The eCommerce technology and services marketplace awoke to some interesting news today. eBay announced today that it will acquire GSI Commerce. The deal has a number of implications for GSI’s customers, partners, and competitors and also changes eBay’s position as a services provider and partner within the industry. It’s a big deal*, with eBay paying $29.25 a share, or approximately $2.4 billion.

Why did eBay buy GSI, what’s in it for them?

• Diversification. eBay’s core marketplace business is eroding while key competitors — principally Amazon — put up huge numbers. As the auction and SMB focus of eBay and PayPal begins to plateau, growth must come from the much larger market segment of large merchants. This deal broadens eBay and PayPal’s portfolio of services substantially, though the synergies are relatively small. eBay CEO John Donahoe characterized that as $60M, so that is not the key to the deal.

I recently had the chance to catch up with Carmen Sebe, CEO of Avangate, to talk about how agile commerce is effecting its clients and how it is positioning its solution to support the transition to agile commerce.

Avangate provides software companies with eCommerce, partner management solutions, and an affiliate network; assisting them to sell their products online as well as to manage a global distribution network. Founded in 2005, Avangate currently serves more than 1,500 software companies through its SaaS eCommerce solution and has a 22,000 member affiliate network. Carmen is a seasoned technology CEO who has worked with European and global clients for many years.

Forrester: Carmen, thanks for taking some time out to talk to us about your business and agile commerce. We have been talking to clients about the evolution of their business from channels to touchpoints. You serve clients selling digital goods across a number of different models, such as B2C and B2B. How are you looking at agile commerce and what does it mean for your business?

Ms. Sebe: For our business this has a two-fold implication: on the one hand in the way we help our customers — software sellers — reach and deliver products digitally to their B2B and B2C users. And on the other hand, agile commerce will impact the way we reach our clients. With agile commerce, software vendors will expand their product offerings to allow access to their services via many if not all touchpoints — and we have to be prepared to accept and support such behavior. It’s our vision to facilitate this process for our clients and shoppers.

Multichannel commerce no longer makes sense. As consumers are increasingly connected through a wide array of Internet-connected devices, the traditional multichannel commerce experience is becoming obsolete. Customers no longer interact with companies from a “channel” perspective; instead, they interact through touchpoints. These touchpoints include channels such as stores, branches, call centers, and websites, but also emerging interactions such as apps, social media, mobile sites, SMS messages, and interactive advertising -- across a wide range of devices such as smartphones, tablets, Internet TVs, cars, and even appliances. 

As a result, it is time for organizations to leave their channel-oriented ways behind and enter the era of agile commerce —optimizing their people, processes, and technology to serve today’s empowered, ever-connected customers across this rapidly evolving set of customer touchpoints. This is agile commerce.

I am thrilled to announce that Forrester is expanding our coverage of commerce technology and services with the addition of Senior Analyst Peter Sheldon. Many of you are likely readers of Elastic Path’s excellent blog and, therefore, will be familiar with some of Peter’s work. Peter brings a strong background in eCommerce, mobile commerce, and digital content, most recently serving as product manager at Elastic Path Software where he had been responsible for the road map and strategic direction of the Elastic Path commerce platform.

Peter and I will be collaborating closely on our research on commerce technology and services. We have a lot planned. In 2011, a few of the key areas you can look for expanded research on from us include:

• The changing nature of multichannel commerce solutions.
• eCommerce/Commerce platforms.
• Mobile commerce.
• Full-service eCommerce service providers.
• B2B eCommerce solutions.
• Digital commerce solutions (content and software).
• How to select a systems integrator.
• The changing nature of search and discovery solutions.
• Content management for commerce.
• Shopping APIs and commerce syndication.
• Global eCommerce technologies and services.

Please join me in welcoming Peter to Forrester, and I know we all look forward to our expanded commerce technology research.

Thanks, Brian

Customers have changed. They are more than ever connected, informed, and in control — their mode of operating and the ways they want to engage continue to change rapidly. They expect to find information, make a purchase, and get service when and where they want it, across touchpoints. Yet businesses are struggling to deliver well in even one channel. They are not organized to meet the changing customer needs and struggle to empower their employees and partners through enabling technology and operations. Businesses across verticals are faced with the pressure to revamp tired business processes, hierarchies, and technology road maps and innovate to meet the stream of innovation and market transformations they face.

This is a topic we are working on now. But we need your help. If you are an eBusiness leader, please help us by participating in our research through this survey. You are not alone in facing these challenges, and the more information we collect, the clearer the insights we can share back with you.