The market has been questioning for years the future of Demandware. The acquisition of SAP by Hybris three years ago (Hybris is, along with Magento, one of Demandware’s direct competitors in numerous deals) had strengthened the idea that Demandware would not remain independent for long. Especially since Demandware has the unfortunate habit to double its losses every two years. Despite this, it took some time to have one of the prospective predators (bets had been placed on Salesforce or Adobe for more than 3 years) to sign the check : 2.8 billion dollars (more than 12 times its sales revenue).
This unreasonable amount reflects the deal. It’s a power grab attempted by Salesforce, which benefits from a very strong dynamic on the CRM and marketing platforms markets. Adding ecommerce to its scope – along with Demandware’s acquisition – enables Salesforce to become one of the rare omnicanal “one-stop-shoppers” of the market (though some solutions are still missing such as PIM/DAM, POS…). In direct competition with Salesforce, Oracle and SAP have done their shopping earlier and did not make the most of their edge, delaying the integration of their acquisitions and forgetting to listen to their clients and integrators.
Integrators : it’s exactly one of the key challenges for the couple Demandware/Salesforce. They will have to learn to leave room for this ecosystem, essential to the success of the projects and ensuring to offer a sufficient variety of qualified integrators (historical weakness of the young couple). Two pure players who get married is always a sign of vitality in our sector. Hoping this does not ends up with an acquisition by Microsoft like it has been rumored for years concerning Salesforce.
And let’s not forget about Adobe… who must feel lonely today.