Overview
We are a leading provider of cloud-based supply chain management solutions, providing network-proven fulfillment, sourcing and item assortment management solutions, along with comprehensive retail performance analytics to thousands of customers worldwide. We provide our solutions through the SPS Commerce Platform, a cloud-based product suite that improves the way retailers, suppliers, distributors and logistics firms orchestrate the sourcing, set up of new vendors and items and fulfillment of products that consumers buy. Implementing and maintaining this suite of supply chain management capabilities is resource intensive and not a core competency for most businesses. The SPS Commerce Platform eliminates the need for on premise software and support staff, which enables our customers to focus their resources on their core business. The SPS Commerce Platform enables retailers, suppliers, distributors and logistics firms to increase supply cycle agility, optimize inventory levels and sell-through, reduce costs, increase visibility into customer orders and ensure suppliers, distributors and logistics firms satisfy exacting retailer requirements.
As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 26,000 customers with contracts to pay us monthly fees, which we refer to as recurring revenue customers. We have also generated revenues by providing our cloud-based supply chain management solutions to an additional 49,000 organizations that, together with our recurring revenue customers, we refer to as our customers. Once connected to our Platform, our customers often require integrations to new organizations that represent an expansion of our Platform and new sources of revenues for us.
As a provider of cloud services, we enable our customers to easily interact with their trading partners around the world without the local implementation and servicing of software that traditional on-premise solutions require. Our delivery model also enables us to offer functionality, integration, analytics and reliability with less cost and risk than traditional solutions.
For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we generated revenues of $220.6 million, $193.3 million and $158.5 million, respectively. Our fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2017 represented our 68th consecutive quarter of increased revenues. Recurring revenues from recurring revenue customers accounted for 92.5%, 91.6% and 90.8% of our total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Our revenues are not concentrated with any customer, as our largest customer represented less than 1.0% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017 and less than 2.0% of total revenues for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.
Our Platform
We operate one of the largest retail trading partner networks through a cloud-based services suite that improves the way suppliers, retailers, logistics firms, distributors and other trading partners manage and fulfill orders, manage sell-through performance and source new items. Approximately 75,000 customers across more than 60 countries currently use our Platform to improve the performance of their trading relationships. Our Platform fundamentally changes how organizations use electronic communication to manage their supply chains by replacing the collection of traditional, custom-built, point-to-point integrations with a network model whereby a single integration to our Platform enables an organization to connect seamlessly to the entire SPS Commerce network of trading partners.
From that single connection, a member of our network can make use of the full suite of our solutions, from fulfillment automation, to the analysis and optimization of item sell-through performance, to sourcing new items, retailing relationships or providers of logistics and other services. This represents a fundamental change to fulfillment automation and enables inherent adaptability and flexibility not possible with traditional supply chain management system architectures.
Our Platform is comprised of a set of coupled cloud services that deliver value as stand-alone offerings, but also provide additional value when used collectively. Our fulfillment product combines integrations that comply with numerous rule books for retailers and distributors with whom we and our customers have done business. By maintaining current integrations with retailers, our Platform removes the need for a retailer’s trading partners to continually stay up-to-date with the rule book changes required by retailers. Moreover, by utilizing a cloud services
4
model, we eliminate or greatly reduce the burden on trading partners to support and maintain an on-premise software application, there
by reducing ongoing operating costs. As the transaction hub for trading partners, we also are able to provide increased performance visibility and data analytics capabilities across their supply chains, each of which is difficult to gain from traditional,
point-to-point integration solutions.
The following solutions are enabled through the SPS Commerce cloud services Platform:
|
•
|
Trading Partner Community Enablement.
Our Community Enablement solution enables organizations, from large to small retailers and suppliers to emerging providers of value-added products and services, to verify that they can electronically trade with their trading partners.
|
|
•
|
Trading Partner Fulfillment.
Our Fulfillment solution provides fulfillment automation and replaces or augments an organization’s existing trading partner electronic communication infrastructure, enabling them to have visibility into the journey of an order and comply with retailers’ rule books and enabling the electronic exchange of information among numerous trading partners through various protocols.
|
|
•
|
Trading Partner Assortment.
Today’s retail marketplace requires the management of tens and even hundreds of individual attributes associated with each item a retailer or supplier sells today. This information can include supply chain descriptions and measurements, store and shelf dimensions, warehouse dimensions, digital images/video, customer facing descriptions and measurements, and warehouse information. Our Assortment product provides robust, extensible management of this information, enabling accurate orders and rapid fulfillment.
|
|
•
|
Trading Partner Analytics.
Our Analytics solution consists of data analytics applications that enable our customers to improve their visibility across, and analysis of, their supply chains. When focused on point-of-sale data, for example, retailers and suppliers can ensure inventory is located where demand is highest. Retailers improve their visibility into supplier performance and their understanding of product sell-through.
|
|
•
|
Trading Partner Sourcing.
Through Retail Universe, our social network for the retail industry, retailers can source providers of new items, suppliers can connect with new retailers and the broader retailing community can make connections to expand their business networks and grow.
|
|
•
|
Other Trading Partner Solutions.
We provide a number of peripheral solutions such as barcode labeling, planogram services and our scan and pack application, which helps trading partners process information to streamline the picking and packaging process.
|
Our Customer and Sales Sources
As one of the largest providers of cloud services for supply chain management, the trading partner relationships that we enable among our retailer, supplier and fulfillment customers naturally lead to new customer acquisition opportunities.
“Network Effect”
Once connected to our network, trading partners can exchange electronic supply chain information with each other. The value of our Platform increases with the number of trading partners connected to the Platform. The addition of each new customer to our Platform enables that new customer to communicate with our existing customers and enables our existing customers to do business with the new customer. Additionally, through our Sourcing product, our community now has a social network focused on facilitating connections and business interactions among retailers and suppliers. This “network effect” of adding an additional customer to our Platform creates a significant opportunity for existing customers to realize incremental sales by working with our new trading partners and vice versa. As a result of this increased volume of activity amongst our network participants, we earn additional revenues from these participants.
Customer Acquisition Sources
Community Enablement.
