Business – A “headless trade” platform that provides APIs for companies building online storefronts – A few years ago, a significant boost to its business, raising funds Valuation up to US$1.9 billion With the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are eager to improve their e-commerce businesses as shopping online all over the world.
Today, the script looks a little different in e-commerce and business.
TechCrunch learned and confirmed that CormerCetools has laid off dozens of employees in the past few weeks after failing to meet its sales growth target, including about 10% earlier on Wednesday. It also made numerous execution changes, including a way to separate from its Chief Revenue Officer and CFO, and reassigned its former roles as its Chief Information Security and Compliance Officer.
“Although we have made meaningful progress and our business has been growing, we have not fully achieved positive revenue growth targets over the past few quarters,” CEO Andrew Burton said in a memo for the company that TechCrunch has seen. “This reality requires me, our executive team and our board to gain insight into the position we lack, the strength we show and what needs to be changed to build a stronger future.”
According to the memorandum, a “significant” restructuring will be carried out in marketing, sales and internal operations such as human resources and finance. Selected employees in customer and product development will also be “after reviewing performance and impact.”
A complete memorandum shared by the source and confirmed by the company as true.
Burton spoke to TechCrunch after we contacted the company about the memorandum, saying that about 10% of employees were affected today but refused to provide exact figures. A source who spoke with TechCrunch on anonymous condition said the total number of layoffs today exceeded 70, including smaller layoffs in the past few weeks, which could account for up to 20% of the workforce. Burton also added that the company hopes to take on 25-30 public roles.
It’s a tough road for a company that has performed strongly in the market. Originally founded in Munich, Germany in 2006, CormerCetools raised only $30 million in external funding before being acquired by retail giant Rewe in 2015. By 2019, its revenue grew 110% annually, so Rewe once again sold it as a startup, a startup Support $145 million Insight Partners has $300 million in funding.
CormerCetools’ business has flourished with digital shopping for various shopping after Covid-19 hits. It will only increase after less than three years of splitting investment $140 million A $1.9 billion valuation led by Accel.
Through all this, Dirk Hörig, founder of CommerCetools, led the company as CEO. He left his highest position in July 2024 and was replaced by Burton. (Hörig retained a board seat and is the company’s chief innovation officer.)
At that time, the company was producing “Beyond“The annual recurring revenue is $100 million, and Burton’s arrival is reportedly seen as a pioneer in the company’s listing in 2025 or 2026. Burton declined to comment on an IPO or other future plans today.
The memorandum is at a high level that ComcerCetools lacks its growth target, but there are other more specific shifts in the market.
Although CommerCetools was an early promoter of the term first coined by Hörig, many competitors have emerged in recent years. The most important of these is Shopify, which initially casts itself on smaller businessmen and gradually works with larger retailers targeted by ComppercEtools.
E-commerce continues to grow, but breakthrough pace between 2020 and 2022 continues to grow. U.S. Census Bureau Numbers It pointed out that U.S. retail e-commerce grew only 2.7% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2024, totaling $308.9 billion, accounting for 16.4% of all retail sales. Earlier today, eBay noted its fourth-quarter sales growth Only 1%.
Burton also cited questions about how tariffs will serve as another factor affecting e-commerce companies and the knock-on effect on suppliers such as CommerceCools.
“We do have ambitious goals, and we are not resetting to reflect macroeconomic uncertainty,” Burton told TechCrunch today.
Finally, while brand-owned stores (for companies like CommerCetools’ main businesses) continue to form a huge part of the e-commerce market, they also compete with new market waves. Temu, Instagram and Tiktok all represent a new type of social trade that can change the game again.
The ball is in court, and companies like CormerCetools can be forecasted and built anywhere, but people may want to shop in the future.
The following memo:
theme: Important updates
Hello everyone,
Over the past few years, we have set ambitious targets and anticipated strong growth in the market. Despite our meaningful progress and our business continues to grow, we have not fully achieved our positive revenue growth targets over the past few quarters. This reality requires me, our executive team and our board of directors to show strength and what needs to be changed to build a stronger future, to have a deeper understanding of our identities.
As part of this, we made the difficult decisions to reorganize several teams, implement goals in specific areas to reduce and eliminate certain roles. This decision is not a reflection of individual business people, their talent, dedication or influence, but a necessary step to our focus and repositioning to put an increasingly powerful position in this turbulent market.
Many of you have strong relationships with colleagues who have left today. They shape business in a big way, and we really appreciate it. We provide severance payments to all affected employees and continue to earn more than market standards. Additionally, we are continuing to gain access to OpenUP, and our online platform offers a variety of mental health support resources to support them in this transition.
I know it’s hard to deal with. Change brings uncertainty and we are committed to providing as much clarity, support and guidance as possible. To help answer common questions, we have summarized employee FAQs, outlining key details about restructuring, available resources, and next steps.
To give everyone room to reflect, we will have a holiday on Friday, February 28.
Your CEO will meet with your department later today or tomorrow to discuss what this means for you and your team.
What has changed
Level C update:
- Bruno Teuber (CRO) – Transition from the executive team and serving as a consultant until the end of H1. A new CRO search has begun; during this time the sales will report to me.
- Dan Murphy (CFO) – Transition from the executive team, recommendations until the end of H1. CFO role Will not be backfilled;Financial, digital solutions and legal will be reported to Matt Tuel (COO).
- Denis Werner (Chief Information Security and Compliance Officer) – Playing a role in compliance under Dirk Hörig. Its actions migrate to digital solutions under Matt Tuel, to information security of products under Hajo Eichler and to office management for people under Roxana Dobrescu.
Major reorganization team:
- Marketing (including BDR) – Focus on Enterprise GTM models and sales PODs.
- Sales and Operations – Reorganize to improve sales support and focus on top markets/customers.
- Enable functions (financial, personnel, etc.) – Merge teams to improve operational efficiency.
- Other affected areas – Select to enter Customer and product development After reviewing performance and impact.
Change is no easy task, but it is at the heart of what we do – helping businesses adapt to new reality. Now, so are we. In our The company will be owned tomorrowWe will cover these changes in more detail – why, what, what and how we move forward together – faithfully to our belief in boldly adapting to the next step.
Andrew
