June 10, 2013

SAP strengthens place in e-commerce market with technology acquisition

One of the ways in which technology has evolved is how customers shop for and purchase items. E-commerce is increasingly popular, and SAP, a maker of business management software, is taking strides toward becoming a contender in the market.

SAP announced this week that it will acquire Hybris, which offers various software solutions related to multi-channel e-commerce and data management. The financial details have not yet been disclosed, but according to a Hybris press release, the company will continue to operate as a separate entity until after the deal is completed, which will be in the third quarter.

Hybris CEO Ariel Lüdi and president Carsten Thoma said in a company statement that the opportunity to be a part of SAP will help their business deliver complete omni-channel business solutions and continue moving forward.

"Joining with SAP will significantly expand the scope, scale and power of Hybris' commerce platform, and allow us to deliver the next generation of customer engagement innovation across all channels," the two leaders said.

A Bloomberg article explained that the technology acquisition will help SAP expand in the e-commerce market, which is currently valued at $37 million. Big data, the cloud and social technologies heighten the need for strong customer engagement through online commerce solutions. Furthermore, SAP has already acquired Hana, a data-crunching firm, in order to offer customers better services for them to find and compare what they want to purchase.

The Hybris press release further explained that once this M&A activity is complete, SAP will have new levels of customer insight and engagement through numerous channels. When companies continue to prioritize consumer needs, they can see that technology mergers or acquisitions will be beneficial and can still leave room for their own business to grow.