Data Enablers: Thinkwrap, Growing eCommerce Opportunities

Every business knows that there is more to eCommerce than just having a website. But how to make that website cull more revenue, increase online and in-store traffic and tailor the experience to the customer is where data can help retailers — especially in this ever-growing omnichannel world.

“Our specialty is in helping brands in their digital transformation efforts to enable an omnichannel buying experience,” said Jason Maloney, VP of business development at Thinkwrap Commerce. “Offering multiple payment options plays a role in each solution. We integrate our customers’ eCommerce systems with the industry-leading payment processing services used by top retail and B2B companies.”

Thinkwrap Commerce is an eCommerce integration partner with offices in both Ottawa, Canada, and Valencia, Spain. The nearly 13-year-old company seeks to develop leading-edge eCommerce experiences for retailers and B2B brands, managing a variety of elements from strategy, to design, development, optimization and operational support.

“Every project that we deliver involves commerce or the exchange of goods [and] services for currency,” said Maloney. “The way that the world engages in commerce is changing from the traditional storefront to digital.”

Maloney said that clients have exceeded online revenue growth expectations while working with the company. Thinkwrap has worked on the No Phone Zone campaign to shrink cellphone use by drivers, overhauled Calgary’s Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters’ eCommerce site and worked with TGI Fridays on its website and mobile app.

Gail Seanor, senior director of marketing technology at TGI Fridays, called out Thinkwrap on diginomica for its help with implementation: “They have been absolutely great partners. They have gotten to know our business and helped us work through any challenges.”

“While we cannot take credit for the success of our retail customers’ online revenue growth, we can fairly say that we helped them to achieve faster growth by providing the right technology solutions to move quickly within their budgets and achieve their strategic vision,” said Maloney. “We act as a trusted technology partner/adviser to retailers. We let retailers focus on their business strategy while we build, integrate and operate the technology across the enterprise to help them realize their vision.”

Thinkwrap’s philosophy, according to Maloney, is focused on “customer for life,” in that the company spans beyond initial implementation to an ongoing cadence of support to offer longer-term results. He said that the history of the company dates back to MONTAGE, which grew to $50 million in sales with a team of 450 professionals, specializing in custom software development and web integration for online businesses. Ultimately, MONTAGE was sold to AT&T Canada in 2001. Senior management from the MONTAGE group got back together a few years later, with Peter Lui-Hing, Milos Hanzel and Miro Adamy as founders. Later, Steve Byrne would lead the business as CEO. The company now has 91 full-time employees, 13 of which are in Valencia, but the entire company is fully employee-owned.

However, in 2009, the recession hit Thinkwrap, like many companies. Byrne reduced staff compensation and opted himself — as well as some other senior members — out of the payroll entirely.

“Companies were not investing in any major technology projects,” said Maloney, who looks back on the troubles as a proud battle wound. “As a result, no team members were laid off, and we weathered the storm.”

And looking toward 2017, the company said it is dedicated to evolving with the technology that seems to be moving faster in the eCommerce space.

“Brands must continually evolve to meet the changing expectations of the consumer,” said Maloney. “We are really excited to see where the future of commerce is heading.”

And that means engagement changes online, offline, in-store and otherwise.