides retailers should know about search?
an advertising ecosystem that in many ways mirrors search Search marketing offers retailers an opportunity to connect with
engines. So developing an “Amazon strategy is critical. customers and make the most of the relationships. By ensuring
every personal experience a customer has is seamless,
connected and delivers value, you’ll win loyalty. But retailers
looking to benefit from search need a data-fueled and innovative
program with rich intelligence that manifests into access,
insights and actions.
#1 PROVIDER
FOR THE 6TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
The all-you-need search platform for the world’s largest retailers

Kenshoo Search brings intelligence, power and control to SEM with the
industry’s leading platform for retailers. Our award-winning, end-to-end
AI- and ML-based technology solutions deliver actionable insights and
elevate your search program to new heights. Kenshoo Search keeps you
ahead of the innovation curve to achieve next-level performance across
the top search publishers.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SECURITY CERTIFICATION
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Website security is especially
important for online retailers, DigiCert1
ensuring that customer payment Top 1000 Clients: 641 Client Web Sales: $524.26B
and personal information is safe.

2 McAfee
Security certifications are a way
of independently verifying that a
Top 1000 Clients: 187 Client Web Sales: $84.70B
retailer’s web address is secure and

3
connections are safe between a
user’s device and company servers. GoDaddy
All major browsers have some way Top 1000 Clients: 139 Client Web Sales: $34.90B

4
of displaying certified sites, usually
with a green lock displayed by the Sectigo 2

URL. Some browsers only accept

Top 1000 Clients: 112 Client Web Sales: $79.47B
certificates from trusted providers.

5 Let’s Encrypt
The certification marker helps
shoppers feel secure when shopping
online, especially boosting sales for Top 1000 Clients: 34 Client Web Sales: $2.73B

6
smaller sellers where new buyers
may be less trusting. These benefits Network Solutions
are compounded when adding other Top 1000 Clients: 27 Client Web Sales: $3.86B
on-site visual cues like certification

6 GlobalSign 3
seals—called trust marks—on
checkout pages. Many security
Top 1000 Clients: 27 Client Web Sales: $3.16B
certificate vendors also include

8 Trustwave
threat management, compliance
help and vulnerability checks as part
of their offerings. Top 1000 Clients: 26 Client Web Sales: $12.07B

9 Entrust Datacard
Top 1000 Clients: 16 Client Web Sales: $11.16B

10 Cloudflare
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 11 Client Web Sales: $1.31B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. DigiCert owns GeoTrust, Thawte and RapidSSL. 2. In November 2018 Comodo CA rebranded as Sectigo.
3. GlobalSign is owned by GMO Internet Group.

87 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SHIPPING CARRIER
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Shipping carriers make the online
selling of physical goods feasible. UPS
These are the companies that get Top 1000 Clients: 266 Client Web Sales: $298.26B
products from a seller’s warehouse

2 FedEx
to the customer’s door. They handle
the logistics in between, ensuring
Top 1000 Clients: 198 Client Web Sales: $269.72B
on-time delivery and minimizing

3
costs by operating at scale. Shipping
carriers allow retailers to deliver USPS
packages to almost anywhere on Top 1000 Clients: 193 Client Web Sales: $256.27B

4
the planet. Many of these services
also offer tracking options to keep Pitney Bowes
customers informed of delivery
Top 1000 Clients: 63 Client Web Sales: $268.07B
dates, integration with inventory

5 DHL
software to quickly print accurate 1
labels and return services to satisfy
customers unhappy with their Top 1000 Clients: 32 Client Web Sales: $187.11B

6
purchases. While many of these
shippers may seem similar on Canada Post
the surface, details like shipping Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $4.05B
speeds, coverage areas and unique
packaging needs can help vendors
stand out. When considering a
vendor, retailers want to think about
7 OnTrac
Top 1000 Clients: 5 Client Web Sales: $7.40B

8 NSD
product volume, package density
and warehouse location to fully
realize possible benefits. Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $9.06B

8 Ryder
Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $7.26B

8 Purolator
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 3 Client Web Sales: $838.2M
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. DHL is owned by Deutsche Post.

