Adobe has long been a global leader in content creation, analytics, marketing, and advertising, and this week it announced that it will be adding another tool to its toolbox. Adobe said on Monday that it has definitively agreed to acquire market-leading commerce platform Magento Commerce for $1.68 billion. This acquisition will allow Adobe to gain a foothold in physical store and online purchasing, leading digital marketing strategy straight through to digital transaction in a seamless Experience Cloud suite.
Since 2011, Adobe shifted from selling boxed software to providing software as a Cloud Experience service. This shift has enabled the company to grow exponentially since then, boosting stock prices from around $30 to $240 a share, according to Forbes.com. The transformation of cloud-based software has not only increased the longevity of Adobe’s customer base, but has allowed the company to focus its efforts on the purchasing and integration of high-quality, high-demand products and services such as Magento Commerce.
Magento was operating within the eBay marketing stack until 2015, and was privately owned until Adobe made its most recent move. It has become a commerce platform of choice in recent years, especially with the introduction of the Order Management and B2B offerings in 2016. These functions have rounded out Magento’s platform and contributed to its success in the enterprise market, no doubt making it a prime acquisition target to round out Adobe’s commerce needs.
As content and commerce have become mandatory partners in digital innovation and customer relationship management, the addition of an internal commerce platform will fill an important gap in the Adobe Experience Cloud. Avionos president Scott Webb weighed in saying, “Adobe’s acquisition of Magento Commerce continues to demonstrate how integral commerce is to the customer experience. Similar to the Salesforce acquisitions of Demandware and CloudCraze, we continue to see customer experience platform providers recognize that an integrated customer journey includes a rich shopping experience.”
He went on to say, “These providers are also recognizing the need to unify both B2B and B2C commerce capabilities to enable a more holistic and seamless approach to the customer experience that reaches across multiple touch points. It’s important for businesses to own the eCommerce experience—and the customer—from end-to-end, and not outsource or give up margins, and this move is Adobe doing just that.”
In addition to an enhanced customer experience, Adobe will also gain access to Magento’s large and mid-sized corporate customers, including Cannon, Paul Smith, Helly Hansen and Rosetta Stone. Both firms, which were partners before the merge, already share large joint customers including Coca-Cola, Cathay Pacific, Nestlé, and Warner Music Group. Both Adobe and Magento share a community-driven vision of the future, encouraging open sourced development in order to drive innovation. Matt Asay, head of Abobe’s developer ecosystem expressed, “Together, we’ll deepen our commitment to open, developer-driven experiences. We couldn’t be more excited about the limitless possibilities.”
As a partner to Adobe, at Avionos, we’re also excited about a future where commerce and marketing blend to offer a more engaging overall customer experience. The B2B and B2C opportunities are endless.
The acquisition is scheduled to close in the third quarter of Adobe’s fiscal year. Current CEO Mark Lavelle will continue to manage Magento within the Adobe Cloud Experience under the direction of Brad Rencher, executive vice president and general manager of Adobe’s digital experience.
To learn more about this acquisition, visit www.adobe.com or www.magento.com.
