CommerceHub has signed an agreement to acquire Mercent, which provides digital-marketing services to online retailers. A credible source who wished to remain anonymous said Mercent had laid off a significant number of staff 2 months ago.
CommerceHub, a subsidiary of Liberty Interactive Corporation, enabled more than $8 billion in annual gross merchandise value in the past year. Its platform integrates retailers with a network of over 8,500 drop-ship suppliers, enabling retailers to radically expand their product offering without inventory risk.
By combining capabilities, CommerceHub and Mercent will allow clients to orchestrate the entire omni-channel commerce experience from demand to doorstep, according to the announcement.
CommerceHub CEO Frank Poore said, “By combining CommerceHub and Mercent, we will have an offering that enables retailers to radically expand their product assortment, generate greater demand, and optimize customer delivery from any source of supply – including stores, warehouses, drop-shippers or third-party sellers.”
The two organizations plan to combine teams and retain a presence on the East and West coasts. Eric Best, Mercent founder and CEO, will remain with the company, reporting to Poore as the company’s chief marketing officer.
When combined, the services will allow global retailers to launch marketplaces featuring third-party seller assortment with full monitoring and control of the entire delivery process
The deal is expected to be finalized in January 2015, subject to customary closing conditions. We reached out to Mercent on Monday which has yet to respond to our inquiry about the company’s reported layoffs.
