US omnichannel software provider NetSuite has bought London-based ecommerce platform provider Venda for an undisclosed sum, in order to strengthen its position in the European market.
Venda supplies ecommerce solutions to European retailers including Tesco’s F&F, Boohoo.com, TK Maxx and Laura Ashley and also brings to the deal long-standing experience in cloud-based commerce. Venda has worked with retailers since 2001, providing a cloud-based, software-as-a-service platform, while NetSuite, which offers cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, released its first commerce platform, SuiteCommerce, in 2012.
NetSuite cited Forrester Research figures that suggest European ecommerce will grow by 12% a year over the next five years to reach €233.9bn by 2018, and says that together Venda, with its Convergent Commerce Platform, and NetSuite, with its SuiteCommerce solution, will be well-placed to help European businesses grow internationally.
“Venda pioneered the concept of bringing commerce to the cloud and their expertise in supporting the needs of companies throughout Europe is a perfect match for NetSuite as our customers begin to adopt our SuiteCommerce omnichannel platform around the globe,” said Zach Nelson, NetSuite chief executive.
“By combining Venda’s deep customer insight and years of experience delivering a real-time scalable commerce platform with NetSuite’s cloud leadership, we can bring new capabilities to B2B and B2C companies of all sizes and transform how they run their businesses.”
Eric Abensur, chief executive of Venda, said: “Venda has incredible technology, employees and customers.
“Combining those attributes with NetSuite’s scale and leadership in cloud ERP and CRM technology, we are well positioned to meet the needs of our customers and execute on our vision of global commerce.”
The deal is part of a wider trend that has seen ecommerce platform providers extend their reach and improve their product capabilities through acquisitions over recent years. IBM, for example, bought Unica, Sterling Commerce and Coremetrics while SAP bought hybris last year.
