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- 0 to $240M Revenue in 2.5 years | Cart.com
Sometimes the stats speak for themselves:
0 to $240M run-rate revenue in 2.5 years
0 to $1.3B valuation in same time frame
6,000+ customers
Raised $570M from top-tier investors
Founded in 2020, Cart.com’s meteoric rise has been mindboggling. What does the company do and how have they broken out in the crowded ecommerce fulfillment category?
Let’s dig in.
Note: this company breakdown uses solely publicly available information.
Company Overview
Cart.com provides ecommerce logistics solutions for omnichannel brands. The company was co-founded in 2020 by CEO Omair Tariq, who previously ran Home Depot’s Blinds.com division, and Chariman Jim Jacoben, who previously built and sold RTIC Outdoors, an ecommerce brand that sells coolers.
Cart has raised $570 million in capital from Oak HC/FT, Fin Capital, Citi Ventures, Visa Venture, PayPal Ventures, and others. It was last valued at $1.26 billion post-money after its $60 million Series C in June 2023.
Problem Being Solved
Cart addresses the problem fulfillment (i.e. packaging and shipping customer orders), and specifically, the fragmentation of the fulfillment market. There are some 21,000 fulfillment, or third-party logistics (3PL), providers in the US, and no one player dominates the market.
Because of this fragmentation, brands often need to work with dozens of 3PLs across different geographies and channels. This causes issues such as lack of visibility, siloed data, and the need for whole vendor management teams.
Solution
Cart aims to solve the fragmentation problem by being the one-stop shop for omnichannel fulfillment. As an end-to-end platform, the company provides a suite of solutions including online store software, growth marketing, fulfillment, multichannel management, and unified analytics across all commerce channels.
What differentiates Cart.com from the competition is its broad expanse of capabilities. This array of software and services allows customers to solve their fulfillment needs with one partner, as opposed to needing a hoard of different vendors.
These capabilities include:
Omnichannel Fulfillment: Cart handles pick and pack and transportation management across direct-to-consumer (DTC), direct-to-retailer, and direct-to-wholesaler. Proprietary software gives customers real-time visibility and control over orders, inventory, and shipments.
Order Management Software (OMS): unified commerce platform gives customers real-time visibility and control of orders, inventory, and shipments across channels and locations.
Marketplace Management: inventory management and syncing across all sales channels with automated pricing capabilities.
B2B Commerce Platform: digital suite for B2B and intracompany commerce, allowing for product and price management, cashless ordering, and sales and customer management tools.
Constellation AI: AI-powered demand forecasting, sales channel identification, ad inventory ordering.
Growth Marketing: custom media and creative strategies to hit sales goals and increase LTV, conversion rates, and ROAS.
Store Optimization: optimize customer’s shopping experience and improve conversion.
Traction
Cart’s run-rate revenue was $240 million as of May 2023. Around the same time, the company had 6,000+ customers including large brands such as Adidas, Under Armour, PacSun, Swarovski, and Bonobos. In 2022, Cart did $180 million in GAAP revenue and its software powered $5 billion in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV).
According to PitchBook, Cart has 1,100 employees. The company maintains 14 warehouses and distribution centers across the US.
Team
Omair Tariq, CEO & co-founder
Previously CFO and COO of Blinds.com (part of Home Depot)
Jim Jacobsen, Co-founder & Chairman
Founder & CEO of The J, the venture studio that spawned Cart.com
Previously founded RTIC Outdoors, sold to Wind Point Partners for a 9-figure exit
Saheb Sabharwal, Co-founder & Chief Logistics Officer
Previously Managing Director at CSL Capital Management
Stanford MBA
Remington Tonar, Co-founder & Chief Growth Officer
Previously CRO of The Cannon and Partner at Confecta Capital
Frank Parker, CFO
Previously EVP, Finance at Managed Health Care Associates Inc., CFO Global Ecommerce at Pitney Bowes, and VP At JP Morgan
Strengths
Robust suite of software and services: Cart offers a one-stop shop for customers looking for a range of ecommerce solutions. With omnichannel fulfillment, order management, inventory management, and bespoke services like storefront optimization and growth marketing, Cart drives significant value to its customers all under one roof. Its broad range of solutions likely increase both customer acquisition (a customer can pick and choose which solutions it wants) and retention (e.g. come for fulfillment, stay for demand forecasting).
Ability to close enterprise contracts: Cart has a proven ability to win some of the largest domestic brands like Adidas, Under Armour, and Swarovski.
Strong team: Cart’s team is intimately familiar with the issues surrounding fulfillment. CEO & co-founder Omair Tariq previously led Home Depot’s Blinds.com division. Chairman & Co-founder Jim Jacobsen previously founded and sold RTIC Outdoors to Wind Point Partners for a 9-figure exit.
Key Risks
Competition: Customers can often view logistics as a commodity service, resulting in a high threat of competition and downward price pressure. Cart will likely need to continue to develop its proprietary software and bespoke services to maintain differentiation.
Physical logistics could inhibit growth: Cart operates 14 warehouses and distribution centers around the US. While this helps streamline logistics operations, Cart’s growth could be limited by the physical capacity of its warehouses. These facilities also likely require significant capital expenditures.
Market Trends
A product is often at the mercy of its market. Luckily for Cart, things are trending well for ecommerce and omnichannel commerce. eCommerce sales were $268 billion in Q1 2024, and accounted for 16% of total retail sales in the quarter. This is up from just 6% a decade ago.
Given the rise in ecommerce and the need to meet customers where they are (Amazon, DTC, retail) the need for a solution like Cart’s is stronger than ever.
Conclusion
Cart has achieved rocketship growth over its four year history. Its explosive rise is due to its veteran ecommerce and logistics team, broad suite of differentiated software & services, and ability to win large enterprise contracts. Though the company is not without risks including potential growth limitations due to finite warehouse capacity, and competition in a traditionally commoditized industry. From 0 to $240 million run-rate revenue in 2.5 years, Cart is certainly one of the fastest growing logistics tech companies. And it’s positioned to power the rising tide of omnichannel commerce.
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