eCommerce Exit Activity Remains Centered in the USA

eCommerce investment is going primarily to international markets, but the exit picture remains US-centered, for the time-being. Below is the data.

2013 saw 46 eCommerce exits, down 16% YoY. Nine of the 46 exits were via IPO with Zulily’s November 2013 IPO being the largest.

Unlike the funding trend, US exits have dwarfed international exits in eCommerce with 65% more activity State-side (109 vs. 66) over the last five years. 2010 marked a high for international exit share, as exits were split evenly, but otherwise, the US leads in activity.

Post-2010, international exit shares have held steady within a 30-40% range. 2013 saw an increased share for international exits from 31% in 2012 to 39% last year. US companies had 4 of the 5 largest exits behind IPOs of Zulily ($253M), RetailMeNot ($191.9M), Chegg ($187.5M), and ChannelAdvisor ($80.5M) in 2013. China’s 58.com IPO of $187M was the lone international IPO in 2013.

While US Exit Share Increase, International Exits Diversify

In comparing 2012-13 to 2010-11, the exit landscape had a few changes, notably:

• An increase in US exit share (56% to 64%)
• The ascent of China exits (1 to 5)
• The diversification of international markets that saw multiple exits (6 to 10)

The United States accounted for a 56% share of exits, while 14 other countries had Internet eCommerce exits from 2010-2011. German-based startups garnered the most exits of any other country outside the US with 6 acquisitions.  The UK, France, India, Israel, and Spain were the only other countries with multiple exits in 2010-11 time frame.

New Jersey-based Quidsi’s $500M sale to Amazon was the largest reported exit in the two year span.

From 2012-13, there was increased diversity in terms of international markets getting into the exit mix, but the United States’ exit share grew to 64% of all transactions.  Previously-mentioned Zulily, RetailmeNot, and Chegg IPOs were among the notable exits. China and India were second with 4 exits each, including Chinese companies 58.com, LightInTheBox, and VIPshop all going public.

[Tweet “2014 is on pace for a record number of exits in Internet eCommerce with 28 exits in just 5 months.”]With China-based JingDong and UK-based Just-Eat each going public in the past few months, 2014 is on pace for a record number of exits in eCommerce with 28 exits in just 5 months. As worldwide exits are close to a 50% split thus far, international exit share has a chance to compete with the US in 2014.