VaynerX Launches VaynerCommerce Following Acquisition of Lucid Fusion

Gary Vaynerchuk's VaynerX today announced the launch of VaynerCommerce following the media parent company's acquisition of ecommerce technology company Lucid Fusion. Zubin Mowlavi, CEO of Lucid Fusion since its founding in 2000, will serve as president of VaynerCommerce. The goal of the company will be to provide sustainable growth opportunities for clients through ecommerce. “Many overfunded direct-to-consumer companies have focused on acquisition-heavy growth strategies and paid media to grow their brands,” said Vaynerchuk, chairman of VaynerX, in a statement. In contrast, VaynerCommerce will focus on "growth through the lens of customer lifetime value," he said. "By integrating the entire funnel across creative, media, technology and lifecycle marketing, we are able to deliver an outcomes-focused approach for our clients.” The new company will combine the best of what Lucid Fusion and VaynerX have to offer, according to Mowlavi. Vayner's acquisition capabilities with Lucid's technology chops will allow the company to focus on retention and creating sustainable long-term growth for clients. The new company will be based in Los Angeles with more than 40 employees, led by Mowlavi. Ben Fried, who was chief technology officer for Lucid Fusion, will continue the same role at VaynerCommerce. VaynerMedia's Robbie Deeks will serve as chief commercial officer. [article_summary section="1"]The launch comes at a time when ecommerce is undergoing sudden and rapid expansion. With more people staying home to abide by social distancing recommendations and shelter-in-place orders, the space has seen growth in a matter of weeks that industry professionals weren't expecting for several years. "You see people ordering things online right now that four months ago they would have never thought about," Mowlavi said. "You've got a completely new audience that have been exposed now to online ordering, and they're purchasing things that we would have thought would have happened in three years, four years." That creates an opportunity for VaynerCommerce not only to support brands during a pivotal moment, but also to help "effectively sell their products online and build meaningful consumer relationships," he continued. There's a big opening to "expose consumers to online experiences and products that they would have never considered before." The hard part for brands is figuring out how to capitalize on that most efficiently. Brands often depend on several different media and creative agencies to form their overall ecommerce strategy, which can be difficult to measure, analyze and tweak in real time. VaynerCommerce's mission is to streamline those processes using its technology and expertise. "It has to be with a lot of rapid experimentation ... to figure out the winning combination of creative channels, messaging, merchandising, pricing, etc.," Mowlavi said. Still, he admits it's difficult to know how things will look once the pandemic subsides. For VaynerCommerce, he said, the most important thing right now is just supporting its clients.