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BigCommerce Article

Today, I'm going to announce the winner of two Critics Choice CMS Awards, Best eCommerce for Enterprise and Best eCommerce for SMB.
<img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;max-width:188px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bestenterpriseecommerce2014.png" /> <img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;max-width:188px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bestsmbecommerce2014.png" />
The winner this year (who managed to score a double win!) is none other than...
<img style="max-width:338px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce.png" />
<a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/">BigCommerce</a> has really shown they are one of the top contenders in the eCommerce marketplace. Their platform is second to none and, as far as we are concerned, there simply is no other platform better deserving of these two awards.
Learn more about Bigcommerce in our CMS directory here: <a href="/products/bigcommerce/">Bigcommerce</a>.

2014 Winner - Best eCommerce for Enterprise and Best eCommerce for SMB

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Best Small Business E-Commerce 2014 Ribbon

It's hard to believe that October has already come and gone.Maybe we can blame Halloween and the ensuing candy coma, but last month seemed surprisingly quiet in the CMS and DXP news cycle.But that's not entirely true: rather than tracking big mergers or major releases, we were served a number of small yet significant improvements from various vendors – more like those mini-sized candy bars that still get the job done.For the record, we're big fans of Almond Joy.The e-commerce sector drove most of the trends in an otherwise not-so-spooky month, with several companies releasing more integrations designed to make online selling easier and more accessible. We're also seeing headless commerce take center stage as more brands look to grow their online sales in an omnichannel world, and it's growing in popularity every day. If you're evaluating solutions, be sure to check out our recent article on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">top headless commerce platforms.</a>If you're ready to close out October's tricks and treats, keep reading.<h2>Postman's 2021 "State of API" report shows the world is moving towards an API-first digital era</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/postman-report.jpg" alt="Postman chart image" />Forget Halloween. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.postman.com/">Postman</a>, a leading platform for building and using APIs, delivered an early Christmas gift with this year's free "State of the API" report. This baby is chock full of data and statistics about API trends across industries and has become a primer for understanding how API-first strategies are transforming everything. For the report, Postman surveyed more than 28,000 developers and API professionals who shared their thoughts on a range of topics, including their organizations' development priorities, how they get their work done, and where they see the industry going. Postman's authors combined these insights with data observed on the Postman API Platform to build a more complete picture of the current state – and the future direction – of APIs.Here are some of the key findings from the report:<ul><li>The pandemic changed the world, and the world responded with APIs: Just a short of two-thirds of respondents stated that the pandemic somewhat or significantly affected their work.</li><li>The API ecosystem is global and growing: Over the past 12 months, Postman users signed in from an impressive 234 different countries and geographies while making 855 million API requests (up 56% from the prior year).</li><li>Developers are spending more time with APIs: Exactly how much time is spent working with APIs? 49% of respondents said that more than half of the organization's development effort is spent on APIs – compared to just over 40% last year.</li><li>More companies are embracing the API-first philosophy: This year, 67% of survey respondents ranked themselves as a five or higher in terms of embracing an API-first philosophy, while only 62% ranked themselves in this way in 2020.</li></ul>Want more? Of course, you do! Let your own API consume the free 57-page report here.<h2>Mailchimp and Shopify launch direct integration</h2> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/mailchimp-shopify-e1635869888639.jpg" alt="MailChimp and Shopify logos" />Monkey see, monkey shop? Yup. And it's now easier than ever. Mailchimp, a leading email and marketing automation platform, <a target="_blank" href="https://mailchimp.com/mailchimp-and-shopify-launch-direct-integration/">announced</a> that they've partnered with Shopify – a leader in e-commerce – to deliver a new integration that's available today. New and existing users of both platforms will be able to connect their Mailchimp account to their Shopify storefront through <a target="_blank" href="https://mailchimp.com/integrations/shopify/">direct integration</a>, eliminating the need for third-party tools and manual data transfers.By connecting Mailchimp and Shopify, merchants will be able to combine the power of purchase data with marketing data and use those insights to help drive conversions, increase revenue, and reach more customers at the right point in their buying journey. The new integration also makes it possible for small business customers to connect with their audiences. This integration is of critical importance right now as retailers gear up for the 2021 holiday season. According to U.S. News &amp; World Report, this year's online holiday spending is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2021-10-20/adobe-forecasts-record-online-holiday-spending-season-as-supply-chain-issues-persist#:~:text=Global%20online%20spending%20is%20likewise,new%20milestone%20in%20e%2Dcommerce.">predicted to increase by 11%</a>. By connecting MailChimp and Shopify, brands and retailers can accelerate their marketing and e-commerce capabilities and capitalize on more online transactions than ever before. "Last year, Mailchimp customers generated 36 percent more orders from Thanksgiving to Giving Tuesday than they did in 2019, showing just how important having an online presence for commerce and retail businesses really is," said Joni Deus, VP of App Marketplace at Mailchimp. "We're thrilled to have partnered with Shopify again ahead of our customers' busiest season to make it easier for merchants to reach their customers, sell more stuff, and be successful.""As our merchants prepare for the holiday season and continue to adjust to the new realities of commerce, we're excited to welcome Mailchimp to the Shopify Partner Ecosystem," said Fatima Yusuf, Director of Commercial, App Ecosystem, Shopify. "The combined power of Mailchimp's suite of marketing tools and Shopify's robust commerce infrastructure will level the playing field and unlock even more opportunity for independent businesses to grow and succeed into the future."