Texas-based BigCommerce is the latest company on track to launch its IPO as coronavirus is still redefining people’s preferences for shopping online.
This Commerce giant which helps businesses design and roll out online storefronts said in a press statement that it has issued a notification to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about plans for a potential initial public offering (IPO).
Exact price range, number of shares, and the appropriate time of the IPO have yet to be determined, the company said.
This potentially big move of the company comes at the unprecedented times when online commerce is booming as people are becoming more and more aware of safety features and are adhering to the social distancing requirements more strictly.
BigCommerce was founded in 2009 by Australians Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper following a chance meeting in an online chatroom in 2003. In August 2009, the two relaunched a hosted version of Interspire Shopping Cart called “BigCommerce” and opened its first U.S. office. The company offered a detailed overview of potential investors as part of its filing with the SEC.
Although spending at brick-and-mortar retail stores is expected to plunge 14 percent in 2020, online spending is on track to jump by 18 percent, BigCommerce noted, as per data released last month by eMarketer
“Our business has benefited from this shift, both in accelerated sales growth for our existing customers’ stores and in our sales of new store subscriptions to customers,” BigCommerce noted in its prospectus for potential investors”, said the company in its revenue for the first quarter of 2020, which jumped nearly 30 percent over the same period a year ago.
Sales of the “Essentials” plan accelerated with the intensification of the coronavirus crisis, shooting up 33 percent in March, 106 percent in April, and 86 percent in May.
“Enterprise” plan sales to larger companies initially declined 14 percent and 13 percent on a year-over-year basis in March and April, BigCommerce said.
It further added that “several of our larger enterprise sales prospects” cited the need to refocus on their response to the pandemic. However, sales of Enterprise plans rebounded in May, jumping by nearly 60 percent.
“Online shopping behaviors are evolving as eCommerce adoption is accelerating around the world. This puts tremendous pressure on businesses to pursue digital transformation with technology that innovates as fast as the market”. said the company.