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Contact UsThe e-commerce landscape is in a constant state of flux, but the last year has felt different. A seismic shift, driven by AI, is reshaping everything from product discovery to brand interaction. To navigate this new era, platforms must do more than just adapt; they must lead with a clear and powerful vision.
Recently, our own Sergei Ostapenko sat down with Travis Hess, CEO of Commerce.com (formerly BigCommerce Holdings), for a candid conversation about the company's bold rebranding and its repositioning at the forefront of AI-driven commerce. Under Hess's leadership, the company is unifying BigCommerce, Feedonomics, and Makeswift into a cohesive powerhouse.
Here are the key takeaways from their discussion on what this transformation means for merchants, partners, and the future of commerce itself.
One of the first questions on everyone's mind was the strategic rationale behind rebranding to Commerce.com. Hess explained it as a move to solve a core challenge: "We had three products. Not everyone necessarily associated one with another."
The move to a unified parent brand was driven by a few key factors:
A Holistic Go-to-Market: Centralizing under one brand creates a clearer, more cohesive story for customers and partners. It simplifies the narrative from "three separate products" to "one integrated portfolio."
Operational Efficiency: The integration wasn't just on the surface. Hess has been focused on breaking down internal silos, combining teams like marketing, and eliminating duplicative efforts. This allows the company to ingest the "best-in-class capabilities" from each brand into a single, efficient organization.
Clarity, Not Erasure: It's important to note that the individual product brands aren't disappearing. Hess clarified, "BigCommerce doesn't go away, neither is Feedonomics, neither is Makeswift." These names hold significant brand equity and will continue to be the face of their respective products, now under the Commerce.com portfolio umbrella.
Addressing the critics who might call the rebrand a superficial reaction to AI buzz, Hess was direct. He outlined the substantive changes that have occurred over the last 12 months, proving this is a fundamental shift, not just "sprinkling fairy dust."
The first and most significant change was to the leadership and organizational structure. Hess brought in new leaders and integrated the previously separate product teams to align everyone with a singular vision.
The second was a reboot on prioritization. "I think a criticism of the business I've had is... one where we tried to do too many things at once," Hess admitted. The new focus is on deliberately placing bets on core markets, B2B, B2C, and small business, and ensuring the roadmap delivers tangible value to those specific customer profiles.
This brings us to AI. Hess emphasized a pragmatic approach. The journey began internally, using AI to make the company itself more efficient. Now, that focus is being infused into the product suite. He sees the immediate application on the discoverability side of commerce, where data syndication (a Feedonomics strength) is crucial for answer engines and LLMs. The next phase will move into shopping and orchestration, playing directly to the open, composable strengths of the BigCommerce platform.
"I don't think we're deviating from that path," Hess stated. "We feel like this actually plays into the bigger, broader narrative."
The unification brings the unique strengths of each product into sharper focus.
Feedonomics has long been known for its "white glove" managed service, a key differentiator for enterprise brands. Hess confirmed this human element remains, but it's now powerfully blended with AI and machine learning. It's not about becoming an answer engine, but about using AI to make its core function, product and data optimization, synthesis, and syndication, leaner, more robust, and perfectly suited for the demands of a world driven by LLMs.
Makeswift is evolving far beyond its initial role as a page builder for Catalyst. Hess laid out a multi-stage vision:
Expansion to Stencil: A Makeswift integration for the Stencil framework is planned for early next year, bringing its superior visual editing to a much wider user base.
Integration with Data: The real magic will happen when Makeswift is combined with Feedonomics' data capabilities to create "really unique experiences at scale."
Standalone Potential: Longer-term, Hess sees Makeswift as a standalone product, a visual editor that could sit on top of any site, transactional or not, to influence commerce across all channels.
So, where does Commerce.com differentiate itself in a crowded market, especially against giants like Shopify? Hess's answer is clear: "We are not for the easy, we are not for the simple."
The platform is built for merchants who have nuance in their business and require the extendibility and customization that an open, composable architecture provides.
This philosophy points directly to what Hess sees as the "blue ocean" opportunity. The last monumental shift in commerce was responsive design. The next, he argues, is happening right now, and it's all about data.
"I think data in many regards is the new storefront," Hess declared. "Data is going to drive a lot of things, discoverability. It will drive experiences and it will also drive orchestration."
For partners like Mira Commerce, this signals a massive opportunity. The value is no longer just in implementing a platform. The real value, the "blue ocean", is in leading transformation. "It's what are you doing with the software and the tech to go transform these businesses?" Hess asked. "And it's less about features and functions."
In closing, Hess's message to customers was one of partnership and trust. The goal is not to create a walled garden where clients feel trapped.
"We want people... to be with somebody because you want to be with somebody, not because you feel entrapped," he said.
Using a perfect analogy, he compared their mission to running a restaurant. You can have a great location and ambiance, but it's meaningless if the food isn't great.
"If your restaurant's got really good food, people will put up with a lot of inconvenience for that good food... for us, we would love really good food."
At Mira Commerce, this philosophy resonates deeply. Our partnership with the Commerce.com team is built on a shared commitment to delivering that "good food", the superior technology, customer-centric support, and strategic guidance that drive real results. We are excited to partner with Travis and his team as they execute this bold vision and help our mutual clients win in the transformative era of AI-driven commerce.
The shift to a more open, AI-driven, and composable web is happening now. If you're interested in learning how a composable commerce strategy can provide the flexibility and power your business needs to win in this new era, talk to our team of experts at Mira Commerce today.
