CommerceHub Reaches $1B In 2013 Holiday Retail GMV At Record Pace

Increased Product Assortments Help Drive 46% Year-Over-Year Growth in Retail Sales Through Virtual Inventory

Albany, NY /PRNewswire/ - CommerceHub, the leading cloud-based online merchandising and fulfillment platform for large online retailers, announced today that the company hit $1 billion in 2013 holiday retail gross merchandise value (GMV), measuring from Thanksgiving Day to today. The $1 billion milestone is a testament to CommerceHub's virtual inventory approach, which helps its online retail customers, including Costco, QVC, Best Buy, Kohls, Staples, Walmart and many more, radically expand product assortments and offer faster deliveries without inventory risk. The company reached the$1 billion milestone in just 14 days of 2013 holiday shopping, compared to 21 days in 2012.

"With the online marketplace giants like Amazon rapidly expanding product assortments, online retailers need to offer vast product assortments to compete," said Frank Poore, Co-Founder and CEO of Albany, N.Y.-based CommerceHub. "Virtual inventory merchandising and fulfillment allows online retailers to compete and win without having to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to inventory and fulfillment centers."

During the 2013 holiday season (since Thanksgiving), CommerceHub has seen a 46 percent increase in merchandise fulfilled through its platform, compared to 2012. This is more than two times the growth rate of U.S. retail ecommerce holiday season sales, which, according Comscore, a leading digital analyst firm, saw a 22 percent increase from 2012. This increase in merchandise sales is a direct result of the broad and aggressive assortment expansion undertaken by the retailers on CommerceHub, which increased their product assortments on the platform by 45 percent in the third quarter. And, according to Poore, some retailers grew assortments by more than 200 percent.

CommerceHub's cloud-based platform seamlessly connects over 7,000 suppliers to online retailers, who host suppliers' products on their online marketplaces. Once purchased, the products are packaged – with the retailers' branding – and shipped directly to customers by the supplier. Because retailers do not have to purchase or store the products to sell them, they are able to radically increase their product assortments and boost their top line sales without investment in additional inventory. Furthermore, because suppliers are strategically located throughout the country, retailers are able to get products delivered faster to consumers.

"For consumers, virtual inventory is the hidden secret to ecommerce," Poore said.  "As much as one third of all products purchased online are never actually touched by the retailer that sold the product to the consumer."

CommerceHub, in 2012, fulfilled $5.5 billion in GMV and, in 2013, has seen sales through its virtual inventory grow at a rate of 31 percent, roughly double the rate of ecommerce in general, according to Comscore.

About CommerceHub
For more than 15 years, CommerceHub has been providing cloud-based technologies and services that enable retailers to radically expand their product offering without inventory risk. CommerceHub makes it possible to integrate with any product source, and provides all of the tools necessary to identify new sources of products, rapidly build SKUs, and ensure the smooth the delivery of goods to customers.

Providing an unparalleled platform and scalability, CommerceHub in 2012 processed over 34 million orders for the top online retailers in the US and Canada, enabling them to achieve more than $5.5 Billion in retail sales through drop-ship fulfillment. These expanded assortment orders were successfully processed and fulfilled directly to consumers by more than 7,000 integrated suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and 3rd party sellers.

CommerceHub's retail clients include Costco, QVC, Best Buy, Kohls, Staples, Walmart, and many others. The company was founded in 1997 by Frank Poore and Richard Jones.

Please visit http://www.commercehub.com for more information.