WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency and BigCommerce have announced a new strategic partnership. The agreement offers omnichannel solutions to help WPP clients drive growth and maximise sales across hundreds of advertising channels and marketplaces. The partnership will give WPP priority access to new product tools on both BigCommerce and data feed management platform Feedonomics. Furthermore, it provides APIs and data sets that will enable WPP agencies to develop unique insights for clients across product, trend and purchasing data.
This partnership reflects WPP’s ongoing investment in its commerce offer for clients. It includes a joint commitment from BigCommerce and WPP to help shared clients develop nimble commerce solutions and scale growth. It follows the announcement that WPP agency Wunderman Thompson has joined the MACH Alliance, of which BigCommerce is an early member.
As BigCommerce’s inaugural data partner, WPP will receive priority access to alpha and beta products. In addition to platform integrations including Amazon, Meta, Google and TikTok. These tools will allow teams to maximize omnichannel sales and optimize spend for both B2C and B2B clients.
To help shape product development and innovation
WPP will help shape product development and innovation at BigCommerce, with commerce specialists joining product and partner councils. WPP agencies will receive access to a custom training programme and certification pathways. As part of the partnership, WPP commits to upskilling 150 commerce specialists within the first year of working with BigCommerce.
The partnership announcement aligns with WPP’s accelerated growth strategy to strengthen technology and commerce offerings. The announcement follows the news of the company’s ranking as a Leader in Forrester’s latest global Commerce Services Wave.
Nilufar Fowler, Executive Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at WPP, said: “With the rise of social commerce, direct-to-consumer purchases and acceleration of ecommerce, brands require omnichannel expertise that meets the needs of the modern consumer. This partnership with BigCommerce reflects our commitment to continue to develop a unique commerce offering for our clients.”
Marc Ostryniec, Chief Sales Officer at BigCommerce, said: “Bringing WPP’s global capabilities to our joint customers is of tremendous value. The combination of the BigCommerce platform and WPP is unlike anything we have previously done. We are already unlocking opportunities for joint customers worldwide to drive revenue and accelerate growth by bringing to market truly innovative solutions for omnichannel commerce. As BigCommerce continues to expand its global footprint and move upmarket, we remain focused on modernizing the commerce experience through our world class partner ecosystem to help brands grow and succeed.”
Enterprise Times: What this means for business
This is an interesting partnership for both companies. Last year to much fanfare, WPP launched ‘Everymile’ – expanding its offer with a new fully managed service. Everymile aimed to provide brands with an outsourced direct-to-consumer (DTC) eCommerce solution. The new venture was expected to build on WPP’s existing global omnichannel commerce capabilities in strategy, customer experience and technology development. The service supports demand generation, online trading and merchandising, supply chain and logistics. The strategy was to enable companies and brands to deliver brand-led DTC commerce – from the customer’s screen to their doorstep. WPP says this will be simple and cost-effectively.
Does this new partnership with mean Everyman is side-lined or obsolete? WPP agencies such as Wunderman Thompson already have expertise and experience developing commerce platforms for major global companies. These agencies are platform agnostic and work closely with Adobe Commerce, Salesforce and other platform providers. Will those resources now be detoured into developing the in-house BigCommerce skillset?
For BigCommerce, it’s a win-win situation, as the company attempts to re-position itself towards B2B and more global complex enterprises. BigCommerce must be the most active eCommerce platform on the market, rapidly expanding its eco-system and extending its geographical reach. This was a necessary step to support WPP’s extensive global network. Getting into bed with WPP inevitably will bring them into the boardrooms and discussion tables of major brands and corporations.