88 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Shipping Carrier SPONSORED CONTENT

PITNEY BOWES
RANK IN 2019

4 63
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Pitney Bowes leverages global

PRIMARY URL YEAR

1920
and domestic networks and LAUNCHED
partnerships to offer delivery PitneyBowes.com
and returns services, which
includes technology that

$268.07 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
assists its clients throughout CLIENT WEB SALES
the post-purchase experi-
ence. Its services include:
standard delivery of parcels TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
through an extensive U.S.
domestic network, leveraging
Web only: 13 Chain: 21 Manufacturer: 17 Catalog/Call Center: 12
USPS for final-mile delivery;
cross-border delivery service
to 207 countries and terri-
tories with bundled quoting TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
and compliance services; and $40M or less: 7 $40-125M: 22 $125-500M: 13 $500M or more: 21
standard domestic returns
services that allow retailers to
offer free at-home pick-up,
convenient drop-off options
and fast refunds. All of these KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
services include a diversi- Victoria’s Secret Ecommerce shipping and
fied transportation network fulfillment services, customer
Nordstrom
analytics, global and domestic
to help retailers provide
QVC ecommerce fulfillment,
consumers with consistent,
Rothy’s delivery and returns services.
timely and efficient delivery
experiences.
Dermstore Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 3001 Summer St.
retailers are included. The information on this page is Marc B. Lautenbach, President/CEO
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from Stamford, CT 06926 Stanley J. Sutula III, EVP/CFO
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 203-356-5000 Bill Borrelle, SVP/CMO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT
An executive conversation
with Rajeeb Mohapatra,
global product leader,
Pitney Bowes
What really matters to
Commerce Services
online shoppers about
delivery and returns

Whether it’s marketplace selling or direct-to-consumer, in what scenarios surcharges take effect, the private parcel
today’s ecommerce environment has created carrier industry has made it hard to discern what is a “good
unprecedented opportunities for retailers to reach value” for shipping. To reduce spend, retailers should look at
consumers. But with that growth has come challenges. whether the discounts they currently receive are being offset
According to Pitney Bowes recent Online Shopping Study, by significant surcharges—and they should realize that few
the number of holiday shoppers disappointed in online shippers actually pay the “base rate” listed by private carriers.
delivery and returns has doubled over the last four years In many cases, the USPS services are both faster and less
because of delayed shipments, expensive shipping costs expensive than discounted private carrier pricing.
and inaccurate tracking. And 40% blame the retailer.
To discuss how retailers can overcome these challenges, Which aspect of the post-purchase
Internet Retailer spoke with Rajeeb Mohapatra, global experience are retailers not paying enough
product leader at Pitney Bowes Commerce Services. attention to?
Our study asked consumers to pick the post-purchase
What can retailers do to address
scenario that felt most like getting a root canal. 64%
these issues? said “taking a long time to get a refund on a return”!
Retailers should challenge the conventional wisdom that Online returns are a tough problem for apparel retailers
faster is better. Our research found that same-day and next- in particular because shoppers don’t buy frequently
day delivery isn’t necessary to meet what today’s consumers enough with you to allow a great returns experience to
consider fast. Free shipping is what matters. More than 90% drive loyalty. But our study found that more than half of
of online shoppers consider any free shipping offer of fewer shoppers are now ‘bracketers’; they buy multiple sizes to
than five days as “fast” or “acceptable.” Half of consumers try on and return what doesn’t fit. This means that returns
think five days is acceptable. have become a part of the pre-purchase experience.
You don’t see many bricks-and-mortar stores introducing
Our study looked at dozens of other post-purchase friction into the process of using their fitting rooms.
features and offers that retailers could use to drive
conversions and repeat purchases, but free shipping was In what part of the returns process can
four times more popular than any other. If given only two retailers easily reduce friction, without
choices, 80% of consumers would pick free shipping with a adversely impacting return rates?
longer delivery time over fast shipping at a cost.
Home pickup of returns is three times more popular
What can retailers do to make free shipping among consumers than dropping returns off at a carrier
or store location. If the item fits in a mailbox, 66% of
more feasible and sustainable?
consumers prefer fitting it in the mailbox. Additionally, our
Most retailers don’t realize they are likely overpaying for research has shown that consumers hold onto their returns
1- to 4-day delivery. With complex rules and practices that for an average of four days if they’re asked to drop it off.
define when and how shipping discounts are applied and This “trunk time” adds to the perceived time it takes to
issue the customer a refund.

