Intuit Nabs Facebook-Based Commerce Platform Payvment (Jan. 29, 2013)
Jan. 29, 2013
Software maker Intuit Inc. has acquired Facebook e-commerce platform Payvment, taking over the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s employees, technology and patents—but not its customers. In a note posted on its Website yesterday, Payvment announced that its team was “joining a new company” and that the platform—which enables retailers to create their own storefronts on Facebook—will be shut down on Feb. 28, along with companion site Lish.com. Customers were given the option of transferring their Payvment accounts to Ecwid, a Russian startup that had been one of Payvment’s main competitors. Intuit confirmed in a statement later in the day that it was the buyer.
The software giant’s decision to discontinue the Payvment platform could be the result of somewhat sluggish activity by Payvment users; only 20,000 to 30,000 of the platform’s 200,000 registered users were active this month, according to AppData. Sellers also have faced an uphill battle to make headway in direct selling via Facebook, with users more apt to “like” and comment on items on the social network than to actually make purchases. However, Payvment’s Ad platform, which helps its merchants to target Facebook ads based on user activity, has been relatively successful, according to Payvment. By acquiring Payvment’s talent, IP and tech, Intuit could be aiming to offer its own small business finance software clients targeted ads and storefronts on Facebook.
