VMLY&R and Shopmatic are creating a co-branded commerce platform that will provide WPP's clients with direct-to-consumer and third-party commerce solutions across a range of channels.
Singapore-headquartered Shopmatic provides a range of ecommerce solutions to small businesses and individuals including the ability to sell products across four channels—chat, social, marketplaces and web stores—as well as manage stores across multiple marketplaces in one platform.
The exclusive partnership with VMLY&R will open up the same channels to WPP clients, and will enable VMLY&R to deliver an end-to-end commerce solution from consulting to completing transactions and last mile logistics.
Hari Ramanathan, chief strategy and transformation officer for VMLY&R Asia, said partnering with Shopmatic will allow the agency to move clients to margin-friendly direct-to-consumer and third-party models.
"Combined with our existing growth-hacking solution for marketplaces, we can co-own commercial outcomes with brand owners, rather than simply selling our products and services," Ramanathan said. "With Shopmatic, we are entering a new era for commerce partnerships with clients."
The partnership was signed through VMLY&R’s Asia headquarters. The platform will launch in India by the end of this year and will roll out globally shortly after.
As part of the agreement, VMLY&R plans to roll out solution stacks on the platform that span from social through to rural commerce, with general trade commerce on-boarding by the end of the year.
First launched in 2014, Shopmatic has since onboarded one million merchants and clocked US$400 million in gross merchandise value (GMV). The company is targeting five million merchants over the next three years with $3 billion in GMV.
Shopmatic cofounder and CEO, Anurag Avula said: "The partnership with VMLY&R gives us access to the world’s largest companies, such as Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Ford and Swaraj Tractors, and more importantly, comes with VMLY&R’s ability to drive volume and value through our co-branded platform."
Beth Ann Kaminkow, global CEO of VMLY&R Commerce and CEO of VMLY&R New York, added: "We work every day to build unifying client strategies around commerce, to drive both brand equity and conversion. With Shopmatic’s diverse commerce platforms, be it chat, social, webstores or marketplaces, we can now offer our clients solutions in all the places their customers are, not only streamlining the experience but improving every interaction a customer has with our clients’ brands."
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