<h2>Adobe adds Workfront integrations to creative and marketing apps</h2> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/adobe-workfront-featured-image.jpeg" />Talk about "working it out."Adobe has finally announced some new capabilities in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.workfront.com/integrations/adobe/experience-manager">Adobe Workfront</a>, targeting one of the most challenging aspects of delivering personalized content at both speed and scale: dynamic collaboration, communication, and workflows within creative teams and between creative and marketing teams.Of course, this has been a long-anticipated evolution. Last year, the creative experience powerhouse <a target="_blank" href="https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2020/Adobe-to-Acquire-Workfront/default.aspx">acquired Workfront</a> – a leading work management platform for marketers – for $1.50 billion. The goal was to integrate Workfront's capabilities into Adobe's Experience Cloud and allow customers to manage complex marketing workflows. Finally, that integration has begun to bear fruit. The new capabilities in Workfront integrate seamlessly with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Experience Manager, and Adobe XD. As an example, the Photoshop plugin gives users the ability to work together through an embedded Workfront update screen. Creators can see tasks and issues and post and view comments related to their projects. They can also log time, export assets, and seamlessly collaborate on digital proofing, reviews, and approvals — all without ever leaving <a target="_blank" href="https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html">Photoshop</a>. The integration with Adobe Experience Manager provides integrated approvals and content delivery for enterprises. You can sync metadata between projects and final assets – and keep the work flowing with advanced enterprise workflows, including auto-publishing of assets. This integration is currently available for enterprise customers.There's also an update to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.adobe.com/products/xd.html">Adobe XD</a> plugin, empowering designers to work with internal/external stakeholders, log time, and view details on all projects, tasks, issues, and documents. They have full access to all Workfront folders and documents, can upload work, send shared links for review, attach proof workflows to assets and maintain version control. This plugin is available now on both the Adobe Marketplace and Creative Cloud Desktop.Adobe also announced additional capabilities to enhance experience delivery to B2B brands and make accessing Workfront features easier for all Adobe customers. This includes the Adobe Marketo Engage Connector for scaling customer engagement and supporting global efforts with a small team – and the Adobe Identity Service for authentication and validation of the end-users, including federation and Single-Sign-On (SSO)."The ability to align complex workflows, processes and the foundational work — especially those handoffs between marketing strategy and content development — is critical in enabling teams to get personalized content to customers faster, with greater impact, and aligned to company strategy," said Liz Miller, Vice President, and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. "Adobe Workfront brings order to the nimble, bidirectional madness of marketing work, serving as the 'effectiveness engine' for the modern marketing machine so critical to moving digital business forward."<h2>BigCommerce launches Ads and Listings on Google, giving merchants a one-stop-shop to list and sync products for free</h2> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/11/bigcommerce-google-ads-e1635877084866.png" />Love it or list it... on Google. There's no question that Google is drifting deeper into the e-commerce ecosystem, providing a direct path "from search to sell" for a wide range of services. A lot of this has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the consumer shift to online purchases and deliveries. In fact, if you've searched for, say, a new pizza place near you, Google is serving up more than options – it's allowing you to view a menu and place an order without ever leaving Google.Sure, this presents some competitive challenges to e-commerce platform providers, but Google is a ways off from consuming all storefronts. In the meantime, they present a dynamic channel for sellers and retailers to reach audiences at the point of search.To that end, BigCommerce, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">popular cloud e-commerce platform</a> for fast-growing and established brands, just announced the launch of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/dm/google-native/?utm_source=Press%20Release&amp;utm_medium=Landing%20Page&amp;utm_id=Google%20Ads%20Listings">Ads and Listings on Google</a> – a new native app that enables small to medium-sized BigCommerce merchants in the U.S. to connect their store to the Google Merchant Center and add products for free. Merchants can also take advantage of Google Ads campaigns to reach more customers and uncover performance insights and trends, ensuring a consistent brand experience.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/dm/google-native/?utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_source=partner_google&amp;utm_campaign=keyword_launch_post">With this new integration</a>, BigCommerce merchants of all sizes will be able to easily list their products for free on Google, create ad campaigns, and review performance metrics directly in their BigCommerce store. This also means BigCommerce merchants can now integrate with Google's shopping features across Search, Shopping, Image Search, and YouTube."Ads and Listings on Google is a logical next step for our omnichannel merchants to reach further and attract new customers who rely on Google's powerful shopping capabilities to drive traffic and growth," said Sharon Gee, Vice President and General Manager of Omnichannel at BigCommerce. "As more retailers enter the e-commerce landscape, the more crowded it will be for them to reach the right shoppers across the channels they're searching in. Ads and Listings on Google give merchants a true advantage to get discovered without ever having to leave their BigCommerce store."Merchants can directly access the Ads and Listings on the Google app via the BigCommerce Channel Manager, creating a one-stop-shop experience to upload products, produce paid ad campaigns, and generate reports to track and monitor shopper activities. Key benefits include:<ul><li>Manage product catalogs from a single location: Merchants can upload product listings, create paid campaigns and track and analyze performance all from within their BigCommerce store. Any changes will automatically sync to Google, ensuring a consistent brand experience across all Google channels.</li><li>Reach new audiences and drive traffic: Merchants can connect with the right shoppers at the right moment when they're searching for products across Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, and the web to extend customer reach further.</li><li>Gain more insight: In Google's Merchant Center, merchants can measure the impact of every sale and show products to the most valuable customers to better maximize marketing efforts.</li></ul>The Ads and Listings on the Google app are now available to all small to mid-sized BigCommerce merchants and currently support USD currency with international currencies soon to follow. Learn more about the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/dm/google-native/?utm_source=Press%20Release&amp;utm_medium=Landing%20Page&amp;utm_id=Google%20Ads%20Listings">Ads and Listings on the Google app here</a>.