As retailers and suppliers reshape how they do business in an omnichannel landscape, they need to bring new capabilities and services to their trading partner networks. For instance, a
5
supplier may wish to collabo
rate with their retailers around point-of-sale analytics data, or a retailer may decide to change the workflow or protocol by which it interacts with its suppliers. In each case, the supplier and retailer may engage us to work with its trading partner bas
e to enable the new capability. Performing these programs on behalf of retailers and suppliers often generates supplier sales leads for us.
Referrals from Our Customers.
We also receive sales leads from our customers seeking to communicate electronically with their trading partners. For example, a supplier may refer to us its third-party logistics provider or manufacturer which is not in our network.
Channel Partners.
In addition to the customer acquisition sources identified above, we market and sell our solutions through a variety of channel partners including software providers, resellers, system integrators and logistics partners. For example, software partners such as Microsoft, NetSuite, Oracle, SAP, Sage and their business partner communities generate sales for us as part of broader enterprise resource planning, warehouse management system and/or transportation management system sales efforts. Our logistics partners also drive new sales both by providing leads and by embedding our solutions as part of their service offerings.
Our Sales Force
We also sell our solutions through a global sales force which is organized as follows:
|
•
|
Retailer Sales.
We employ a team of sales professionals who focus on selling our cloud services suite to retailers and distributors.
|
|
•
|
Supplier Sales.
We employ a team of supplier sales representatives focused on selling our cloud services suite to suppliers.
|
|
•
|
Business Development Efforts.
Our business development organization is tasked with finding new sources of revenue and development of new business opportunities through channel partners and other areas that present opportunity for growth.
|
Our Growth Strategy
Our objective is to be the leading global provider of supply chain management solutions. Key elements of our strategy include:
|
•
|
Further Penetrate Our Current Market.
We believe the global supply chain management market is underpenetrated and, as the retail industry continues to respond to the changing requirements of the omnichannel marketplace, and as the supply chain ecosystem becomes more complex and geographically dispersed, the demand for supply chain management solutions will increase, especially among small- and medium-sized businesses. We intend to continue leveraging our relationships with customers and their trading partners to obtain new sales leads.
|
|
•
|
Increase Revenues from Our Customer Base.
We believe our overall customer satisfaction is strong and will lead our customers to further expand their use of the solutions they have currently purchased as well as purchase additional services to continue improving the performance of their trading partner relationships, generating additional revenues for us. We also expect to introduce new solutions to sell to our customers. We believe our position as the incumbent supply chain management solution provider to our customers, our integration into our recurring revenue customers’ business systems and the modular nature of our Platform are conducive to deploying additional solutions with customers.
|
|
•
|
Expand Our Distribution Channels.
We intend to grow our business by expanding our network of sales representatives to gain new customers. We also believe there are valuable opportunities to promote and sell our solutions through collaboration with other providers.
|
|
•
|
Expand Our International Presence.
We believe our presence in Asia Pacific, as well as Europe, represents a significant competitive advantage. We plan to increase our international sales efforts to obtain new customers around the world. We intend to leverage our current international presence to increase the number of integrations we have with retailers in foreign markets to make our Platform more valuable to their trading partners based overseas.
|
6
|
•
|
Enhance and Expand Our Platform.
We intend to further improv
e and develop the functionality and features of our Platform, including, from time to time, developing new solutions and applications.
|
|
•
|
Selectively Pursue Strategic Acquisitions.
The fragmented nature of our market provides opportunity for selective acquisitions. In 2014, we purchased substantially all of the assets of Leadtec Systems Australia Pty Ltd (“Leadtec”) and its affiliates, a privately-held provider of cloud-based integration solutions in Australia and New Zealand. This acquisition expanded our base of recurring revenue customers and added suppliers to our network. In 2016, we purchased Toolbox Solutions, Inc. (Toolbox Solutions), a Canadian based point-of-sale analytics and category management services provider to retailers and consumer packaged goods suppliers in North America. To complement and accelerate our internal growth, we may pursue acquisitions of other supply chain management companies to add customers or additional functionalities. We plan to evaluate potential acquisitions of other supply chain management companies primarily based on the number of customers and revenue the acquisition would provide relative to the purchase price. We also may pursue acquisitions that allow us to expand into regions where we do not have a significant presence or to offer new functionalities we do not currently provide. We plan to evaluate potential acquisitions to expand into new regions or offer additional functionalities primarily based on the anticipated growth the acquisition would provide, the purchase price and our ability to integrate and operate the acquired business.
|
Technology, Development and Operations
Technology
We were an early provider of cloud services to the retail supply chain management industry, launching the first version of our Platform in 1997. We use commercially available hardware and cloud services with a combination of proprietary and commercially available software.
Our cloud Platform treats all customers as logically separate tenants in a common Platform. As a result, we spread the cost of delivering our solutions across our customer base. Because we do not manage thousands of distinct applications with their own business logic and database schemes, we believe that we can scale our business faster than traditional software vendors, even those that modified their products to be accessible over the Internet.
Development
Our research and development efforts focus on maintaining, improving and enhancing our existing solutions, as well as developing new solutions and applications. Our multi-tenant Platform serves all of our customers, which allows us to maintain relatively low research and development expenses and release software updates more frequently compared to traditional on-premise licensed software solutions that support multiple versions. Our development efforts take place at our U.S. locations in Minnesota and New Jersey, as well as in Toronto, Canada and Kiev, Ukraine.
Operations
We operate our infrastructure in third-party data centers located in Minnesota and New Jersey; Melbourne, Australia; as well as provisioned services in public cloud providers. In all cases, infrastructure and services are managed by us.
We have internal and third party monitoring software that continually checks our Platform and key underlying components for continuous availability and performance, ensuring our Platform is available and providing adequate service levels. We have a technology operations team that provides system provisioning, management, maintenance, monitoring and back-up.
We operate a service architecture using industry best practices to insure multiple points of redundancy, high availability and scale as needed. Our databases are replicated between locations with a defined recovery point objective.
7
Our Customers
As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 26,000 recurring revenue customers and approximately 75,000 total customers. Our primary source of revenue is from small- to mid-sized suppliers in the consumer packaged goods industry. We also generate revenues from other members of the supply chain ecosystem, including retailers, distributors, third-party logistics providers and other trading partners. Our revenues are not concentrated with any customer, as our largest customer represented less than 1.0% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017 and less than 2.0% of total revenues for both the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015.