Retailers really need to find a shipping partner that makes

it easier for retailers to serve their customers. At Pitney
Bowes, we strive to be the easiest carrier to work with. We
offer simpler pricing with fewer and lower surcharges than
others, and we offer free at-home pickup of returns.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SITE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
A site design can be complicated.
Retailers must balance clear Adobe
product visuals, easy navigation, Top 1000 Clients: 113 Client Web Sales: $272.97B

2
engaging content and responsive
elements. Site design vendors keep Snap36
development costs down for agile Top 1000 Clients: 43 Client Web Sales: $294.54B

3
site development, quickly catching
up with trends like responsive CNET
design, integrated videos and Top 1000 Clients: 36 Client Web Sales: $90.08B

4
shoppable content, keeping load
times low, and maintaining an Syndigo 1

easy purchasing process. Vendor Top 1000 Clients: 31 Client Web Sales: $287.03B

5
solutions range from professionally
designed and updated sites to Industrial Color 2

software programs that convert Top 1000 Clients: 25 Client Web Sales: $49.80B

6
designs into code for ecommerce
storefronts. Site design can also Brightcove
inform mobile apps, marketing
Top 1000 Clients: 19 Client Web Sales: $41.13B
materials, customer emails and
advertising campaigns. Site design
also involves rich media elements,
which can be a headache for some
7 Oracle
Top 1000 Clients: 12 Client Web Sales: $4.98B

merchants that need to digitize a

paper catalog of products. Adding
elements like 360-degree product
8 Wistia
Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $5.35B

views, videos of items in use or even

augmented reality can give shoppers
nearly as much detail as those
8 Vimeo
Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $1.85B

shopping in store.

10 Guidance
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $1.70B

10 Blue Acorn
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $1.36B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In August 2019 Sellpoints was acquired by Syndigo. 2. In June 2019 Invodo was acquired by Industrial Color.

92 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SITE SEARCH
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Search bars on ecommerce sites are
the gateway to connecting shoppers
with the products they are seeking
Oracle
Top 1000 Clients: 95 Client Web Sales: $116.09B
in the absence of assistance from

2 Salesforce
a sales associate at a bricks-and-
mortar store. The feature’s success at
leading to a converted sale depends Top 1000 Clients: 57 Client Web Sales: $23.82B
largely on its ability to recognize

3 SLI Systems
the consumer’s request and deliver
the most relevant results. Vendors
and retailers alike say site search Top 1000 Clients: 47 Client Web Sales: $19.36B

4
plays a big role in retaining customer
loyalty. If a customer can’t quickly
find what she’s looking for, she’s
Algolia
Top 1000 Clients: 40 Client Web Sales: $24.39B
likely to move onto a competitor’s

5 Apache Solr
site. If done well, site search can
lead to better product discovery and
result in more revenue. Retailers Top 1000 Clients: 27 Client Web Sales: $17.98B
can invest in upgrades to enhance
site search with intelligent auto-
complete that pulls up suggested
terms as a shopper types a query, 6 Nextopia
Top 1000 Clients: 22 Client Web Sales: $1.56B

7
typo detection that predicts the
meaning of a misspelled word Adobe
and still yields the correct results,
Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $7.69B
improved synonym matching, photo

7 GroupBy
components and personalized
results based on search, order and
browsing history. Some retailers are Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $7.54B
also dabbling in search features that
derive product matches via voice
command or submitted photos of a
similar product. 9 Google
Top 1000 Clients: 15 Client Web Sales: $4.04B

10 Hawksearch
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 13 Client Web Sales: $8.01B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.