CMS Monthly Recap: Mailchimp and Shopify Launch Direct Integration, BigCommerce Launches Ads and Listings on Google, and More

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Featured image of CMS Critic Monthly Recap logo with background of Halloween decorations and jack-o-lantern

Top Headless Commerce Platforms

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Headless commerce image of headless horseman and shopping bag

As the name aptly implies, <a href="/products/bigcommerce" target="_blank">Bigcommerce</a> has had a big role to play in the eCommerce industry over the last few years, and it's just undergone a massive rebranding process that pushed it to new, highly professional heights.
Bigcommerce covers all the bases by offering an inclusive range of price plans, as well as a 15-day free trial. Their user base consists of small businesses, enterprise-grade companies, and everything in between.
According to a Bigcommerce statement, their new brand, “reﬂects our long-term commitment to powering growth, removing complexity and supporting businesses around the world.”
<h2>Bigcommerce's Big Makeover</h2>
Bigcommerce now sports a new (and very slick) logo, which sends out a far more executive vibe than its predecessor. Their website has undergone a total makeover too, with new fonts, colors, shapes, and messaging.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-15857x0-is.png" />
Here's what Bigcommerce had to say on the matter:
<blockquote>“This new brand helps better convey our story, and the story of our merchants. Just as with the businesses that rely on our platform, design plays a vital role in how customers interact with and experience our brand.
The changes to our website and control panel were informed directly by our customers and partners, and are designed to make interacting with and discovering information easier and more efficient. This is represented in our new logo — an ode to the “growth chart” used in boardrooms and offices around the world to quantify progress.
At its core, our logo is a dramatically simple composition of elements that convey our brand’s promise to help merchants grow “up and to the right”.”</blockquote>
Although this “update” is primarily aesthetic, I feel it's a big milestone in Bigcommerce's history. And I think it will shape the way it approaches its future, too. As far as I can see, this rebranding event seems to be an attempt to push Bigcommerce in the direction of higher-end clients.
The previous branding was welcoming and happy-go-lucky. But now, Bigcommerce looks like it means serious business.
It may not directly impact user experience, but I'm sure it will help attract more large and enterprise-scale companies (which Bigcommerce seems to be chasing more ardently than ever) towards the platform.
More details can be found on the <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/bigcommerce-rebrand/" target="_blank">Bigcommerce blog</a>.
Additionally, you can explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce/" target="_blank">Bigcommerce via our CMS Directory</a>.

