Demandware competitor gets testy over IPO filing

Boston Business Journal by Kyle Alspach, VC Editor 

As Demandware sought to complete its initial public offering, the Burlington company on Tuesday was thanked — and then mildly disparaged — by e-commerce software competitor Venda of New York.

In a press release, Venda leveled the accusation that Demandware previously "did not clearly represent" the nature of the competition between the two companies in the company's S-1 filing with the SEC.

Demandware Re-files its S-1 With the SEC to Reflect Venda's SaaS and On Demand Credentials

 Demandware amends its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its IPO roadshow presentation materials to accurately reflect Venda's position in the On Demand market.

NEW YORK -- Venda, Inc. thanks Demandware for amending its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its IPO roadshow presentation materials to accurately reflect Venda's position in the On Demand market. Previously, Demandware did not clearly represent that Venda competes head to head with Demandware for business with enterprise class customers in On Demand, Software as a Service eCommerce solutions. This has now been changed as of yesterday afternoon (as at 13 March 2012).

Venda has more customers globally than Demandware, commenced trading three years before Demandware was founded, and provides many enterprise-class customers such as Tesco, TJX Companies and France Telecom with SaaS, On Demand e-commerce.

Fascinating Demandware vs Venda debate

Between Bob Felicce and Richardyeo

We are hard at work upgrading all of our retailers from Demandware 2.10.1 to Demandware 2.10.2. Underlying product upgrades and refactoring necessary are free of charge to retailers on our platform. The same cannot be said for some of our competitors. If you are considering, SnowValley, BT Fresca, etc. double check whether your contract entitles you to product upgrades free of charge.

Bob Felicce Says:
January 8, 2010 at 8:05 am
"Hi,
Fortunately, Venda – the world’s leading on-demand platform – used by major retailers (like Tesco and TJ Maxx) to institutions (BBC, British Museum and The Met) to publishers (The New Yorker, Conde Nast and Encyclopedia Britanicca) upgradges all of its customers every three weeks to the latest version – all three hundred and 20 of them!
Thats who we use.
Bob"

richardyeo Says:
January 8, 2010 at 8:36 am
"Hi Bob
Thanks for your comment.
Venda powers Tesco Clothing, i.e. http://www.clothingattesco.com
Do the upgrades every 3 weeks include new functionality or are they bug fix releases?
If you are talking about bug fixes then Demandware too upgrades its customers very frequently and can do as frequently as weekly.
One of our retailers was previously on Venda before moving to our platform.
How long have you been a Venda customer?
Regards
Rich"

Bob Felicce Says:
January 8, 2010 at 8:44 am
"Hi Richard,
Yes. Venda upgrades new features and addresses any bugs and/or issues in this timescale. In fact, typically these upgrades tend to focus on enhancements because the platform has been servicing customers since late 2001 and as such is now very robust and stable.
Venda recently communicated the customers they signed and delivered in 2009. An impressive list, I am sure you agree:
Tesco, Jimmy Choo, Cotton Traders, Flowers Direct, Denby, JD Williams, Flower Gram, TK Maxx, Kit Heath, Weleda, Kirnan, New Wonder, Animal, Sterling Furniture, Artigiano, Universal Music Group, Emma Bridgewater, Cubavera, Perry Ellis, Original Penguin, Kangaroo, Conde Nast Store, Cartoon Bank, New Yorker Store, XOXO, Jolt, David Meister, Encyclopedia Britannica, Adesso Home, iGo-US, Lilly Pulitzer, Jurlique, Faconnable, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Colombian Emeralds"

To see the full debate, click here.

Sexy IPOs Versus SaaS-y IPOs

by Doug Pepper who is a General Partner at InterWest Partners where he invests in SaaS, mobile, consumer internet and digital media companies. He blogs at dougpepper.blogspot.com. 

 IPOs are hot again. Naturally, the press is focused on high-profile offerings like Facebook’s. But, I think there is a more important group of companies going public: Smaller, less sexy Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startups. Think of it as the Sexy IPOs versus the SaaS-y IPOs. They aren’t household names, but the most recent SaaS IPOs (Cornerstone, Jive, Brightcove and Bazaarvoice) are doing better in the public markets, on average, than the Sexy IPOs of LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga. But it isn’t just their performance that matters — the recent IPOs of those cloud-based software companies (plus earlier ones from Successfactors, Netsuite, and Concur) are harbingers of several important trends:
...
The good news for the VC industry is that we have significant inventory of companies that fit this profile ($50-100M revenue and rapid growth). For example, companies like Demandware, Box.net, Workday, Yammer, Badgeville, GetSatisfaction and Marketo should all reach critical mass in the next 12-24 months. And, there are many others.

Magic Quadrant for E-Commerce

... Because of its global e-commerce SaaS offering, Venda is a Visionary, with a presence across the ... industries, such as retail, telecommunications, media and government. Venda offers core e-commerce functionalities, such as full- ... volume, with a few customers above that range. Venda has a good vision that is supported by ...

Taken from gartner.com

Heal's Implements mCommerce Site

Ernie Schell

Excepted from Ernie Schell's blog "Direct Commerce Systems and Services"

Heal’s, the UK’s home of modern designer and contemporary furniture, lighting and home accessories, has launched a mobile optimized Website that creates a rich shopping experience for consumers anytime, anywhere. Enabled through the Venda Mobile Platform powered by Localpoint Storefront from Digby, Heal’s mobile optimized site enhances their cross-channel strategy and complements their eCommerce site and six retail stores across the U.K.

Cornish Hosting – cPanel Hosting – Blog

Why mobile payments still haven’t revolutionized retail 

Excerpted from CornishHosting 

Mobile payments are a revolution waiting to happen. It just makes sense that, with so many of us carrying around increasingly advanced smartphones, we’ll be able to use them to pay at brick-and-mortar stores and the check-out line. 

Because of a lack of industry standards, retailers can’t afford to gamble and choose one standard of mobile payment over another – they need to be prepared to offer their customers the ability to pay through whatever means the customers want. Take the online commerce space as a perfect example. Platforms like Magento, Demandware, Shopify and Venda, allow easy integration with third-party software, so that payment solutions like PayPal, BillMeLater, and Google Checkout are thriving and being adopted by online retailers and consumers alike.