The Bay, which operates thebay.com marketplace in Canada, has partnered with NuOrder by Lightspeed to “further accelerate its digital-first transformation.”
NuOrder by Lightspeed is a business-to-business marketplace platform connecting retail buyers and suppliers in real time to develop assortments and complete orders. The technology is designed to help buyers make decisions and collaborate more easily with vendors with its “visually driven and intuitive platform,” NuOrder said in its announcement.
“Delivering an assortment that reflects the brands, quality and lifestyle that our customers trust us to deliver is essential to The Bay experience,” said Laura Janney, The Bay’s chief merchant. “We are driving a customer-centric approach across our business, and the NuOrder by Lightspeed platform now streamlines our internal process with significant speed and efficiency, and allows us to elevate and cater to market preferences through curated on-trend assortments.” The partnership launches Friday.
Olivia Skuza, co-founder of NuOrder and general manager of NuOrder by Lightspeed, said the platform “has innovated the buying process to enable real-time collaboration, inventory management efficiencies and effective collaboration, all which drive meaningful business results.”
“Through a fully integrated system with The Bay, NuOrder by Lightspeed automates the purchase order/item creation process to further expedite delivery and, ultimately, the online offer, showcasing product to customers faster than ever before,” NuOrder said in a statement.
Lightspeed acquired NuOrder earlier this year. Lightspeed connects approximately 3,000 brands and more than 100,000 retailers, the company said. The technology provides virtual showrooms technology, visual assortment and merchandising tools, payments and data integration. Lightspeed indicated that its cloud commerce solution “transforms and unifies online and physical operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financial solutions and connection to supplier networks.”
Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Last June, Lightspeed agreed to acquire NuOrder for about $425 million in cash and stock shares. At the same time, Lightspeed also purchased Ecwid, a U.S.-based global e-commerce platform, for about $500 million.
NuOrder, founded in 2011, serves more than 3,000 brands and saw 100,000-plus retailers generate more than $11.5 billion in orders through its platform in the trailing 12-month period ended March 31. It achieved revenues of more than $20 million and grew at a rate exceeding 30 percent year-over-year during the same period.
Hudson’s Bay Co. this year separated the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores operations of its three divisions — Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson’s Bay and Saks Off 5th — into separate companies. The strategy has quickly captured the imagination of the retail industry and sparked controversy over whether it can benefit companies or not. Activist investors are pressing Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. to also separate their e-commerce and physical store businesses to raise shareholder value.