WPP made an announcement today stating that it was acquiring Diff, one of the top eCommerce agencies from Montreal in Canada. Diff is to join forces with WPP’s Wunderman Thompson to bolster one of the strongest commerce and marketing services teams in North America.
Together, Wunderman Thompson and Diff are an unstoppable force of custom-made commerce solutions. The latter is an award-winning solutions provider with specialized capabilities to respond to rapid developments within the Shopify commerce ecosystem.
Benjamin Crudo founded Diff in 2011 and has since been accumulating know-how and talent. All that brain power in the form of 115 experts that comprise Diff will now join the equally brilliant team at Wunderman Thompson.
According to WPP, “Diff specializes in growth strategy, front-end design, site optimization and system integrations which has enabled the agency to create some of the most innovative, complex and high-performing online stores on the Shopify platform, which now accounts for 10% of the United States’ eCommerce market share. Among Diff’s high-growth D2C client portfolio are Giant Tiger, Kith, Sakara Life, and more.”
The D2C model is growing in size and relevance, as more and more brands are adopting it as part of a multichannel approach. D2C commerce sales in the United States are expected to grow to almost $213 billion by 2023.
“The tremendous growth in the digital commerce ecosystem means our clients are looking to us to deliver the innovative solutions they need to reach new and existing customers in meaningfully engaging ways,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP. “Diff’s Shopify expertise, alongside its unique blend of strategy, optimization and design, will be a welcome addition to our commerce portfolio and will drive results for our clients in North America, which is WPP’s largest market.”
The latest acquisition is perfectly aligned with WPP's accelerated growth strategy, building on existing capabilities in the areas of commerce and technology.
“This acquisition boosts Wunderman Thompson’s commerce and technology ecosystem across North America, bringing Shopify expertise to our roster of well-established technology partnerships,” said Neil Stewart, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Commerce. “Our global clients will now have access to the expertise of one of Shopify’s longest-standing partners and its multichannel platform that caters to 600 million shoppers in more than 175 countries. Together we offer brands and retailers extended routes to market, including D2C, marketplaces, eRetail and social commerce.”
