Authentic Brands Group Drops Lawsuit Against Bolt
Authentic Brands Group has settled and dismissed its lawsuit against Bolt, which will continue to provide ABG with its one-click checkout technology. The apparel brand development and management company also said it plans to become a shareholder of Bolt.
Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of ABG, said in a statement that the company “has always prided itself on working with best-in-class partners to build a sustainable and scalable business with a laser focus on digital innovation and e-commerce. That’s why we chose to work with Bolt to deploy its exceptional checkout technology to several of our portfolio brands. ABG looks forward to deepening its ties with Bolt by becoming shareholders under the new leadership of chief executive Maju Kuruvilla, and we are excited to continue exploring broader opportunities with our businesses.”
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The lawsuit was filed in January, but it was sealed until February and then amended in March. The case claimed that Bolt failed to properly deliver its technology, which cost ABG millions in lost sales.
In January, Bolt founder Ryan Breslow stepped down as CEO and was named executive chairman of the board. Kuruvilla, the chief operating officer, succeeded Breslow as CEO.
Elisabeth Fall
Kuruvilla said Bolt is a “proud partner of ABG and has enjoyed powering one-click checkout for Forever 21 and Lucky Brand. ABG’s commitment to continuing its partnership with Bolt is a testament to their long-term vision of digital innovation and their ethos of identifying best-in-class partners.” It also helps that Bolt’s technology can significantly boost conversions.
Greg Greiner, senior vice president of product at Bolt, said Lucky Brand, for example, “has seen a 40 percent year-over-year increase in revenue in their e-commerce channel and impressive lifts in conversion with checkout powered by Bolt. Our teams are energized by these wins and look forward to the prospect of continuing to power additional frictionless shopping journeys across the ABG portfolio.”
What’s next for Bolt? Kuruvilla told WWD that its mission “is to empower independent retailers to compete in an era dominated by centralized players, and we’re continuing to work toward that goal by turning more guest shoppers into logged-in, loyal customers.”
“In order to turbocharge this vision, we’re laser-focusing on execution to launch many of the large enterprise customers, and really homing in on four main value propositions for retailers: 1. conversion 2. repeat customers 3. shopper account creation on merchant’s sites and 4. data.”
When asked about his outlook for e-commerce given the current landscape, Kuruvilla said Bolt understands that retailers and brands “are facing cost-sensitive consumers, a challenging economic climate and post-pandemic uneasiness. With that said, we’re focused on trend lines rather than headlines.”
“While e-commerce may have contracted slightly of late, the pandemic helped massively accelerate pre-COVID-19 trends pushing more and more people to shop online,” Kuruvilla explained. “When I look at the future of commerce and what retailers need to do to survive and thrive moving forward, I focus on a few key pillars. First and most prominently, merchants have to nail conversion, a $1 trillion opportunity in just the U.S. each year. Beyond conversions, they’ll need to provide customers, who now expect Amazon-like convenience on every site, with a top-tier buying experience to drive loyalty and repeat purchasing despite the economic uncertainty around them.
“Finally, retailers must choose flexible technology partners that allow them to act nimbly, focus on quick and incremental wins they can add to their existing infrastructure to increase their bottom line, and make strategic bets on innovation along the way,” he added. “Retailers must be intentional now more than ever, and the ones that do will continue to build stronger, healthier businesses despite external challenges.”
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