Bigcommerce Undergoes Rebranding, And Now They Mean Serious Business

Advertising on social media is a great way to attract traffic. In recognition of this, <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> has released a new app to enable US users to leverage Facebook and Twitter ads far easier than ever before.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logo-1.png" />With the announcement of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/advertising/">Product Ads</a>, which comes thanks to a partnership with Boostable, users will have their ads automatically optimized for the highest ROI.<h2>Increased ROI, Decreased Costs &amp; Detailed Reporting</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dashboard-01492x0-is.jpg" />Here are some of the benefits of this new app, outlined by Bigcommerce:<ul><li>Increased ROI through automatic optimization that continually improves targeting</li><li>Decreased costs with affordable, transparent pricing and no monthly fees</li><li>Detailed reporting that shows sales, orders, reach and clicks for each of your ads</li></ul>To set up product ads, user will need to download the app, and then follow the instructions below from their Bigcommerce control panel:<ol><li>Select your advertising networks and choose the products you’d like to promote</li><li>We’ll automatically create ads using your product names, descriptions and photos</li><li>Edit anything you’d like, then submit</li><li>Once approved by the network, your ads will start running immediately</li></ol>It seems like a pretty straightforward feature, and will certainly save users time when it comes to spreading the word on social media.For now, the app is available to US users only, and covers Facebook and Twitter. However, Bigcommerce have announced plans for an international release, as well as additional social media platforms.The app can be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/advertising/">downloaded from the Bigcommerce Marketplace</a>.For more information on this release, check out the <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.bigcommerce.com/product-ads/">Bigcommerce blog</a>.Additionally, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce through our CMS Directory</a>.

Bigcommerce Introduces Automated Social Media Product Ads

Considered to be one of the biggest names in eCommerce industry, <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> has just released an interesting new feature, named Bigcommerce Insights.<a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> already has an analytics system in place for its merchants, but the platform seeks to add a whole new layer of effectivity through the introduction of Insights.According to Bigcommerce, “Bigcommerce Insights is a brand new premium report in Bigcommerce Analytics that automatically interprets your product and customer data, and then delivers actionable recommendations you can use to improve your business. Like your very own data analyst, Insights works for your store, helping you to identify opportunities to drive more revenue. “<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/main-insights.png" /><h2>Marketers Rejoice</h2>Clearly, this new feature is one for the marketers among Bigcommerce's user base.The added performance metrics will help marketers make better decisions about their campaigns, while recommended actions will only make life easier.Here's a break down of all the new features that come with Bigcommerce Insights.<h3>Product Insights</h3><ul><li>Products to Improve: Among your most visited products, these are your worst converters.</li><li>Rockstar Products: These are your most visited, best-converting products.</li><li>Non-Sellers: These products are not selling at all.</li><li>Most Discounted Products: See the performance of your discounted products.</li><li>Hot Products: These products had the most revenue growth from the week prior.</li><li>Cold Products: These products had the largest revenue drop from the week prior.</li><li>Products Purchased Together: For each of your top-selling products, this shows the related product with which it is most frequently sold.</li></ul><h3>Customer Insights</h3><ul><li>Best Customers: These recent customers purchase often and spend the most.</li><li>Customers at Risk: These are high-value customers who last ordered between 30-365 days ago.</li><li>Repeat Purchase Rate: The percentage of customers who made a repeat purchase, and how long in between orders repeat purchases take place.</li><li>Best Products for Repeat Purchase: Customers who purchased these products were most likely to purchase again.</li><li>Viewed But Did Not Purchase: These customers viewed the same product more than once but didn’t purchase.</li><li>Customer LTV (Lifetime Value): This is the average amount the customer has spent by a certain point after registering.</li><li>Best Full Price Customers: These are your customers that buy even without discounts.</li><li>Low AOV Customers: These are customers who are in the top 20% for orders but lowest 20% for spending.</li></ul><h3>Abandoned Cart &amp; Marketing Insights</h3><ul><li>Most Abandoned Products: These products have the most associated abandoned carts.</li><li>Customer LTV By Channel: This report shows which marketing channel brings customers with the highest lifetime value.</li></ul>You can read more about <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.bigcommerce.com/bigcommerce-insights/">Bigcommerce Insights via the official blog announcement</a>.Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce via our CMS Directory</a>. Plus, you can check out our <a href="/bigcommerce-review/">Bigcommerce review right here</a>.