Competition
Vendors in the supply chain management industry offer solutions through three delivery methods: on demand or cloud-based, traditional on-premise software and managed services.
The market for cloud-based supply chain management solutions is fragmented and rapidly evolving. Cloud service vendors compete directly with each other based on the following:
|
•
|
breadth of pre-built connections to retailers, third-party logistics providers, and other trading partners;
|
|
•
|
history of establishing and maintaining reliable integration connections with trading partners;
|
|
•
|
reputation of the cloud service vendor in the supply chain management industry;
|
|
•
|
specialization in a customer market segment;
|
|
•
|
speed and quality with which the cloud service vendor can integrate its customers to their trading partners;
|
|
•
|
functionality of the cloud service solution, such as the ability to integrate the solution with a customer’s business systems;
|
|
•
|
breadth of complementary supply chain management solutions the cloud service vendor offers; and
|
|
•
|
training and customer support services provided during and after a customer’s initial integration.
|
We expect to encounter new and increased competition as this market segment consolidates and matures. Consolidation among cloud service vendors could create a direct competitor that is able to compete with us more effectively than the numerous, smaller vendors currently offering cloud service supply chain management solutions. Increased competition from cloud service vendors could reduce our market share, revenues, and operating margins or otherwise adversely affect our business.
Cloud service vendors also compete with traditional on-premise software companies and managed service providers. Traditional on-premise software companies focused on supply chain integration management include IBM-Sterling Commerce and OpenText-GXS. These companies offer a “do-it-yourself” approach in which customers purchase, install, and manage specialized software, hardware and value-added networks for their supply chain integration needs. This approach requires customers to invest in staff to operate and maintain the software. Traditional on-premise software companies use a single-tenant approach in which information maps to retailers are built for and used by one supplier, as compared to cloud service solutions that allow multiple customers to share information maps with a retailer.
Managed service providers focused on the supply chain management market include IBM-Sterling Commerce and OpenText-GXS. These companies combine traditional on-premise software, hardware and value-added networks with professional information technology services to manage these resources. Like traditional on-premise software companies, managed service providers use a single-tenant approach.
Customers of traditional on-premise software companies and managed service providers typically make significant upfront investments in the supply chain management solutions these competitors provide, which can decrease the customers’ willingness to abandon their investments in favor of a cloud service solution. Cloud service supply chain management solutions also are at a relatively early stage of development compared to traditional on-premise software and managed service providers. Cloud service vendors compete with these better established
8
solutions based on total cost of ownership and flexibility. If su
ppliers do not perceive the benefits of cloud service solutions, or if suppliers are unwilling to abandon their investments in other supply chain management solutions, our business and growth may suffer. In addition, many traditional on-premise software c
ompanies and managed service providers have larger customer bases and may be better capitalized than we are, which may provide them with an advantage in developing, marketing or servicing solutions that compete with ours.
Intellectual Property and Proprietary Content
We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology and our brand. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees, consultants and other third parties and control access to software, documentation and other proprietary information. We have registered trademarks and pending trademark applications in the U.S. and certain foreign countries. Depending on the jurisdiction, trademarks are generally valid as long as they are in use or their registrations are properly maintained and they have not been found to have become generic. Registrations of trademarks can also generally be renewed indefinitely as long as the trademarks are in use. We do not have any patents, but we have pending patent applications. Our trade secrets consist primarily of the software we have developed for our SPS Commerce Platform. Our software is also protected under copyright law, but we do not have any registered copyrights.
Employees
As of December 31, 2017, we had 1,336 employees. We also employ independent contractors to support our operations. We believe that our continued success will depend on our ability to continue to attract and retain skilled technical and sales personnel. We have never had a work stoppage, and none of our employees are represented by a labor union. We believe our relationship with our employees is good.
Company Information
We were originally incorporated as St. Paul Software, Inc., a Minnesota corporation, on January 28, 1987. On May 30, 2001, we reincorporated in Delaware under our current name, SPS Commerce, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 333 South Seventh Street, Suite 1000, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, and our telephone number is (612) 435-9400. Our website address is
www.spscommerce.com
. Information on our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report we file or furnish with the SEC. We provide free access to various reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been filed or furnished. These reports include, but are not limited to, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports. Our SEC reports can be accessed through the investor relations section of our website or through the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov
. Stockholders may also request copies of these documents from:
SPS Commerce, Inc.
Attention: Investor Relations
333 South Seventh Street
Suite 1000
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Executive Officers
Set forth below are the names, ages and titles of the persons serving as our executive officers.
Name
|
|
Age
|
|
Position
|
Archie C. Black
|
|
55
|
|
Chief Executive Officer and President
|
Kimberly K. Nelson
|
|
50
|
|
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
|
James J. Frome
|
|
53
|
|
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
|
Archie C. Black has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a director since 2001. Previously, Mr. Black served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1998 to 2001. Prior to joining us, Mr. Black was a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Investment Advisors, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota and also spent three years at Price Waterhouse.
9
Kimberly K. Nelson has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since Novembe
r 2007. Prior to joining us, Ms. Nelson served as the Finance Director, Investor Relations for Amazon.com from June 2005 through November 2007 and as the Finance Director, Worldwide Application for Amazon.com’s Technology group from April 2003 until June
2005. Ms. Nelson also served as Amazon.com’s Finance Director, Financial Planning and Analysis from December 2000 until April 2003.
James J. Frome has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Frome served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer from March 2001 to August 2012 and our Vice President of Marketing from July 2000 to March 2001. Prior to joining us, Mr. Frome served as a Divisional Vice President of Marketing at Sterling Software, Inc. from 1999 to 2000 and as a Senior Product Manager and Director of Product Management at Information Advantage, Inc. from 1993 to 1999.
10
Set forth below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in other documents we file with the SEC, are risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other written and oral communications from time to time. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes.
If we are unable to attract new customers, or sell additional solutions, or if our customers do not increase their use of our solutions, our revenue growth and profitability will be adversely affected.
