The direct-to-consumer industry is not an easy one to thrive in. Everything from ad spend allocation to delivery logistics requires constant monitoring, and one wrong decision could lead to lost customers, which means lost revenue.
SoundCommerce was created to help D2C companies juggle all of these variables, and make data-informed decisions to improve the business long term. The Seattle-based startup announced Tuesday it closed on a $15 million Series A round, bringing it one step closer to achieving its goal of helping online retailers “think and act like Amazon.”
The company does this by collecting data across various systems and channels that are important to online retailers, answering questions about things like profitability, logistics and inventory to help ensure D2C companies make better decisions.
“The goal of every consumer brand is to align marketing, operations, and customer experience with the unique lifetime value potential of each shopper,” SoundCommerce’s CEO and co-founder Eric Best said in a statement. “With every business decision informed by real-time and predictive awareness of operational state, unit economics and CLV, SoundCommerce provides a comprehensive commerce data graph to achieve this goal.”
This funding comes at a time when e-commerce has been gaining massive traction due to the pandemic. A recent Digital Commerce 360 report found that U.S. consumers spent $861 billion in 2020 alone, up more than 40 percent year over year — the largest annual U.S. e-commerce spike in two decades. This has contributed to the recent success of other Seattle-based e-commerce logistics companies like Pipe17 and Fabric.
SoundCommerce also claims to have experienced some tailwinds amid the pandemic, and is poised to dominate the industry going forward, according to Joe Floyd, a general partner at Emergence Capital who is joining SoundCommerce’s board of directors.
“Against the backdrop of 2020, competitive pressure is greater than ever for consumer brands — and data capability means competitive advantage,” Floyd said in a statement. “SoundCommerce is the easiest way for consumer brands to leverage modern cloud data warehouses configured for their specific industry and needs. I’m excited to partner Eric and the team as they transform and enable disruptive brands in this dynamic industry.”
Emergence Capital led the Series A, with participation from existing investors Defy Partners and Voyager Capital. The money will be used to expand SoundCommerce’s capabilities and grow its team.
