Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice
Company typePrivate company
IndustrySoftware
Founded2005
FounderBrett Hurt and Brant Barton
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
Key people
Keith Nealon (CEO)
Websitewww.bazaarvoice.com

Bazaarvoice is a technology company based in Austin, Texas, that provides software that allows brands and retailers to collect and display several types of user-generated content (UGC) on their e-commerce websites.[1] Bazaarvoice's services include product ratings and reviews, questions and answers, sampling, visual and social content, insights, social commerce and social publishing.

History

Bazaarvoice was cofounded in 2005 by Brett Hurt and Brant Barton in Austin, Texas.[2] Currently, the company also has offices in New York City, Chicago, London, Munich, Belfast, Paris, Vilnius, Sydney, and Bengaluru.[3] The company has over 900 employees globally.[4]

Initially, Bazaarvoice focused on software that lets businesses add product reviews to their websites.[5][6] Bazaarvoice later expanded to include software that allows businesses to analyze reviews, ratings, videos, social media, and other user-generated content posted by customers,[7] which is used by companies including Wal-Mart, AT&T and Microsoft.[8][9]

The company went public on the NASDAQ in 2012, raising $114 million in its initial public offering.[10] Following that, in a 2013 Gartner report, Bazaarvoice was named one of the ten fastest growing CRM vendors.[11] A year later in 2014, Bazaarvoice and TripleLift partnered to allow native ads to run on client websites.[12]

In 2018, the company was taken private after being purchased by Marlin Equity Partners.[13] In 2021, Bazaarvoice announced a majority investment from Thomas H. Lee Partners.[14]

Over the years, the company has made a variety of acquisitions, including AddStructure,[15] a natural language processing platform, in 2018; Influenster,[16] a product discovery and review platform, in 2019; and Curalate,[17] a social commerce platform, in 2020.

Keith Nealon was named CEO in January 2020, replacing interim CEO Joe Davis.[2]

References

  1. ^ Cobler, Nicole. "Austin's Bazaarvoice acquires New York product review firm". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  2. ^ a b "New CEO sees 'huge opportunity' ahead for Austin's Bazaarvoice". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  3. ^ "US technology leader Bazaarvoice chooses Lithuania for next office". Invest Lithuania. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ^ McDonnell, Francess. "Retail brand review firm sets up European base in Belfast". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  5. ^ "New CEO sees 'huge opportunity' ahead for Austin's Bazaarvoice". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  6. ^ "Dell CMO Erin Nelson to Join Bazaarvoice". ClickZ. 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  7. ^ "Bazaarvoice founder Brett Hurt on overcoming fears and initiating conversation". CultureMap Austin. 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  8. ^ Bumgarner, John (20 September 2012). "Bazaarvoice founder Brett Hurt on overcoming fears and initiating conversation". CultureMap Austin. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Microsoft Tries Getting Social With Display Ads". ClickZ. 2012-02-14. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  10. ^ Cowan, Lynn (24 February 2012). "IBazaarvoice IPO opens up 33% after pricing". MarketWatch. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. ^ Marketing, Louis Columbus; Leader, Product Management; Columnist, Forbes; Analytics, Software Expertise in; Cloud; CPQ; IQMS, ERP Solutions Principal at; iBASEt, formerly with; Cincoom (2013-04-28). "2013 CRM Market Share Update: 40% Of CRM Systems Sold Are SaaS-Based". Enterprise Irregulars. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  12. ^ Parish, Wendy. "E-commerce embraces native advertising". Marketing Dive. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  13. ^ Anderson, Will (21 January 2018). "Austin tech luminary to quit Bazaarvoice after $521M buyout". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  14. ^ Vinn, Milana (2021-03-30). "Thomas H. Lee values Bazaarvoice at more than $1.5bn". PE Hub. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  15. ^ "Bazaarvoice acquires AddStructure to improve UGC". Retail Dive. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  16. ^ Cobler, Nicole. "Austin's Bazaarvoice acquires New York product review firm". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  17. ^ "Curalate Acquired by Bazaarvoice, Will Accelerate Social Content Across the Bazaarvoice Network". Bloomberg.com. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2021-01-20.