To increase our revenues and achieve and maintain profitability, we must regularly add new customers, sell additional solutions and our customers must increase their use of the solutions for which they currently subscribe. We intend to grow our business by retaining and attracting talent, developing strategic relationships with resellers, including resellers that incorporate our applications in their offerings, and increasing our marketing activities. If we are unable to hire or retain quality personnel, convert companies that have been referred to us by our existing network into paying customers, ensure the effectiveness of our marketing programs, or if our existing or new customers do not perceive our solutions to be of sufficiently high value and quality, we might not be able to increase sales and our operating results will be adversely affected. If we fail to sell our new solutions to existing or new customers, we will not generate anticipated revenues from these solutions, our operating results will suffer and we might be unable to grow our revenues or maintain profitability.
We do not have long-term contracts with most of our recurring revenue customers, and our success therefore depends on our ability to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and a strong reputation in the supply chain management industry.
Our contracts with our recurring revenue customers typically allow the customer to cancel the contract for any reason with 30 to 90 days’ notice. Our continued success therefore depends significantly on our ability to meet or exceed our recurring revenue customers’ expectations because most recurring revenue customers do not make long-term commitments to use our solutions. In addition, if our reputation in the supply chain management industry is harmed or diminished for any reason, our recurring revenue customers have the ability to terminate their relationship with us on short notice and seek alternative supply chain management solutions. We may also not be able to accurately predict future trends in customer renewals, and our customers’ renewal rates may decline or fluctuate because of several factors, including their dissatisfaction with our services, the cost of our services compared to the cost of services offered by our competitors and reductions in our customers’ spending levels. If a significant number of recurring revenue customers seek to terminate their relationship with us, our business, results of operations and financial condition can be adversely affected in a short period of time.
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate in the future, which could result in volatility in our stock price.
Our quarterly revenues and results of operations have varied in the past and may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, including the success of our more recent offerings such as our Trading Partner Analytics solution. If our quarterly revenues or results of operations fluctuate, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Fluctuations in our results of operations may be due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, those listed below and identified throughout this “Risk Factors” section:
|
•
|
our ability to retain and increase sales to customers and attract new customers, including our ability to maintain and increase our number of recurring revenue customers;
|
|
•
|
the timing and success of introductions of new solutions or upgrades by us or our competitors;
|
|
•
|
the strength of the economy, in particular as it affects the retail sector;
|
|
•
|
the financial condition of our customers;
|
11
|
•
|
changes in our pricing policies or those of our competitors;
|
|
•
|
competition, including entry into the industry by new competitors and new offerings by existing competitors;
|
|
•
|
the amount and timing of our expenses, including stock-based compensation and expenditures related to expanding our operations, supporting new customers, performing research and development, or introducing new solutions;
|
|
•
|
changes in the payment terms for our solutions; and
|
|
•
|
system or service failures, security breaches or network downtime.
|
Due to the foregoing factors, and the other risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should not rely on comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of our future performance.
Interruptions or delays from third-party data centers could impair the delivery of our solutions and our business could suffer.
We use third-party data centers, located in Minnesota, New Jersey and Melbourne, as well as provision services in public cloud providers, to conduct our operations. In all cases, infrastructure and services on which our Platform runs is managed by us. Our operations depend on the protection of the equipment and information we store in these third-party centers against damage or service interruptions that may be caused by fire, flood, severe storm, power loss, telecommunications failures, natural disasters, war, criminal act, military action, terrorist attack and other similar events beyond our control. In addition, third party malfeasance, such as intentional misconduct by computer hackers, unauthorized intrusions, computer viruses or denial of service attacks, may also cause substantial service disruptions. A prolonged service disruption affecting our solutions for any of the foregoing reasons could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose recurring revenue customers or otherwise adversely affect our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the data centers we use.
Our cloud-based supply chain management solutions are accessed by a large number of customers at the same time. As we continue to expand the number of our customers and solutions available to our customers, we may not be able to scale our technology to accommodate the increased capacity requirements, which may result in interruptions or delays in service. In addition, the failure of our third-party data centers to meet our capacity requirements could result in interruptions or delays in our solutions or impede our ability to scale our operations. In the event that our data center arrangements are terminated, or there is a lapse of service or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in our solutions as well as delays and additional expense in arranging new facilities and services.
Our industry is a prime target for those that seek to steal confidential information and computer malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, and spamming could harm our business and cause us to lose the confidence of our users, which could significantly impact our business and results of operations.
As demonstrated by recent material and high-profile data security breaches within the retail industry, computer malware, viruses, and computer hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent in our industry, have occurred on our systems in the past, and may occur on our systems in the future. Furthermore, given the interconnected nature of the retail supply chain and our significant presence in the retail industry, we believe that we are a particularly attractive target for such attacks. In addition, our connection to the retail industry could present the opportunity for an attack on our system to serve as a way to obtain access into our users’ systems, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and growth prospectus. Businesses in our industry have experienced material sales declines after discovering data breaches, and our business could be similarly impacted. The security costs to reduce the likelihood of an attack are high and may continue to increase. Reputational value is based in large part on perceptions of subjective qualities. While reputations may take decades to build, any negative incidents can quickly erode trust and confidence, particularly if they result in adverse mainstream and social media publicity, governmental investigations or litigation. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of our products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may harm our reputation, impair our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers and expose us to legal claims and government action, each of which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
12
A failure to protect the integrity and security of our customers’ information and access to our customers’ information systems could expose us to litigation, materially damage our reputation and harm our business, an
d the costs of preventing such a failure could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our business involves the collection and use of confidential information of our customers and their trading partners. The collection and use of this information sometimes requires our direct access to our customers’ information systems. We cannot assure you that our efforts to protect this confidential information and access will be successful. Our security measures may be breached as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise and result in someone obtaining unauthorized access to our customers’ data or our data, including our intellectual property and other confidential business information, or our IT systems. Additionally, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information in order to gain access to our customers’ data or our data or IT systems. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, or to sabotage systems, change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Malicious third-parties may also conduct attacks designed to temporarily deny customers access to our services.
If any compromise of this information security were to occur, or if we fail to detect and appropriately respond to a significant data security breach, we could be subject to legal claims and government action, experience an adverse effect on our reputation and need to incur significant additional costs to protect against similar information security breaches in the future, each of which could adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Litigation resulting from such claims may be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management. In addition, because of the critical nature of data security, any perceived breach of our security measures could cause existing or potential customers not to use our solutions and could harm our reputation.
We may experience service failures or interruptions due to defects in the hardware, software, infrastructure, third party components or processes that comprise our existing or new solutions, any of which could adversely affect our business.