94 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Site Search SPONSORED CONTENT

SLI SYSTEMS
RANK IN 2019

3 47
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

SLI Systems offers cloud-

PRIMARY URL YEAR
based, artificial intelligence
2001
LAUNCHED
tools designed to help
retailers convert shoppers
SLI-Systems.com
into buyers, increase order
values and generate more

$19.36 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
traffic by making their prod- CLIENT WEB SALES
ucts easier to find in search
engines. Its products also
make predictions about which
products shoppers are most TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
likely to buy. The SLI Product
Discovery Suite uses artificial
Web only: 20 Chain: 10 Manufacturer: 7 Catalog/Call Center: 10
intelligence to predict what
each shopper is most likely
to buy in the moment and
includes software designed
to improve site search, TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
navigation, mobile, merchan-
dising, recommendations
$40M or less: 15 $40-125M: 21 $125-500M: 8 $500M or more: 3
and SEO. The SLI Commerce
Console organizes data into
one easy-to-use control
center. In January 2019,
software investment firm KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
ESW Capital acquired SLI AI-driven learning technology
Crate and Barrel
Systems. SLI became part designed to accelerate
of ESW’s Think3 portfolio to Lenovo
Vistaprint ecommerce sales with search
anchor an offering to support
Sennheiser personalization and predictive
and advance ecommerce
Jomashop.com discovery applications.
operations. SLI operates
on five continents and in Tire Rack Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.
20 languages.
Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors
to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 MANAGEMENT
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 401 Congress Ave.,Suite 2650
retailers are included. The information on this page is Andy Tryba, CEO
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from Austin, TX 78701 Bobbi Kommineni, SVP, Operations
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by Giuseppe Rossi, SVP, Customer Success
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

Creating personalized
experiences helps Andy Tryba, CEO,
SLI Systems
retailers differentiate
from top competitors

In today’s ecommerce environment, online behemoths personalized product recommendations and continuously
like Amazon take the lion’s share of online sales dollars. drive customers back to the sites. To do that, he suggests
Last year, Amazon reported nearly $233 billion in net partnering with a site search and navigation software
revenue—a 30% increase over 2017. According to provider, such as SLI Systems, that uses artificial intelligence
eMarketer, Amazon captured 47% of all U.S. sales online. and machine learning to automate the process.

“Retailers trying to compete with Amazon on price or “By using machine learning and artificial intelligence
fast delivery are going to lose,” says Andy Tryba, CEO of technology to better utilize data about customers, retailers
SLI Systems, a site search software provider. “Instead, they not only make their search functions better, but also their
need to differentiate by finding ways to give customers a sites overall,” he says. “And that allows for those highly
shopping experience that Amazon can’t—by turning a purely personalized experiences customers want.”
transactional experience into a highly personalized one.”
Take Adore Beauty, for example. With its more than
Tryba says customers today want to experience online 10,000 SKUs, the Australian makeup company wanted
shopping the same as they do brick-and-mortar shopping: to make sure it was guiding customers to the right
They want retailers to know their preferences and offer products from the moment they typed in the search bar.
suggestions. And they want to have conversations with So it implemented the SLI Learning Search Connect for
sales associates who know about the products they’re Magento, which automates that process for Adore. Since it
interested in. began using the software, Adore has gotten 30% of its site
revenue from search, and its session times are four times
To accomplish this in the digital world, Tryba says online longer for searchers compared to non-searchers.
retailers need access to as much data as possible about
their customers. “Retailers today can collect customer “We partnered with SLI Systems in 2010 because of its deep
information from various data points to really understand commitment to customer service,” says Gareth Williams,
who is at their doorstep,” he says. ecommerce manager at Adore Beauty. “The SLI Learning
Search Connect extension for Magento made it easy to
But oftentimes, retailers don’t access it. And when they do, implement and the results speak for themselves. We know
they struggle to understand and intelligently use the data when shoppers use search, we’ve got them!”
they have to its fullest potential. “There is a mountain of
data about what customers are actually searching within Tryba says it all comes down to the data. “When retailers
your site—how they are navigating around your site, how truly know their customer and understand their behavior
many times they have to go to a certain page to find what through the data, they can create these highly personalized
they’re looking for, and what happens when they get experiences that customer want—and truly compete
there,” he says. “But unfortunately, a lot of retailers aren’t against the Amazons of the world,” he says.
paying attention to that data or don’t have the expertise to
be able to grab it and use it.”