Bigcommerce Bolsters Built-in Analytics With Insights

Following the recent release of <a href="/bigcommerce-launch-bigcommerce-next-beauty-brawn-brains/#.Uyl28fl_vvU">Bigcommerce Next</a> – which includes blogging functionality, <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> have this week introduced further blogging improvements to help merchants produce and present content more professionally.Since the launch of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> Next, users have written more than 18,000 individual blog posts, with almost 500 new blog posts per day. So, these new blogging features will surely be welcomed.Let's take a peak at what's new.<h2>Front End Enhancement</h2>To increase readership, visitors to your Bigcommerce blog will now see the most recent blog post appear in full. Previous posts are listed less dramatically underneath.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog-main-page.jpg" alt="Bigcommerce blog" />Additionally, thumbnail images have been incorporated to increase click-through rates. Plus, no blog is complete without an image or two.<h2>Tag Filtering &amp; Google Authorship</h2>Bigcommerce has also made finding content easier for blog visitors via the implementation of tags.Now, when a reader clicks on a tag in one of your posts, they’ll be taken to a page that features all posts with that tag. This enables readers to filter posts by topic and helps them better navigate your blog and find posts that interest them, increasing their engagement.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog-tag-page.jpg" alt="Bigcommerce tags" />Furthermore, having tag pages with the tag in the URL helps Google and other search engines find and categorize your blog posts, which should aid you and your blog in the terms of search engine optimization.Finally, <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-google-authorship-is-so-important-for-the-content-you-create-and-how-to-set-it-up">Google Authorship</a> is also now supported. Google Authorship lets online authors claim their content and build authority on certain subjects by linking blog posts to their Google+ profile page.It helps increase your click-through rates from Google search results because searchers will see a “rich snippet” that includes a preview of your post and your profile picture.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog-serp700x0.jpg" alt="Bigcommerce Google Authorship" />Now you can add the URL of your Google+ page to your post and Bigcommerce will automatically link it to your account with a rel=”author” link, a requirement for Google Authorship. You’ll then start seeing your author profile in your blog search results on Google. It's that easy.A 15 day free trial of Bigcommerce Next can be found on the  <a href="/products/bigcommerce">official Bigcommerce website</a>.Additionally, you can explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce via our CMS Directory</a>.

Bigcommerce Introduce New Blogging Improvements

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

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If you've been waiting to cast your vote for your favorites in the People's Choice Awards, now is the time to do so.Voting has officially opened and you may now <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">cast your vote</a>! So head on over to our <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">awards page</a> and submit your favorites.If you are in the running, we have created a handy badge you can use to spur interest...Simply download the graphic (shown below) and link it to <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">https://www.cmscritic.com/critics-choice-cms-awards/</a>.For those who missed it, here are the nominees in each category:<h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Open Source CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-open-source-cms-nominees">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://modx.com/">MODx</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.dnnsoftware.com/">DNN Platform</a></li><li><a href="/products/liferay">Liferay</a></li><li><a href="/products/processwire/">Processwire</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://e107.org/">e107</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Free CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-free-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://processwire.com/">Processwire</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://tiki.org/HomePage">Tiki</a></li><li><a href="/products/concrete-cms">Concrete5</a></li><li><a href="/products/wordpress/">WordPress</a></li><li><a href="/products/umbraco/">Umbraco</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Small to Midsize Business CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-small-to-midsize-business-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>Adobe Business Catalyst</li><li><a href="/products/ingeniux/">Ingeniux</a></li><li><a href="/products/kentico/">Kentico</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.percussion.com/">Percussion</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms">Sitefinity</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Enterprise CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-enterprise-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.adobe.com/solutions/web-experience-management.html">Adobe Experience Manager</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.hannonhill.com/products/cascade-cms/index.html">Cascade Server</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.optimizely.com/">EpiServer</a></li><li><a href="/products/liferay/">Liferay</a></li><li><a href="/products/sitecore/">Sitecore</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best eCommerce Solution </a> (New for 2013!)</h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-ecommerce-solution-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>3dcart</li><li>Aspxcommerce</li><li><a href="/products/bigcommerce/">BigCommerce</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://business.adobe.com/products/magento/magento-commerce.html">Magento</a></li><li><a href="/products/shopify/">Shopify</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Website Builder</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-website-builder-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>Adobe Business Catalyst</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.jimdo.com/">Jimdo</a></li><li><a href="/products/squarespace/">Squarespace</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ucoz.com/">UCoz</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.webydo.com/">Webydo</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Forum Solution </a> (New for 2013!)</h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-forum-solution-nominees">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://vanillaforums.org/">Vanilla Forums</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://nodebb.org/">NodeBB</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.simplemachines.org/">Simple Machines Forum</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vbulletin.com/">VBulletin</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.invisionpower.com/">Invision Power Board (IPBoard)</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Social Networking Solution</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-social-networking-solution-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.dnnsoftware.com/products/evoq-engage">Evoq Social</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">PHPFox</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.oxwall.com/">Oxwall</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.socialcore.com">SocialCore</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://socialengine.com/">Social Engine</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Hosted/Cloud CMS </a> (New for 2013!)</h3><ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://acquia.com/products-services/acquia-cloud">Acquia Cloud</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://agilitycms.com/">Agility CMS</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.paperthin.com/products/commonspot-cms.cfm">CommonSpot</a></li><li>Gutensite</li></ol>Best of luck to all who are in the running!

It's Official! Voting is Now Open for the People's Choice Awards!

