Pacvue is preparing for the next phase of ecommerce ad tech, and it’s doing so under a new chief executive.
Rahul Choraria, who joined the company more than two years ago as COO, will replace Co-Founder and CEO Sandeep Kella, who is stepping down after five years in the role and will be executive chairman of the board.
Choraria previously specialized in B2B SaaS investments for private equity, first with Vista Equity Partners, then Advent International, where he led an investment in Pacvue.
“I wanted to be part of that team and building the business, not just sitting on the sidelines,” he told AdExchanger.
Nowadays, the retail media market looks like an obvious ad tech pivot, he said. But Pacvue has succeeded by making contrarian bets, according to Choraria. The idea of building an ad tech business on Amazon and the Amazon DSP was a contrarian take at the time. And while most ad tech solutions went all in on DTC ecommerce, he said, Pacvue kept its eyes on the marketplaces business on Amazon and now other retailers, including Walmart.
The next chapter for Pacvue, Choraria said, will come from “connecting the global ecosystem.” Retailers and agencies have a handful of ad tech vendors that are early partners for most retailer media network announcements.
“But gone are the days of being a point solution,” he said.
No point solutions
The ecommerce ad tech space is consolidating quickly around Pacvue.
Microsoft swallowed up the Promote IQ retail media business. Perpetua was acquired by the large consultancy Ascential in 2021. CitrusAd was acquired by Publicis. Flywheel, an Amazon-focused agency business, went to Omnicom. And Digiday has reported Criteo is in talks regarding a potential deal for Skai.
To fit in with retailers and agencies, ecommerce ad tech vendors must be more than just point solutions, which is how many such businesses start.
For instance, Pacvue was built on an early value prop for companies selling on third-party marketplaces or ad platforms, with lots of other sellers offering similar or identical products, such as out-of-stock notices.
If a brand is out of stock at Target, say, it should shift spend to Amazon or Kroger, where its product can be purchased in that moment.
Retailers have also acclimated to the idea of allowing programmatic access to their platforms. That’s why they tend to have a small roster of partners, rather than an open platform.
By adding partners like Pacvue – such as Skai, Criteo, Flywheel and The Trade Desk, who often appear in retailer programs or media network launches – expose themselves to audience profiling and trading they might begrudge. Pacvue’s look across retailers means it can divert spend from one to another. It might also use the Amazon DSP to create a segment of Target shoppers on the Roundel platform, who can then be targeted on Amazon.
Retailers are discovering they may not like the sound of ad tech targeting practices that are new to them. But they know the sound of money dropping into the cash register.
“Retailers love it,” Choraria said. “What they’ve found is, when brands use Pacvue, they spend more on the retail platform because they’re able to see the lift for their business.”
If brands don’t see that lift – which they won’t if the retailer advertises their product when it’s out of stock – then the retail media program is cut by the brand, he said.
Pacvue started as a bidding tool, but has become a more holistic ecommerce data and operations vendor, added Pacvue President Melissa Burdick, who spoke to AdExchanger as well. “If we stayed as just an advertising platform, we’d be dead by now.”