Tryba says by fully using that data, retailers can not only
tailor the customer experience on their sites in terms of
search and navigation, but also on inventory to make highly
 DOES INCREASING
CONVERSIONS 10x
SOUND TOASTWORTHY?

Premium wine retailer Zachys thinks so.

Improving customers’ search experience has transformed Zachys site visitors into bigger-ticket buyers.

“ Atresults
Zachys, we have seen great
from implementing SLI,
Let us help you
create results
including growth both in worth celebrating!
conversions and average
order value.
”
Victor Castro,
Visit us online:
www.sli-systems.com/InternetRetailer

Director of E-commerce, Email us:

Zachys [email protected]
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Social media marketing is a vehicle
for building brand awareness, Kenshoo
gaining web traffic, promoting Top 1000 Clients: 32 Client Web Sales: $40.06B
products and expanding a customer

2 Nanigans
base. Vendors in this category use
a combination of video, image
Top 1000 Clients: 22 Client Web Sales: $23.55B
and text ads to target consumers

3
in specific demographics or with
specific interests. Some social media AddThis 1

marketing vendors also provide Top 1000 Clients: 20 Client Web Sales: $1.40B

4
generated content for organic
discovery. The opportunity for ForwardPMX 2

retailers to boost their marketing

Top 1000 Clients: 19 Client Web Sales: $6.38B
efforts via social media sites is

5 SAP
enormous, and investments in this
arena are paying off. Social networks
have put a steady stream of ad Top 1000 Clients: 16 Client Web Sales: $23.78B

5
options to help merchants connect
the dots from their marketing efforts Olapic 3

to sale conversions. Reaching a Top 1000 Clients: 16 Client Web Sales: $2.07B
target audience in the right place
at the right time with a message
that resonates is a golden tenet
of marketing.
7 DaVinci Marketing Cloud
Top 1000 Clients: 10 Client Web Sales: $12.34B

8 Curalate
Top 1000 Clients: 8 Client Web Sales: $19.26B

9 Zinrelo
Top 1000 Clients: 7 Client Web Sales: $907.8M

10 Hootsuite
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 6 Client Web Sales: $2.87B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. AddThis is owned by Oracle. 2. In January 2019 Forward3D and PMX Agency
merged and rebranded as ForwardPMX. 3. Olapic is owned by Monotype.

98 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
Social Media Marketing SPONSORED CONTENT

KENSHOO
RANK IN 2019

1 32
CATEGORY TOP 1000
RETAIL
CLIENTS

Kenshoo is a technology
PRIMARY URL YEAR
company that helps marketers
2006
LAUNCHED
execute digital advertising
across mobile and desktop
Kenshoo.com
publishers. Kenshoo’s
marketing platform is inte-

$40.06 BILLION
TOTAL 2019 TOP 1000
grated with Google, Facebook, CLIENT WEB SALES
Microsoft Advertising, Pinterest,
Snapchat, Instagram, Yahoo,
Yandex, Yahoo Japan, Baidu
and Verizon Media through TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY CATEGORY
each publisher’s native API. The Web only: 8 Chain: 18 Manufacturer: 6 Catalog/Call Center: 0
firm’s Kenshoo Social solution
allows brands and agencies to
use one platform for managing
leading social media websites.
Kenshoo’s technology uses
machine-learning algorithms TOP 1000 CLIENTS BY WEB SALES
to evaluate the performance $40M or less: 2 $40-125M: 12 $125-500M: 3 $500M or more: 15
of ads on an hourly basis and
automatically optimize bids
and budgets. Kenshoo’s soft-
ware also includes audience
targeting, optimization algo-
rithms, automation controls KEY CLIENTS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
and analytics capabilities. Tractor Supply Marketing technology platform
The social media platform offering data-driven insights and
Sleep Number optimization, with social media
also facilitates the creation Belk management and integration tools
of Instagram Stories Ads, to help with audience engagement,
Nike branding opportunities and perfor-
which are video-based, full-
REI mance analysis.
screen ads in a vertical format
within Instagram.
Petco Animal Supplies Pricing: Pricing and fees vary.

