Last update: April 4, 2024
The report "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: The Journey of the Mid-Market Merchant" (download it here) about the substantial challenges faced by the "Forgotten Mid-Market Merchants" stirred up heated debates all over LinkedIn and the commerce and retail podospheres. Authors Rick Watson and Mark Friedman hit a nerve.
Table of contents
Background on the "The Journey of the Mid-Market Merchant" report
Reactions to the report: agreement, skepticism, and a need for deeper exploration
1. Background on the "The Journey of the Mid-Market Merchant" report
Commerce Famous Podcast interview of co-author Mark Friedman
To learn more about how the report came about and what co-author Friedman wants readers to understand about the journey of the mid-market merchant, listen to this episode of the Commerce Famous Podcast:
ITG Commerce's video chat with Mark Friedman
"Many people that we talk to really don't like the platform that they're on, whether they've replatformed recently or they've been on the platform for a while, they're like, yeah, it could always be better," says co-author Friedman in this video interview with Alex Bullock of ITG Commerce. Watch the entire 15 minutes, it's super insightful:
In an accompanying blog post, Bullock highlights the prevalent dissatisfaction among mid-market merchants with their current platforms, the reluctance to migrate to new platforms, and the limited options available when complexity surpasses the capabilities of platforms like Shopify.
2. Reactions to the report: agreement, skepticism, and a need for deeper exploration
Here we want to share some of the most thought-provoking responses to the report's publication.
Brent W. Peterson's reflections on the report
In his reflection on the report, Brent W. Peterson shares a balanced mix of agreement, skepticism, and a desire for deeper exploration on the state of ecommerce platforms for mid-market merchants. He resonates with the report's insights on the high stakes of replatforming and the apt portrayal of Shopify's appeal to mid-market merchants. However, he challenges the notion of Adobe neglecting Magento, arguing that Adobe continues to invest in the platform amidst competition.
Peterson also calls for a more nuanced understanding of organic traffic fluctuations and points out the absence of discussion on the influence of private equity in Magento's journey and the underrepresentation of alternative platforms and the impact of agencies and consultants in decision-making. He emphasizes the complexity of the mid-market merchant's journey and the importance of ongoing dialogue and exploration in the ecommerce community to address their unique challenges and needs.
Talk Commerce Podcast interview with Shopware's Jason Nyhus
Peterson and Jason Nyhus, President of Shopware US, then continue the conversation in this episode of the Talk Commerce Podcast:
Rob Neumann of CSS Commerce interviews Jason Nyhus (video)
In this short LinkedIn video interview, Rob Neumann of CSS Commerce addresses some follow up questions about mid-market manufacturers and distributors:
eCom@One Podcast discusses the "forgotten mid-market"
Additionally, Jason Nyhus sat down with Richard Hill of the eCom@One Podcast to discuss "The forgotten mid-market: challenges, opportunities, and the role of technology in ecommerce." You can listen to it right here:
3. International voices
The report garnered international attention as well. Italian agencies Wodka and Algoritma responded to the report (both in Italian), as did Swiss agency Webwirkung (in German) and Germany-based agency basecom (in English). Their point: the mid-market has been forgotten everywhere.
4. Next: become part of the conversation
If you want to be part of the conversation, start by downloading the report and express your own point of view and unique perspective:
