The shift to ecommerce is in full force. Merchants and consumers were already embracing this shift prior to the 2020 pandemic – from brick-and-mortar operations gradually establishing online presence, to digitally native brands purpose-built for the mobile consumer. The momentum has accelerated significantly since.
While the widespread digital transformation has revealed the limitations of existing commerce rails, it has also provided numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop technology that improves the experience for merchants and consumers alike.
At Greylock, we focus on the software layer that enables this advancement of commerce. We see opportunity to invest in technology across each stage of the funnel — from how brands approach acquiring users in the face of rising digital CACs, to how brands can best convert that traffic on performant storefronts (with the common constraint of no in-house developers), to driving reengagement and retention in a personalized & intelligent way, to driving fulfillment in a way that exceeds consumer expectations, and helping up-and-coming merchants make sense of it all with specialized analytics tools.
This opportunity is not reduced to “DTC” commerce. Wholesale & B2B commerce are equally, if not more, ripe for innovation.
To make sense of the rapidly evolving commerce landscape, we’re launching a new Greymatter podcast series focused entirely on the sector. The series will be hosted by Greylock General Partner Mike Duboe, who previously led growth at Stitch Fix and now partners with entrepreneurs across commerce, marketplaces, and network-oriented businesses.
The series officially kicked off with a conversation about a growing trend within ecommerce: headless architecture, which allows merchants to decouple the front-end storefront from the back-end. For this episode, Mike sat down with Steve Sewell, co-founder and CEO of Builder.io, who provides a commerce-oriented headless CMS with full drag & drop no-code editing, and Jordan Gal, founder of CartHook, who builds checkout optimization and post-purchase upsell software for Shopify stores. You can find the podcast here.
Mike later spoke with two experienced operators in the logistics side of the sector: Casey Armstrong, who is the Chief Marketing Officer at ecommerce fulfillment services provider ShipBob, and Aaron Schwartz, the co-founder of cross-border shipping services provider Passport Shipping. You can. listen to that podcast here.
To understand how some of the strongest brands are thriving with the omnichannel approach, Mike hosted a wide-ranging discussion with Color Capital co-founders Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino. The husband-wife team partner with companies creating the future of CPG, marketplaces, ecommerce, and media, and both bring a wealth of experience to the table. Schmidt is the founder of personal care brand Schmidt’s Naturals (which was acquired by Unilever in 2017), and is the author of Supermaker: Crafting Business on Your Own Terms, which evolved into a media company Schmidt and Cantino run together. You can listen to the podcast here.
Prior to the official launch of the series – and before the Covid-prompted shift to remote work and virtual podcasting – Mike discussed growth in the commerce ecosystem in a conversation with Native Co. founder Moiz Ali and Sharma Brands CEO Nik Sharma. You can find that podcast here.