Source: Internet Retailer 2020 Leading Vendors

to the Top 1000. Category leaders are ranked on CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
the total number of clients they have in the 2019 Yoav Izhar-Prato, Co-Founder/CEO
Internet Retailer Top 1000. Only parent companies of 22 4th St., 7th Floor
retailers are included. The information on this page is Alon Sheafer, Co-Founder/
sponsored by the vendor but all data originated from San Francisco, CA 94103 Chief Innovation Officer
the Top 1000 and editorial contact was supplied by 877-536-7462 Nir Cohen, Co-Founder/CTO
Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
SPONSORED CONTENT

An executive conversation
with John Dobrowolski,
general manager
How retailers can use of social, Kenshoo
social media ecommerce
to its fullest potential

Social media marketing has proven itself as a sales driver On top of that, each social publisher is different. Instagram
for retailers. According to eMarketer, referral traffic to Stories are a totally different ballgame from the Feed, for
ecommerce sites from social publishers is up 110% over the example. Marketers would love to “make it once” and place
last two years. To explore ways retailers can fully leverage it everywhere, but realistically, they need tools that make
social media to boost revenue, Internet Retailer spoke with editing for multiple formats easy. Meanwhile, amid new rules
John Dobrowolski, general manager of social at Kenshoo, around third-party data and consumer privacy, it’s hard to
a digital advertising platform provider. measure social performance and ad relevance.

What current social media trends are How can retailers overcome these challenges?
impacting retailers? To build optimal creative, retailers must fully understand the
In addition to driving consumers to online stores, social context of the platform and the consumer mindset inherent
commerce functionality now allows consumers to buy to it. Retailers should build their own set of best practices for
products within their favorite social networks directly. New each ad format and publisher combination, and consider the
opportunities for shopping across Facebook, Instagram, role each platform plays in consumers’ lives.
Pinterest and Snap are just the tip of the iceberg. We’re going
to see more purchasing options within social media over the Measurement challenges involve tracking issues. Brands
next few years that will have the potential to rival direct sales need to use every option offered by the publishers and
volume of traditional ecommerce. their technology partners to increase the efficacy of social
measurement, and they need tools to validate the numbers
What common social media mistakes do with an unbiased, holistic perspective.
retailers make?
How can technology help?
Retailers still aren’t leveraging the full social funnel to
maximize the opportunity it provides. Social is amazing at As social advertising accounts grow, retailers need help
the top of the funnel, as well as good at driving interest at from machine learning and artificial intelligence to manage
the middle. And it helps to convert at the bottom—whether campaigns and ads at scale. Technology partners can
that’s part of a social commerce feature where consumers help you manage the mix better and get smarter about
can purchase without leaving the social environment or your creative with AI that provides always-on monitoring
driving people to ecommerce sites. Another mistake lies in and surfaces issues like ad fatigue or low engagement.
complacency and assumptions around what social “can” and Technology can also help fill in gaps that native platform
“can’t” do. It helps you check all the boxes: increasing brand tools can’t, like third-party audiences and cross-channel data,
awareness, driving engagement, converting new customers to expand your customer base. It can bring your shopping
and driving repeat purchases. If it’s stronger in some areas campaigns to life by providing seamless connections and
than others, retailers should adopt the same approach they insights linking your social marketing to Amazon product
may already take with other channels. pages or Google and Microsoft search ads. An ideal platform
solution can help you plan and pace budgets, maximizing
What are the most complex social ROI throughout seasons and sales.
challenges retailers currently face?
Retailers continue to struggle with both creative and
measurement in social media. In terms of creative, social
advertising is difficult to get right. It’s complex, and because
the consumer mindset on social is so actively engaged,
there’s not a lot of room for error if an ad is missing the mark.
#1 PROVIDER
FOR THE 6TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
The all-you-need social media marketing technology for the world’s
largest retailers

Top brands require sophisticated technology. Power your paid social

campaigns with the gold standard for marketing that engages and per-
forms. Kenshoo Social delivers actionable insights, unparalleled creative
management, and advanced campaign controls. Thousands of brands
trust Kenshoo Social to automate, orchestrate, and scale advertising
across the top publishers.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

