Dive Brief:
- Logistics company Amber Road Inc. has bought out sourcing specialist ecVision for about $24 million in cash, plus $9 million in performance-based incentives.
- Facilitating product sourcing since the late 1990s, ecVision helps retailers source apparel products from a variety of suppliers to satisfy different price points.
- The software-as-a-service providers are expected to complement each other in facilitating the manufacturing and shipment of different lines of goods.
Dive Insight:
The combination of longtime apparel and footwear sourcing provider ecVision and global logistics provider Amber Road Inc. is set to help the companies address a need among manufacturers supplying different e-commerce channels with similar goods, according to company executives. The same manufacturer will often design apparel and footwear to target different levels of the market, and in doing so, can head off cut-rate competition and forgeries.
Both ecVision and Amber Road offerings are software-as-a-service products; together, they will be able to offer online dashboards that manage purchase orders, suppliers and shipments. The $24 million acquisition is backed with $9 million in bonus money if the combined company meets goals set for revenue growth and employee retention.