Here's a bit of a shocker for the day, I just received notification that Adobe has entered into an agreement to purchase Magento Commerce for $1.68 billion! Adobe has a history of sucking companies into their Adobe Experience Cloud (or Dark Experience Cloud as I call it), effectively making the brand disappear which is no doubt the plan here according to the release.
Here's a quote from the press release that marks the death sentence for Magento as a brand:
<blockquote>“Adobe is the only company with leadership in content creation, marketing, advertising, analytics and now commerce – enabling real-time experiences across the entire customer journey,” said Brad Rencher, executive vice president and general manager, Digital Experience, Adobe. “Embedding commerce into the Adobe Experience Cloud with Magento enables Adobe to make every moment personal and every experience shoppable.”</blockquote>
The obvious drawback here are that companies currently using Magento in some form or another, whether through integrations or otherwise. are going to have to find another solution fast or risk being badgered to death by Adobe Sales for eternity (and nobody wants that to happen). Take heed customers! Now is the time to flee before the behemoth descends! I kid, I kid (or do I?).
Here are some alternatives to consider if you are in this predicament:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/">BigCommerce Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.prestashop.com">PrestaShop Enterprise</a></li>
</ul>
What are your thoughts on the purchase?

Adobe Sucks Magento into their Dark Experience Cloud

Today, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/out/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> announced the launch of Bigcommerce Next, a release that supplements the popular platform with over 20 new features.For the 50,000 merchants currently using the Bigcommerce platform, Bigcommerce Next brings about brand new responsive themes, store management apps for iOS and Android, Stripe payments integration, and much more.Before I delve into exactly what's new, take a look at the Bigcommerce Next introduction video below.<h2>Beauty, Brawn &amp; Brains</h2>The beauty of Bigcommerce Next comes thanks to the brand new theme store with dozens of store designs that are not only visually stunning but are also responsive and highly optimized for conversion.Its brawn is down to the improved advanced Bigcommerce features, including the API and platform with the introduction of Single Click Apps™, one-click payment setup, and a built-in blog. Finally, the brains come via access to Bigcommerce's industry-leading knowledge with on-demand training, a step-by-step marketing wizard, and more.Regarding the release of Bigcommerce Next,  Eddie Machaalani, co-founder and co-CEO of Bigcommerce, had this to say:<blockquote>“With Bigcommerce Next we've placed a huge focus on two things – expanding the capabilities of our platform with Single Click Apps and increasing conversion rates for our merchants with blogging and dozens of new store designs that have been extensively optimized for conversion.”</blockquote><h2>Mobile Store Management, Blogging &amp; More</h2>Below is a listed roundup of what Bigcommerce users can expect from Bigcommerce Next:<ul><li>Single Click Apps, our integrated app store that allows merchants to add capabilities to their store via third party apps in a single click</li><li>A new theme store with dozens of store designs that are not only visually stunning but are also responsive and highly optimized for conversion</li><li>A new blogging engine which makes it easy for merchants to publish a blog that's automatically optimized for search engines like Google and Bing</li><li>Mobile store management apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android smartphones and tablets which lets merchants get order notifications, update products, and see real-time store performance metrics on the go</li><li>One-click integration with Stripe for payments – enables merchants to accept payments in seconds vs the traditional method of 2-4 week delays with payment gateways and banks</li><li>Google Trusted stores integration to increase the conversion rate for shoppers that arrive via any of the Google properties, including paid search and Google Shopping</li><li>A step-by-step marketing wizard called Traffic Engine which teaches merchants how to drive demand to their stores using Google, blogs, social media, email marketing, and more</li><li>A revamped checkout experience that has been designed to optimize conversion at each step of the process, all the way from the cart to the order confirmation screen</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://support.bigcommerce.com/s/article/BigCommerce-University">Bigcommerce University</a>, a comprehensive video-based learning experience that teaches merchants how to sell more using Bigcommerce and online marketing</li></ul>A 15 day free trial of Bigcommerce Next is ready for anybody to try,  which can be found on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/">official Bigcommerce website</a>.