WEB ANALYTICS
 Indicates a ranking tie

1
Retailers can extract data from just
about every system or software Google
associated with their businesses— Top 1000 Clients: 647 Client Web Sales: $160.26B
from on-site analytics programs to

2 Adobe
ecommerce platforms to vendor-
supplied digital marketing services,
Top 1000 Clients: 247 Client Web Sales: $427.47B
such as email and social plug-

3
ins. With a mountain of data at
merchants’ fingertips, knowing where HCL 1

to start when mining the numbers Top 1000 Clients: 95 Client Web Sales: $85.31B

4
for insights can be overwhelming.
Web analytics vendors can help Microsoft
merchants understand which data
Top 1000 Clients: 87 Client Web Sales: $8.46B
points to collect and analyze to help

5 Crazy Egg
them make data-driven tweaks to
ultimately boost sales. Retailers can
run reports with the help of these Top 1000 Clients: 69 Client Web Sales: $16.85B

5
vendors to spot trends or evaluate
the success of a given campaign, Hotjar
page treatment or product. If a Top 1000 Clients: 69 Client Web Sales: $10.58B
particular page shows a low bounce

7 ForeSee 2
rate, high on-page time and a strong
conversion rate, this can serve as
Top 1000 Clients: 51 Client Web Sales: $61.15B
a model for mapping out a web

8 Oracle
redesign. Once armed with data that
shows something is working, online
retailers can assess which efforts Top 1000 Clients: 36 Client Web Sales: $3.33B

9
have the largest return on investment
and reallocate dollars accordingly. Webtrends
Top 1000 Clients: 25 Client Web Sales: $17.77B

10 Mixpanel
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 18 Client Web Sales: $1.74B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In July 2019 HCL Technologies acquired select IBM products. 2. Foresee is owned by Verint.

102 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

WEB HOSTING/CLOUD SERVICES

 Indicates a ranking tie
Web hosting vendors provide storage
space and access for websites—essen-
tially storing a website on servers
and delivering the sites to customers’ 1 Rackspace
Top 1000 Clients: 191 Client Web Sales: $382.88B

2 Amazon
browsers. Servers are either owned
by retailers themselves or by
vendors that lease them for client Top 1000 Clients: 163 Client Web Sales: $60.86B

3
use. Services in this arena vary in
terms of features, as well as payment Cloudflare
structures. A shared hosting setup
Top 1000 Clients: 77 Client Web Sales: $6.77B
means a provider houses multiple

4 Salesforce
websites, which is inexpensive since
the participating sites are splitting
the costs, but traffic surges on a given Top 1000 Clients: 58 Client Web Sales: $24.04B

5 Akamai
site can impact the performance of
another client. Virtual private server
(VPS) hosting still accommodates Top 1000 Clients: 51 Client Web Sales: $27.54B
multiple sites, but each site has its
own individual resources, so traffic
spikes for one site don’t have reper-
cussions on other tenants. Dedicated 6 INAP
Top 1000 Clients: 35 Client Web Sales: $24.31B

7 CenturyLink
hosting indicates that a retailer’s site
is the lone occupant on a server, so it
taps the server’s full power. Servers Top 1000 Clients: 34 Client Web Sales: $28.07B

8
typically are housed in data centers,
where remote storage, processing
and distribution of large amounts of
AT&T
Top 1000 Clients: 18 Client Web Sales: $22.38B
data occur. There has been a recent

9 Oracle
shift in this industry as vendors race
to move corporate computing to the
cloud, which offers nearly limitless Top 1000 Clients: 17 Client Web Sales: $3.78B

10
capacity and ability for retailers to
pay only for the capacity needed at Verizon Media
any given time. Top 1000 Clients: 16 Client Web Sales: $20.00B

10 HCL
Source: Internet Retailer 1
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 16 Client Web Sales: $17.87B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. In July 2019 HCL Technologies acquired select IBM products.