Technology solutions as complex as ours may contain undetected defects in the hardware, software, infrastructure, third party components or processes that are part of the solutions we provide. If these defects lead to service failures, we could experience delays or lost revenues, diversion of software engineering resources, material non-monetary concessions, negative media attention or increased service costs as a result of performance claims during the period required to correct the cause of the defects. We cannot be certain that defects will not be found in new solutions or upgraded solutions, resulting in loss of, or delay in, market acceptance, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Because customers use our cloud-based supply chain management solutions for critical business processes, any defect in our solutions, any disruption to our solutions or any error in execution could cause recurring revenue customers to cancel their contracts with us, prevent potential customers from joining our network and harm our reputation. Although most of our contracts with our customers limit our liability to our customers for these defects, disruptions or errors, we nonetheless could be subject to litigation for actual or alleged losses to our customers’ businesses, which may require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or arbitration or to pay significant settlements or damages. We do not currently maintain any warranty reserves. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and divert management’s attention and could cause our business to suffer.
The insurers under our existing liability insurance policy could deny coverage of a future claim that results from an error or defect in our technology or a resulting disruption in our solutions, or our existing liability insurance might not be adequate to cover all of the damages and other costs of such a claim. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our current liability insurance coverage will continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. The successful assertion against us of one or more large claims that exceeds our insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our liability insurance policy, including an increase in premiums or imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Even if we succeed in litigation with respect to a claim, we are likely to incur substantial costs and our management’s attention will be diverted from our operations.
13
Our business is depend
ent on our ability to maintain and scale our technical infrastructure, and any failure to effectively maintain and grow our technical infrastructure service could damage our reputation, result in a potential loss of users
and engagement, and adversely affe
ct our financial results.
Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers is dependent upon the reliable performance of our Platform and our underlying technical infrastructure. As our user base and the amount and types of information shared on our Platform continue to grow, we will need an increasing amount of technical infrastructure, including network capacity and computing power, to continue to satisfy the needs of our users. It is possible that we may fail to effectively scale and grow our technical infrastructure to accommodate these increased demands. Any failure to effectively maintain and grow our technical infrastructure could damage our reputation, result in a potential loss of users and engagement, and adversely affect our financial results.
Our inability to adapt to rapid technological change could impair our ability to remain competitive.
The industry in which we compete is characterized by rapid technological change, frequent introductions of new products and evolving industry standards. Existing products can become obsolete and unmarketable when vendors introduce products utilizing new technologies or new industry standards emerge, and as a result, it is difficult for us to estimate the life cycles of our products. Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenues from customers will depend in significant part on our ability to anticipate industry standards and to continue to enhance existing solutions or introduce or acquire new solutions on a timely basis to keep pace with technological developments. The success of any enhancement or new solution depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of the enhancement or solution. Any new solution we develop or acquire might not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner and might not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenues. If any of our competitors implement new technologies before we are able to implement them, those competitors may be able to provide more effective solutions than ours at lower prices. Any delay or failure in the introduction of new or enhanced solutions could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we fail to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights adequately, our business could be adversely affected.
We believe that proprietary technology is essential to establishing and maintaining our leadership position. We seek to protect our intellectual property through trade secrets, copyrights, confidentiality, non-compete and nondisclosure agreements, trademarks, domain names and other measures, some of which afford only limited protection. We do not have any patents or registered copyrights. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our technology or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We cannot assure you that our means of protecting our proprietary rights will be adequate or that our competitors will not independently develop similar or superior technology or design around our intellectual property. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the U.S. Intellectual property protections may also be unavailable, limited or difficult to enforce in some countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share. Our failure to protect adequately our intellectual property and proprietary rights could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
An assertion by a third party that we are infringing its intellectual property could subject us to costly and time-consuming litigation or expensive licenses and our business might be harmed.
The Internet supply chain management and technology industries are characterized by the existence of a large number of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and by frequent litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. As we seek to extend our solutions, we could be constrained by the intellectual property rights of others.
We might not prevail in any intellectual property infringement litigation given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in such litigation. Defending such claims, regardless of their merit, could be time-consuming and distracting to management, result in costly litigation or settlement, cause development delays, require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements or require us to redesign our products to avoid infringement. If our solutions violate any third-party proprietary rights, we could be required to withdraw those solutions from the
14
market, re-develop those s
olutions or seek to obtain licenses from third parties, which might not be available on reasonable terms or at all. Any efforts to re-develop our solutions, obtain licenses from third parties on favorable terms or license a substitute technology might not
be successful and, in any case, might substantially increase our costs and harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Withdrawal of any of our solutions from the market might harm our business, financial condition and operating results
.
In addition, we incorporate open source software into our Platform. Given the nature of open source software, third parties might assert copyright and other intellectual property infringement claims against us based on our use of certain open source software programs. The terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and there is a risk that those licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our solutions. In that event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our solutions, to re-develop our solutions or to discontinue sales of our solutions, or to release our proprietary software code under the terms of an open source license, any of which could adversely affect our business.
Our new products and changes to existing products could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue.
Our ability to retain, increase and engage our customers and to increase our revenues will depend heavily on our ability to create successful new products. We may introduce significant changes to our existing products or develop and introduce new and unproven products which include or use technologies with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. If new or enhanced products fail to engage customers, we may fail to attract or retain customers or to generate sufficient revenues, operating margin, or other value to justify our investments and our business may be adversely affected. In the future, we may invest in new products and initiatives to generate revenue, but there is no guarantee these approaches will be successful. If we are not successful with new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenues as anticipated or recover any associated development costs and our financial results could be adversely affected.
Our software is highly technical, and if it contains undetected errors, our business could be adversely affected.
Our products incorporate software that is highly technical and complex. Our software has contained, and may now or in the future contain, undetected errors, bugs or vulnerabilities. Some errors in our software code may only be discovered after the code has been released. Any defects or errors discovered in our code after release could result in damage to our reputation, loss of customers, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.
The market for cloud-based supply chain management solutions is at an early stage of development. If this market does not develop or develops more slowly than we expect, our revenues may decline or fail to grow and we may incur operating losses.