Bigcommerce Launch Bigcommerce Next: Beauty, Brawn & Brains

This is the first year we've had this category and we had tons of participation from the various ECommerce vendors on the market and those who use them. Thank you for making this nomination period such a great success. Some of the nominations were a close call but we've broken it down to the final nominees for the People's Choice award for Best ECommerce Solution for 2013.Here they are:<h3>3dCart</h3>3dcart is a powerful online store builder and e-commerce solution that offers a staggering list of features for those looking to transact business online. If you are in the market for an exceptional platform for your store, this is a great product to consider. They offer a 15-day free trial that allows you to play around with their excellent software to see if it suits your needs. With 24/7 free premium technical support, quick setup, and no transaction fees, 3dCart is definitely a solid option to consider.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.shift4shop.com/">Learn more.</a><h3>AspxCommerce</h3>AspxCommerce offers a complete e-commerce solution that allows you to build and run your fully functional online store in minutes. You can create your storefront; manage the products through categories and subcategories, accept payments through credit cards and ship the ordered products to the customers. We have everything set up for you so that you can only focus on building your own online store.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.aspxcommerce.com/">Learn more.</a><h3>BigCommerce</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/">Bigcommerce</a> is an excellent online store builder that offers a plethora of features ranging from your own custom domain name to a ton of great integrations with products such as MailChimp, analytics and more. As with most, they offer a free trial as well so you can see how the product works.<a href="/products/bigcommerce">Learn more.</a><h3>Magento</h3>Magento is an open-source e-commerce web application that was launched on March 31, 2008. Magento uses several key coding practices that make the system both versatile and adaptable both as a web platform and as an e-commerce platform.<a href="/products/adobe-commerce">Learn more.</a><h3>Shopify</h3>Shopify is an excellent choice for those in search of the best online store out there. They offer a 14 day free trial on all of their plans and they offer a number of reasonable pricing plans for any size of online store.<a href="/products/shopify/">Learn more.</a>Congratulations to all who were nominated. Remember, voting starts September 1, 2013, so be prepared to vote for your favorites!

Announcing the People's Choice for Best ECommerce Solution Nominees!

