BigCommerce to lay off 13 percent of staff in restructure

BigCommerce has released its plans for a company wide restructure late last week. In a press release, the company stated that the restructure will focus its go-to-market efforts on the enterprise business, reduce its expenditures on sales and marketing in non-enterprise initiatives and cut its total workforce in an effort to breakeven by the fourth quarter of 2023, a target that previously had a timeline of mid to late 2024.

BigCommerce has over 60,000 users across 150 countries with headquarters in Austin, and offices in London, Kyiv, San Francisco, and Sydney. The SaaS platform was founded in Australia before founders Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper took the company to the United States in 2009.

This round of layoffs is set to effect roughly 180 of its 1,337 employees. “This focusing of our spending and resources, which impacts all of our teammates, was an incredibly difficult decision to make,” said BigCommerce CEO Brent Bellm. “We are implementing changes that will enhance the strength of our financial profile against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment. It will also drive focus on the areas we view as having the strongest product market advantage and best long-term financial performance.”

The timeline for the restructure is strict with the goal to accelerate profitability and build upon its expanding leadership position in enterprise ecommerce. According to the press release, the company expects to complete the layoffs by the end of this year and estimates the severance payments, employee benefits and related costs associated with the workforce reduction to total up $4.6 million USD.

“We are sadly parting ways with some incredibly talented people whom we have grown to cherish as friends and colleagues over the years,” Bellm said. “We will do our best to support them through the transition to find their next opportunities.”

This restructuring comes off the back of a hugely successful Black Friday for BigCommerce merchants with the company reporting its merchant gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 31 percent compared to Black Friday 2021. The company acknowledges the omnichannel capabilities of the platform helped this positive performance as customers shift their favour toward the strategy, with CEO Brent Bellm stating, “our merchants sell more by taking advantage of BigCommerce’s industry-leading capabilities in customer experience, multi-storefront expansion and omnichannel selling.”

BigCommerce will release its revenue and non-GAAP operating loss guidance on its February 2023 earnings call.

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