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Shogun's new product, Shogun Frontend, allows brands to create a web storefront that’s entirely customized while still using one of the big commerce platforms as their back end. According to Taylor, this is part of a broader trend towards headless commerce, where the e-Commerce front end and back end are handled separately
Fremont, CA: e-Commerce software startup Shogun raised USD 10 million in a Series A funding round led by Initialized Capital, with participation from VMG Partners and YC. With this new round of funding, Shogun has raised a total of USD 10 million. The San Mateo-based company has over 11,000 customers, including MVMT, K-Swiss, and Leesa. The company’s first product, Page Builder, offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it easier for e-commerce brands to build their storefronts on Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce, and Magento.
Shogun's[vendor_logo_first] business methods have been aimed at leveling the playing field between sites like Amazon and upcoming retailers through its e-Commerce software. The system increases the speed of e-Commerce purchases on mobile devices. "It not only democratizes (progressive web apps) by allowing emerging brands to now cost-effectively compete in mobile commerce, it also allows for easier and quicker site iterations and testing, which is increasingly important, by putting the control back into marketers' hands and removing the need for a massive team of developers," said Carle Stenmark, partner at VMG.
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While Amazon has a market cap of over USD 1 trillion, Shogun CEO Finbarr Taylor believes the e-Commerce giant is dropping the ball. According to Taylor, the experience of shopping on Amazon, not just after purchasing, but while browsing on the webpage itself is pretty bad due to sponsored results and fake products. “What we’re seeing happen is that all this vast wave of direct-to-consumer brands is nibbling around edges of Amazon and beating them on buying experience,” Taylor said.
Shogun's new product, Shogun Frontend, allows brands to create a web storefront that’s entirely customized while still using one of the big commerce platforms as their back end. According to Taylor, this is part of a broader trend towards headless commerce, where the e-Commerce front end and back end are handled separately. This can be a mutually beneficial split as Shopify, and its competitors go super deep on building the infrastructure needed to operate a store online. At the same time, Shogun focuses on the actual experience of the customer visiting that store. At the same time, website builders like Squarespace and Weebly have introduced e-commerce features, which Taylor believes are not a professional choice for most e-commerce businesses.
"For DTC brands competing against goliaths like Amazon, Shogun Frontend now gives them features and capabilities once only reserved for enterprise companies. And when it comes to speed, Shogun Frontend’s sub-second load time is the critical difference between retaining or losing a customer," said Brett Gibson, general partner at Initialized Capital and a Shogun board member.
See also: Top E-commerce Technology Companies
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