Wix VP of Global Strategic Sales Matt Matergia talked this morning about how the pandemic’s acceleration of eCommerce has created a “new Main Street” that is more about omnichannel than brick and mortar. And it is driven by tools that have to be simple and powerful. He also described the current business environment as a “transaction era.”
Matt highlighted changes in consumer expectations across the globe. And he discussed Wix’s product expansion from offering just a digital presence solution to a more complete digital solution that helps SMBs to thrive in a new more omnichannel environment.
A few stats for a sense of Wix’s scale. The company has 5,600 employees, half of which are in product roles. The company has annual revenues of $1.1 billion. And it has 210 million users worldwide, half of which are in the U.S. and the rest global.
Key Takeaways
— The biggest change Wix has had to adapt to has been the growth of SMB eCommerce, which was massively accelerated by Covid. He said eCommerce penetration grew more in the first three months of the pandemic than it had the previous 10 years.
— A key point Matt made involved Wix’s ambitions to scale through channel partnerships. Wix is heavily investing in the partner channel, as evidenced by Wix’s large presence at this event. This is something Matt says is critical for meeting the company’s stated goal of serving 50% of all businesses online. And Matt emphasized that Wix wants to only be a technology partner. They are not adding a service layer. That will stay with partners, with support from Wix.
Matt shared three key imperatives for SMBs in this “new Mainstreet” era.
— No 1. was finding revenue drivers for non-traditional commerce. And figuring out the right ongoing omnichannel model. He cited the fitness industry which saw a 58% revnue decline last year as gyms closed during lockdowns. As it starts to reopen, the industry has invested $2 billion in fit-tech. Wix has responded with verticalized business solutions like Wix Fit, which helps gyms move to subscription and on-demand content, for example. Another example is Wix Restaurants, which helps restaurants offer curbside pickup, contactless dining, and so on.
— No 2. was seamless online-offline commerce. How prepared is a business to meet customers both in-store and online? This is all about omnichannel solutions.
— No 3. is about finding innovative ways to grow businesses. Strategies to entice consumers to buy. This is about finding new ways to drive online transactions. The example he cited was adding live chat. Matt said businesses with live chat on their websites generated 8% more revenue than their peers without live chat. And the key is building SMB-friendly toolsets that make it easy to add these tools.
Discovery to Transaction: Transformation in the New Age of Commerce
As economies closed overnight, Wix witnessed massive changes in how 210M+ SMBs adapted the way they communicated with their customers and ran their businesses. In this discussion, Matt Matergia will highlight changes in consumer expectations across the globe, and Wix’s expansion from online presence to a complete digital solution that is empowering SMBs to thrive with the new main street.
Matt Matergia, WIX