We derive, and expect to continue to derive, substantially all of our revenues from providing cloud-based supply chain management solutions to suppliers, retailers, distributors and logistics firms. The market for cloud-based supply chain management solutions is in an early stage of development, and it is uncertain whether these solutions will achieve and sustain high levels of demand and market acceptance. Our success will depend on the willingness of retailers and their trading partners to accept our cloud-based supply chain management solutions as an alternative to traditional licensed hardware and software solutions.
Some suppliers, retailers, distributors, or logistics firms may be reluctant or unwilling to use our cloud-based supply chain management solutions for a number of reasons, including existing investments in supply chain management technology. Supply chain management functions traditionally have been performed using purchased or licensed hardware and software implemented by each supplier. Because this traditional approach often requires significant initial investments to purchase the necessary technology and to establish systems that comply with retailers’ unique requirements, suppliers may be unwilling to abandon their current solutions for our cloud-based supply chain management solutions.
15
Other factors that may limit market acceptance of our cloud-based supply chain management solutions include:
|
•
|
our ability to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction;
|
|
•
|
our ability to maintain continuity of service for all users of our Platform;
|
|
•
|
the price, performance and availability of competing solutions; and
|
|
•
|
our ability to assuage suppliers’ confidentiality concerns about information stored outside of their controlled computing environments.
|
If retailers and their trading partners do not perceive the benefits of our cloud-based supply chain management solutions, or if retailers and their trading partners are unwilling to accept our Platform as an alternative to the traditional approach, the market for our solutions might not continue to develop or might develop more slowly than we expect, either of which would significantly adversely affect our revenues and growth prospects.
Privacy concerns and laws, evolving regulation of cloud computing, cross-border data transfer restrictions and other domestic or foreign regulations may limit the use and adoption of our solutions and adversely affect our business.
Regulation related to the provision of services on the Internet is increasing, as federal, state and foreign governments continue to adopt new laws and regulations addressing data privacy and the collection, processing, storage and use of personal information. In some cases foreign data privacy laws and regulations, such as the European Union’s Data Protection Directive, and the country-specific regulations that implement that directive, also govern the processing of personal information. Further, laws are increasingly aimed at the use of personal information for marketing purposes, such as the European Union’s e-Privacy Directive, and the country-specific regulations that implement that directive. Such laws and regulations are subject to differing interpretations and may be inconsistent among jurisdictions. These and other requirements could reduce demand for our solutions or restrict our ability to store and process data or, in some cases, impact our ability to offer our services and solutions in certain locations.
In addition to government activity, privacy advocacy and other industry groups have established or may establish new self-regulatory standards that may place additional burdens on us. Our customers may expect us to meet voluntary certification or other standards established by third parties. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could adversely affect our ability to provide our solutions to certain customers and could harm our business.
The costs of compliance with and other burdens imposed by laws, regulations and standards may limit the use and adoption of our services and reduce overall demand for them, or lead to significant fines, penalties or liabilities for any noncompliance.
Furthermore, concerns regarding data privacy may cause our customers’ customers to resist providing the data necessary to allow our customers to use our service effectively. Even the perception that the privacy of personal information is not satisfactorily protected or does not meet regulatory requirements could inhibit sales of our products or services, and could limit adoption of our cloud-based solutions.
Evolving regulation of the Internet may increase our expenditures related to compliance efforts, which may adversely affect our financial condition.
As Internet commerce continues to evolve, increasing regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies becomes more likely. We are particularly sensitive to these risks because the Internet is a critical component of our cloud-based business model. For example, we believe that increased regulation is likely in the area of data privacy, and laws and regulations applying to the solicitation, collection, processing or use of personal or consumer information could affect our customers’ ability to use and share data, potentially reducing demand for solutions accessed via the Internet and restricting our ability to store, process and share data with our clients via the Internet. In addition, taxation of services provided over the Internet or other charges imposed by government agencies or by private organizations for accessing the Internet may be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Internet use or restricting information exchange over the Internet could result in a decline in the use of the Internet and the viability of Internet-based services, which could harm our business.
16
Industry-specific regulation is evolving and unfavorable industry-specific laws, regulations or interpretive positions could harm our business.
Our customers and potential customers do business in a variety of industries. Regulators in certain industries have adopted and may in the future adopt regulations or interpretive positions regarding the use of cloud computing and other outsourced services. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, industry-specific laws, regulations and interpretive positions may limit customers’ use and adoption of our services and reduce overall demand for our services. In addition, an inability to satisfy the standards of certain voluntary third-party certification bodies that our customers may expect may have an adverse impact on our business. If in the future we are unable to achieve or maintain these industry-specific certifications or other requirements or standards relevant to our customers, it may harm our business.
In some cases, industry-specific laws, regulations or interpretive positions may also apply directly to us as a service provider. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with such requirements could have an adverse impact on our business.
We rely on third party infrastructure, software and services that could take a significant time to replace or upgrade.
We rely on infrastructure, software and services licensed from third parties to offer our cloud-based supply chain management solutions. This infrastructure, software and services, as well as maintenance rights for this infrastructure, software and services, may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we lose the right to use or upgrade any of these licenses, our customers could experience delays or be unable to access our solutions until we can obtain and integrate equivalent technology. There might not always be commercially reasonable hardware or software alternatives to the third-party infrastructure, software and services that we currently license. Any such alternatives could be more difficult or costly to replace than the third-party infrastructure, software and services we currently license, and integration of the alternatives into our Platform could require significant work and substantial time and resources. Any delays or failures associated with our Platform could injure our reputation with customers and potential customers and result in an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may pursue acquisitions and our potential inability to successfully integrate newly acquired companies or businesses could adversely affect our financial results.
We may pursue acquisitions of other companies or their businesses in the future. If we complete acquisitions, we face many risks commonly encountered with growth through acquisitions. These risks include:
|
•
|
incurring significantly higher than anticipated capital expenditures and operating expenses;
|
|
•
|
failing to assimilate the operations, customers, and personnel of the acquired company or business;
|
|
•
|
disrupting our ongoing business;
|
|
•
|
dissipating our management resources;
|
|
•
|
dilution to existing stockholders from the issuance of equity securities;
|
|
•
|
liabilities or other problems associated with the acquired business;
|
|
•
|
incurring debt on terms unfavorable to us or that we are unable to repay;
|
|
•
|
becoming subject to adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation or deferred compensation charges;
|
|
•
|
improper compliance with laws and regulations;
|
|
•
|
failing to maintain uniform standards, controls and policies; and
|
|
•
|
impairing relationships with employees and customers as a result of changes in management.
|
Fully integrating an acquired company or business into our operations may take a significant amount of time. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered with
17
acquisitions. To the extent we do not successfully avoid or overcome the risks or problems r
elated to any acquisitions, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Future acquisitions also could impact our financial position and capital needs, and could cause substantial fluctuations in our quarterly and yearly
results of operations. Acquisitions could include significant goodwill and intangible assets, which may result in future impairment charges that would reduce our stated earnings.
