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eBay Enterprise, Innotrac merge to form Radial amid omnichannel turbulence

eBay Enterprise, which has one large customer defecting and another in Chapter 11, combines with Innotrac to create a omnichannel fulfillment company called Radial.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

eBay Enterprise and Innotrac, two omnichannel commerce fulfillment providers, are merging to create Radial.

The move comes as eBay Enterprise, formerly GSI Commerce, was spun off as eBay broke up for better focus.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. eBay Enterprise operated independently and was private equity owned.

eBay Enterprise was going to face turbulence in its customer base. For instance, Dick's Sporting Goods, one of eBay Enterprise's largest customers, is migrating to its own e-commerce operations with a January 2017 cutover date. Meanwhile, Sports Authority, another big eBay Enterprise customer, has filed to reorganize under Chapter 11.

Also: Tech giants court retailers chasing omnichannel dream, Amazon | EBay ties up loose ends as PayPal set free | Dick's Sporting Goods aims to control its e-commerce destiny | Macy's makes omnichannel play with sweeping reorganization

Going forward, Radial is touting GameStop, DSW and Destination XL as customers. The customer base, with the exception of Toys R Us, skews toward smaller retailers.

Omnichannel has been the most notable buzzword among retailers, which are trying to compete in an e-commerce environment defined and dominated by Amazon.

What remains to be seen is how retailers will use omnichannel outsourcing firms. Many companies such as Dick's, Macy's and Target see e-commerce as a part of the business that must be owned and integrated with brick and mortar operations.

Radial said in a release that it will provide an integrated e-commerce platform as well as front-end systems. Radial's argument is that its experience and approach will create profitable omnichannel operations. In the end, omnichannel is undergoing an insource-or-outsource debate.

The new company, which will be based in King of Prussia, will offer customer service via multiple channels, payments, tax and fraud services, fulfillment and commerce platform as a service.

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