It would be impossible to cover any news this month without acknowledging <a href="https://www.economist.com/ukraine-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the crisis in Ukraine</a>. 
As many CMS and DXP vendors rely on the incredible talent and resources of the people in this region, the events of the last few weeks have hit especially close to home. Even as we publish our February recap, things continue to unfold – and our hearts go out to the people of this magnificent country.
Of course, this tragedy is evolving just as many countries are emerging from the worst of the <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/when-will-the-covid-19-pandemic-end" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Covid-19 pandemic</a>, with many businesses poised for a return to normalcy (what that looks like still remains to be seen). Still, the lasting impact of the omnichannel revolution is being felt across all digital transformation strategies, giving way to more headless, composable, API-driven solutions as companies plan for a more digital future.
When it comes to movers and shakers, 2022 is starting much the same way as 2021: with big investments.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/bloomreach-reaches-2-2-billion-valuation-following-175-million-investment-from-goldman-sachs/">Bloomreach</a>, a leading content and search platform focused on commerce, announced a $175 million round of funding – exploding its valuation to $2.2 billion. <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elastic-path-secures-60m-in-funding-for-composable-commerce-growth/">Elastic Path</a> also made waves by securing $60 million in financing to grow its composable commerce solutions. We also saw <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2022/ecommerce-platform-bigcommerce-acquires-software-firm-b2b-ninja/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BigCommerce</a> purchase B2B Ninja, an e-commerce platform, in an effort to energize quoting and other commerce services in their ecosystem. (Hint: we have more investment news below...)
As always, we try to recap some of the news you might have missed this month. There's a lot happening across our industry, and on a brighter note, we'll be announcing the winners of the CMS Critic Awards next week – both the People's Choice and Editor's Choice categories. We had a lot of great engagement over the last month across our social channels, and we're looking forward to sharing the results. 
<h2>Twilio Segment releases its 2022 CDP Report, finds CDPs booming as businesses look beyond cookies</h2>
We're all asking the same question: what happens to data in a post-cookie world?
Segment – a leading customer data platform (CDP) purchased by Twilio<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/twilio-acquires-segment-for-3-2b-adds-market-leading-cdp-for-building-data-driven-apps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> in November of 2020</a> – is helping to shed some light on that query with the release of its third annual <a href="https://segment.com/the-cdp-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Customer Data Platform Report </a>(CDP).
Based on anonymized platform usage data of Segment's 25,000+ customers between 11/1/2020 to 11/1/2021, the report finds aggressive adoption of CDPs over the past year as businesses build digital-first customer engagement strategies and reduce their reliance on third-party data. 
Covid-19 shifted consumer behavior on a number of levels. In response, organizations changed how they interacted with their customers. As more digital engagements ensued, so too did the amount of data being generated. This spurred an explosive demand for CDP layers, particularly as it related to the broader CMS and DXP ecosystems.
Along with the unimaginable growth in data, the volume of API calls has also skyrocketed. <a href="https://www.postman.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Postman</a> – a leading application platform for API testing – conducted a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/postman-releases-2021-state-of-the-api-report-shows-global-trend-towards-api-first-digital-era/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> last year that showed the world is moving to an "API-first era" as integrations and endpoints expand exponentially. As an example, the API calls through Segment have been growing steadily year-over-year since 2017, but 2020-2021 was an inflection point – with API calls in their system reaching over 1 trillion per month. 
Another reason CDP popularity has rapidly exploded is the impending "death" of third-party data. With increasing privacy regulations and the shift to a cookieless future across apps and browsers, businesses are embracing first-party data as a focal point. 
Segment's findings validate that customer data has become an integral part of how organizations are powering their digital experiences. The report also lists 2021's fastest-growing apps. For more details, you can access the full report at: <a href="https://segment.com/the-cdp-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://segment.com/the-cdp-report</a>.
<h2>Headless commerce provider fabric announces $140 Million Series C funding led by SoftBank</h2>
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fabric</a>, the fast-growing headless commerce platform, announced the closing of a Series C funding round of $140M led by Softbank, with participation from Forerunner Ventures, Glynn Capital, and existing investors Redpoint Ventures Norwest Ventures, and Stripes. 
This latest round of funding closes a mere 219 days after its Series B – and now positions fabric's value at approximately $1.5B.
"Retailers need to meet modern consumers wherever they are – whether online, offline, mobile, social, or any future entry point. This means merchants of all sizes, and especially mid-market and enterprise, need the right commerce platform to keep pace with evolving trends," said Robert Kaplan, Investment Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We believe that fabric has built the industry's best API-first modular commerce platform and accompanying commerce applications to give merchants unrivaled power and flexibility, all in a manner that reduces the pain of migrating over from legacy, outdated commerce platforms."
Funds from the Series C round will be utilized for accelerating product development largely through automation and intelligence and geographic expansion. 
<h2>Netlify announces Netlify Graph: A faster way for teams to develop web apps with APIs</h2>
Netlify, a Git-powered static site generator and headless CMS that's all the rage in the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">Jamstack</a> community, has <a href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/announcing-netlify-graph-a-faster-way-for-teams-to-develop-web-apps-with-apis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced Netlify Graph:</a> a GraphQL-powered experience designed to help developers build interactive and connected web applications faster.
The shift to API-first development has created an ecosystem where apps are modular and reusable. While the API-first approach is developer-friendly, it has also introduced new complexities such as discovering, securing, learning, and governing APIs. Netlify's Graph is designed to make this experience easier for developers, allowing them to use APIs without writing undifferentiated glue code, learning every API's unique structure, or composing endless amounts of endpoints to get data from various APIs into your app.
Netlify Graph is in public beta and available globally. It starts with a catalog that includes some of the most frequently requested APIs that development teams use, such as GitHub, Stripe, and Salesforce. The company plans to add more in the coming months. The Netlify Graph beta is available to all Netlify users and can be accessed from your <a href="https://app.netlify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netlify team dashboard</a>. Once logged in, simply select "Graph" from your Netlify site dashboard menu.
To learn more, head over to the <a href="https://github.com/netlify/labs/tree/main/features/graph/documentation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netlify Graph docs.</a>
<h2>BigCommerce acquires B2B Ninja to make online selling easier for B2B merchants</h2>
<a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/?utm_source=Business+Wire&amp;utm_medium=press+release&amp;utm_campaign=BigCommerce+Invests+in+Becoming+World%E2%80%99s+Most+Powerful+B2B+Ecommerce+Platform+with+Acquisition+of+B2B+Ninja" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BigCommerce</a>, a leading cloud e-commerce platform, <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/press/releases/bigcommerce-invests-in-becoming-worlds-most-powerful-b2b-ecommerce-platform-with-acquisition-of-b2b-ninja/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the acquisition of <a href="https://www.b2bninja.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">B2B Ninja</a> (formerly Quote Ninja) – an enterprise software solution that provides leading business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce capabilities for merchants of all sizes.
<a href="https://www.forrester.com/playbook/The+B2B+eCommerce+Playbook+For+2018/-/E-PLA370" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Forrester</a>, U.S. B2B e-commerce transactions are expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023. This is creating a groundswell of opportunity for e-commerce platform providers to deliver focused solutions to this segment of the market. A longtime BigCommerce partner, B2B Ninja brings its best-in-class quoting solution to help streamline transactions by delivering powerful e-commerce functionality to B2B merchants.
"B2B Ninja is an excellent addition to our already strong B2B capabilities," said Brent Bellm, CEO of BigCommerce. "Complementing our recent launch of B2B Edition, this is the next big step in providing a platform that is easier to use and faster than legacy B2B solutions and more flexible and powerful than other SaaS platforms. We continue to invest in ways that make BigCommerce the best platform for merchants of all sizes regardless of who or where their customers are or where merchants are selling."
B2B Ninja is available to any BigCommerce merchant on any plan to enhance the customer experience and easily manage quotes online.

CMS Monthly Recap: Big Investment News, Segment Releases 2022 CDP Report, Netlify Graph Launches and More

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