As the founder and CEO of Sitation, I have the honor of sitting at the helm for the remarkable journey which has seen us grow from a single employee — me, just 5 years ago — to more than 70 today. Our performance in 2023, despite a challenging economic environment, has been a testament to our resilience and commitment to outstanding service. We’ve continued to thrive by adhering to our proven processes, forging best-in-class partnerships, and nurturing a beloved workplace culture which is supportive and challenging, and celebrates the collective successes of our teams.
In one of my favorite end of year traditions, I’m proud to share our major achievements from this year.
Exceptional Growth in a Challenging Economy
Despite the economic headwinds of 2023, a year when many companies faced workforce reductions, we not only maintained our stability but also expanded significantly, maintaining a growth rate of nearly 50%. This growth reflects the strength of our business model and the unrelenting dedication of our team. It’s not just about the numbers, but I’m pretty damn proud of that growth given the circumstances.
Thought Leadership in Artificial Intelligence for E-Commerce
It was a wildly disruptive year for new technologies as AI burst onto the scene. Sitation has been right on the edge of this wave of new tech and has established itself as a thought leader (and market leader!) in AI-based solutions for digital merchandising. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at a lot of events this year to share my perspective, and look forward to another amazing year of change ahead. Sitation will continue to be right in the thick of it, creating and experimenting, and helping clients to embrace these new technologies as part of their day to day work as enterprise workflows are re-written from the ground up with the assistance of AI. It is an extraordinarily exciting time in our business and we’re so excited to have a voice in the conversation.
Introduction of a Stellar Product Team
This year marked the debut of our Product Team, a group of exceptionally talented individuals dedicated to crafting innovative products. Their creativity and expertise have been pivotal in driving our product initiatives forward, setting new benchmarks in the e-commerce space, and ushering in an evolution of Sitation’s business model which combines tools and subscriptions with our implementation, integration, and long-term services model. While we have much to learn, we’re off to an amazing start. You’ll see and hear much more about this part of our business in the new year!
Innovative Products Shaping the Future
Sitation introduced three new software products to the market in 2023, and has achieved excellent penetration and performance with all three.
- RoughDraftPro: Launched in February 2023, RoughDraftPro emerged as our award-winning solution for enterprise-scale e-commerce content creation and management. As the first in the market with such an offering, we’ve seen remarkable adoption among global brands, retailers, and distributors.
- Patchbay: Our ETL and iPaaS solution, Patchbay, has revolutionized data management across the intricate web of microservices. Its impact on data publishing and integration for our clients has been a game changer and the growing library of connectors and adapters brings new capabilities for syndication to our expanding list of subscribers.
- Portal: Portal stands as the user interface for Patchbay, where we’ve been developing transformative applications focusing on observability, workflow, and product data onboarding. Lots more to come… watch this space in 2024!
Expanding Our Clientele with Renowned Names
Our client base continues to grow robustly, adding some of the most recognizable and beloved names in retail and consumer packaged goods. This year, we’ve also seen significant growth in our B2B offerings, particularly in data-intensive industries like automotive aftermarket and electronic components.
Forging Strong Partnerships for Future Success
- Expanding Horizons: Our partnerships have always been a cornerstone of our strategy, and that continued in 2023, leading to meaningful new collaborations with technology providers, LLMs, hosting, and infrastructure solutions in addition to PIM, MDM, and DAM platforms.
- basecom Inc. Joint Venture: Another exciting highlight of the year is our newly-minted joint venture with basecom, a German SI and services provider, marking our first step into international expansion and presenting exciting growth opportunities in Europe.
Recognition of Excellence and Innovation
- 3-Peat Honors on the Inc 5000 List: Sitation was recognized on the Inc 5000 list for the third consecutive year.
- Consistent Excellence: We’ve maintained our status as a top-tier partner for our platform partners, recognized for our expertise in implementation and managed services.
- Accolades and Awards: We were honored as Salsify’s Top US Implementation Partner. Our innovations with Patchbay, Portal, and RoughDraftPro also earned us the Partner Innovation Award.
Advancing the Frontier of PIM Services
As the leading PIM services provider, we’ve not only sustained but also expanded our unique array of implementation, integration, and post-delivery services. Our commitment to R&D keeps us at the forefront of innovation in digital merchandising, continually exploring new avenues in PIM, DAM, SEO, and beyond.
Looking Ahead
As we approach the new year, our spirits are high, bolstered by a strong pipeline, deep and powerful partnerships, and a team of professionals who are hardworking, dedicated, intellectually curious, and committed to Sitation’s culture of creating a fun, supportive, and challenging work environment. We’re excited to continue this journey of growth and discovery into the new year, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in our field.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to our amazing team, loyal clients, outstanding partners, and supportive families, as well as the countless supporters along the way who are cheering for our success. We look forward to another exciting year at Sitation! Thank you for reading and wishing you health, happiness, and continued success in the upcoming year.