103 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 TOP 10 LEADING VENDORS BY CATEGORY
2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

WEB PERFORMANCE
Rich media and real-time updates
are crucial to enriching the customer
experience online, but they also
can significantly slow webpage load 1 New Relic
Top 1000 Clients: 189 Client Web Sales: $60.68B

2
times, which leads to increased
bounce rates. Performance moni-
toring tools from vendors often
Rackspace
Top 1000 Clients: 156 Client Web Sales: $373.01B
conduct an audit of on-site plugins

3 Optimizely
and widgets, identify bottlenecks
and make suggestions on adjust-
ments. Website testing and optimi- Top 1000 Clients: 132 Client Web Sales: $57.70B
zation are important to retailers as

4 Dynatrace
they evaluate their online stores’
usability. Seeing which calls to the
server are taking the longest—and Top 1000 Clients: 128 Client Web Sales: $383.24B
why—is crucial so that web teams
can isolate and tweak problem-
atic features and ensure load
times remain within an acceptable 5 Monetate
Top 1000 Clients: 82 Client Web Sales: $36.03B

6
threshold. To combat slow site
speeds and improve performance,
retailers are often forced to minimize
Adobe
Top 1000 Clients: 72 Client Web Sales: $272.20B
rich images or third-party plugins.

7
But optimization vendors can help
accelerate web performance without SmartBear
cutting content that’s necessary to Top 1000 Clients: 47 Client Web Sales: $28.69B
engage shoppers. These vendors can

8 Pingdom
automate and accelerate the loading 1
of static and dynamic content,
manage the order in which content Top 1000 Clients: 33 Client Web Sales: $6.98B
appears, and make user experi-
ences more seamless and consistent
across devices.
9 Google
Top 1000 Clients: 20 Client Web Sales: $2.58B

10 SiteSpect
Source: Internet Retailer
Client counts and web sales are based on Top 1000 data and
include primary/parent company data only.
Category leaders are ranked on the total number of parent/primary Top 1000 Clients: 19 Client Web Sales: $70.13B
URL clients named by retailers in the 2019 edition of the Top 1000.
1. Pingdom is owned by SolarWinds.

104 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie Crets is the digital editor at Internet
Retailer. She edits and writes daily web news and
long-form, in-depth retailer profiles for the web
and magazine. She also edits and writes research
reports. Stephanie previously covered retail and
ecommerce for a retail magazine where she was
editor-in-chief. She has an M.A. in writing and
Stephanie Crets
Digital Editor
publishing from DePaul University and a B.A. in screts@digitalcommerce 360.com
journalism from the University of Iowa. 312-362-0075

INTERNET RETAILER RESEARCH

FAREEHA ALI LAUREN FREEDMAN JAMES RISLEY
Director of Research Strategy Senior Consumer Insights Analyst Research Analyst
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
312-946-2048 312-572-7004 312-572-7005

LAURA BERRIGAN JONATHAN LOVE JOEL SMITH

Project Manager, Research Associate Data Analyst Data Assistant
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
312-572-6261 312-262-0069 312-362-0273

TABITHA CASSIDY BRENDAN REILLY JESSICA YOUNG

Content Manager & Analyst, Research Research Analyst Research Analyst
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
312-572-6252 312-362-0076 312-362-0104

105 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.
 2020 LEADING VENDORS TO THE TOP 1000

ABOUT INTERNET RETAILER RESEARCH

At Internet Retailer Research, our goal is to provide data and information about ecommerce that helps
retail companies, investors and technology providers prosper.

The team tracks hundreds of metrics on roughly 6,000 online retail companies around the world,
including such sought-after data points as web sales and traffic, conversion rates, average order
value and key technology partners used to power their ecommerce businesses. We sell this data in
its raw format in our multiple online databases, and we dig deeply into these numbers to help inform
our 30+ exclusive analysis reports we publish each year on key ecommerce topics, including online
marketplaces, cross-border ecommerce and omnichannel retailing. In-depth, data-focused reports are
also available on key categories of online retail like apparel, housewares, food and luxury. We also have
a robust custom research department, which provides tailored research products—in-depth reports,
exclusive surveys, raw data pulls and other products—for top retail companies, consultants, financial
analysts and technology companies.

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106 ©Copyright 2019 Internet Retailer® (a Digital Commerce 360 brand) & Vertical Web Media LLC. All rights reserved. Data as of September 2019.