Because our long-term success depends, in part, on our ability to expand the sales of our solutions to customers located outside of the U.S., our business will be susceptible to risks associated with international operations.
We have limited experience operating in foreign jurisdictions. Customers in countries outside of North America accounted for 6.0% of our revenues for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In 2014, we purchased substantially all of the assets of Leadtec, a privately-held provider of cloud-based integration solutions in Australia and New Zealand and in 2016, we acquired all the shares of Toolbox Solutions, Inc., a privately-held provider of cloud-based analytic solutions, which is based in Canada. We also undertake software development activities in the Ukraine. Our inexperience in operating our business outside of North America increases the risk that our current and any future international expansion efforts will not be successful. Conducting international operations subjects us to new risks that, generally, we have not faced in the U.S., including:
|
•
|
fluctuations in currency exchange rates;
|
|
•
|
unexpected changes in foreign regulatory requirements;
|
|
•
|
longer accounts receivable payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable;
|
|
•
|
difficulties in managing and staffing international operations;
|
|
•
|
differing technology standards;
|
|
•
|
potentially adverse tax consequences, including the complexities of foreign value added tax systems and restrictions on the repatriation of earnings;
|
|
•
|
localization of our solutions, including translation into foreign languages and associated expenses;
|
|
•
|
the burdens of complying with a wide variety of foreign laws and different legal standards, including laws and regulations related to privacy;
|
|
•
|
increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
|
|
•
|
political, social and economic instability abroad, terrorist attacks and security concerns in general;
|
|
•
|
greater potential for corruption and bribery; and
|
|
•
|
reduced or varied protection for intellectual property rights in some countries.
|
The occurrence of any one of these risks could negatively affect our international business and, consequently, our results of operations generally. Additionally, operating in international markets also requires significant management attention and financial resources. We cannot be certain that the investment and additional resources required in establishing, acquiring or integrating operations in other countries will produce desired levels of revenues or profitability.
In addition, we operate in parts of the world, such as Ukraine, that are recognized as having governmental corruption problems to some degree and where local customs and practices may not foster strict compliance with anti-corruption laws. Our continued operation and potential expansion outside the U.S. could increase the risk of such violations in the future. Despite our training and compliance programs, we cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures will protect us from unauthorized reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents. In the event that we believe or have reason to believe that our employees or agents have or may have violated applicable anti-corruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, we may be required to investigate or have outside counsel investigate the relevant facts and circumstances, which can be expensive and require significant time and attention from senior management. Violations of these laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, which could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations or financial condition.
18
The use of op
en source software in our products may expose us to additional risks and harm our intellectual property.
Some of our products use or incorporate software that is subject to one or more open source licenses. Open source software is typically freely accessible, usable and modifiable. Certain open source software licenses require a user who intends to distribute the open source software as a component of the user’s software to disclose publicly part or all of the source code to the user’s software. In addition, certain open source software licenses require the user of such software to make any derivative works of the open source code available to others on unfavorable terms or at no cost. This can subject previously proprietary software to open source license terms. Furthermore, if we fail to comply with these licenses, we may be subject to certain conditions, including requirements that we offer our services that incorporate the open source software for no cost, that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software and that we license such modifications or alterations under the terms of the particular open source license. If an author or third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our services that contained the open source software and required to comply with the foregoing conditions, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of some of our services.
While we monitor the use of all open source software in our products, processes and technology and try to ensure that no open source software is used in such a way as to require us to disclose the source code to the related product or solution, such use could inadvertently occur. Additionally, if a third-party software provider has incorporated certain types of open source software into software we license from such third party for our products and solutions, we could, under certain circumstances, be required to disclose the source code to our products and solutions. This could harm our intellectual property position and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flow and financial condition.
Our operations may be adversely affected by ongoing developments in Ukraine.
The political and civil situation in Ukraine cannot be accurately predicted since the removal of President Yanukovych from power by the Ukrainian parliament in late February 2014, which was followed by reports of Russian military activity in the Crimean region. Ukraine’s political activities remain fluid and beyond our control. We also cannot predict the outcome of developments there or the reaction to such developments by U.S., European, U.N. or other international authorities.
We currently engage in software development activities in the Ukraine and have an office in Kiev with 64 employees. We continue to monitor the situation closely. Prolonged or expanded unrest, military activities, or broad-based sanctions, should they be implemented, could have a material adverse effect on our operations
We have incurred operating losses in the past and may incur operating losses in the future.
We began operating our supply chain management solution business in 1997. Throughout most of our history, we have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations. As of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $19.9 million. We expect our operating expenses to continue to increase in the future as we expand our operations and increase our customer base due to expected increased sales and marketing expenses, operations costs, research and development costs and general and administration costs. If our revenues do not continue to grow to offset these increased expenses, we may not be profitable. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain profitability. You should not consider recent revenue growth as indicative of our future performance. In fact, in future periods, we may not have any revenue growth, or our revenues could decline. In addition, our ability to achieve profitability is subject to a number of the risks and uncertainties discussed herein, many of which are beyond our control.
Our ability to use our U.S. net operating loss carryforwards might be limited.
As of December 31, 2017, we had net operating loss carryforwards of $58.5 million for U.S. federal tax purposes. We also had $10.6 million of various state net operating loss carryforwards. The net operating loss carryforwards for federal tax purposes will expire between 2020 and 2036 if not utilized. The net operating loss
19
carryforwards for state tax purposes will expire between
201
8
a
nd 2036 if
not utilized.
To the extent these net operating loss carryforwards are available, we intend to use them to reduce the corporate income tax liability associated with our operations.
Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code generally imposes an annua
l limitation on the amount of net operating loss carryforwards that might be used to offset taxable income when a corporation has undergone significant changes in stock ownership. We have performed a Section 382 analysis for the time period from our incep
tion through December 8, 2010. During this time period it was determined that we had six separate ownership changes under Section 382. We have not updated the Section 382 analysis subsequent to December 8, 2010; however, we believe there have not been an
y events subsequent to that date that would materially impact the analysis. We believe that approximately
$17.6
million of federal losses will expire unused due to Section 382 limitations. The maximum annual limitation of federal net operating losses und
er Section 382 is approximately
$1.0
million
. This limitation could be further restricted if any ownership changes occur in future years.
To the extent our use of net operating loss carryforwards is significantly limited, our taxable income could be subj
ect to corporate income tax earlier than it would if we were able to use net operating loss carryforwards, which could result in lower profits.
U.S. federal income tax reform could adversely affect us.
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the statute commonly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) which enacts a broad range of changes to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The new legislation, among other things, includes changes to U.S. federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of interest, allows for the expensing of capital expenditures and puts into effect the migration from a ‘worldwide” system of taxation to a territorial system. We do not expect tax reform to have a material impact to our projection of minimal cash taxes or to our net operating loss carryforward. Our net deferred tax assets and liabilities have been revalued at the newly enacted U.S. corporate rate and the impact has been recognized in our tax expense in 2017. We continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have on our business.
The markets in which we participate are highly competitive, and our failure to compete successfully would make it difficult for us to add and retain customers and would reduce or impede the growth of our business.
The markets for supply chain management solutions are increasingly competitive and global. We expect competition to increase in the future both from existing competitors and new companies that may enter our markets. Increased competition could result in pricing pressure, reduced sales, lower margins or the failure of our solutions to achieve or maintain broad market acceptance. We face competition from:
|
•
|
cloud service providers that deliver business-to-business information systems using a multi-tenant approach;
|
|
•
|
traditional on-premise software providers; and
|
|
•
|
managed service providers that combine traditional on-premise software with professional information technology services.
|
To remain competitive, we will need to invest continuously in software development, marketing, customer service and support and product delivery infrastructure. However, we cannot assure you that new or established competitors will not offer solutions that are superior to or lower in price than ours. We may not have sufficient resources to continue the investments in all areas of software development and marketing needed to maintain our competitive position. In addition, some of our competitors are better capitalized than us, which may provide them with an advantage in developing, marketing or servicing new solutions. Increased competition could reduce our market share, revenues and operating margins, increase our costs of operations and otherwise adversely affect our business.
Mergers or other strategic transactions involving our competitors could weaken our competitive position, which could harm our operating results.
Our industry is highly fragmented, and we believe it is likely that our existing competitors will continue to consolidate or will be acquired. In addition, some of our competitors may enter into new alliances with each other
20
or may establish or strengthen cooperative relationships with systems integrators, t
hird-party consulting firms or other parties. Any such consolidation, acquisition, alliance or cooperative relationship could lead to pricing pressure, loss of customers and our loss of market share and could result in a competitor with greater financial,
technical, marketing, service and other resources, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Economic weakness and uncertainty could adversely affect our revenue, lengthen our sales cycles and make it difficult for us to forecast operating results accurately.
Our revenues depend significantly on general economic conditions and the health of retailers. Economic weakness and constrained retail spending adversely affected revenue growth rates in late 2008 and similar circumstances may result in slower growth, or reductions, in revenues and gross profits in the future. We have experienced, and may experience in the future, reduced spending in our business due to financial turmoil affecting the U.S. and global economy, and other macroeconomic factors affecting spending behavior. Uncertainty about future economic conditions makes it difficult for us to forecast operating results and to make decisions about future investments. In addition, economic conditions or uncertainty may cause customers and potential customers to reduce or delay technology purchases, including purchases of our solutions. Our sales cycle may lengthen if purchasing decisions are delayed as a result of uncertain information technology or development budgets or contract negotiations become more protracted or difficult as customers institute additional internal approvals for information technology purchases. Delays or reductions in information technology spending could have a material adverse effect on demand for our solutions, and consequently our results of operations, prospects and stock price.
Our continued growth could strain our personnel resources and infrastructure, and if we are unable to implement appropriate controls and procedures to manage our growth, we will not be able to implement our business plan successfully.
We have experienced a period of rapid growth in our headcount and operations. To the extent that we are able to sustain such growth, it will place a significant strain on our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure. Our success will depend in part upon the ability of our senior management to manage this growth effectively. To do so, we must continue to hire, train and manage new employees as needed. If our new hires perform poorly, or if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training, managing and integrating these new employees, or if we are not successful in retaining our existing employees, our business would be harmed. To manage the expected growth of our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures. The additional headcount we are adding will increase our cost base, which will make it more difficult for us to offset any future revenue shortfalls by reducing expenses in the short term. If we fail to successfully manage our growth, we will be unable to execute our business plan.
If we fail to retain our Chief Executive Officer and other key personnel, our business would be harmed and we might not be able to implement our business plan successfully.
Given the complex nature of the technology on which our business is based and the speed with which such technology advances, our future success is dependent, in large part, upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified managerial, technical and sales personnel. The loss of any member of our senior management team or key personnel might significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives and could materially harm our business and our customer relationships. In addition, because of the nature of our business, the loss of any significant number of our existing engineering, project management and sales personnel could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Competition for talented personnel is intense, and we cannot be certain that we can retain our managerial, technical and sales personnel or that we can attract, assimilate or retain such personnel in the future. Our inability to attract and retain such personnel could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
21
Our failure to maintain adequate internal
control over financial repor
ting in accordance with Section
404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or to prevent or detect material misstatements in our annual or interim financial statements in the future could result in inaccurate financial reporting, or
could otherwise harm our business.
Ensuring that we have internal financial and accounting controls and procedures adequate to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. In particular, we are required to perform annual system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Furthermore, implementing any appropriate future changes to our internal control over financial reporting may entail substantial costs in order to modify our existing accounting systems, may take a significant period of time to complete and may distract our officers, directors and employees from the operation of our business. If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in the future, or if material weaknesses are identified, the market price of our common stock could decline.
Our failure to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies could reduce our ability to compete successfully and adversely affect our results of operations.
We may need to raise additional funds, and we may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all. If we raise additional equity financing, our security holders may experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the value of shares of our common stock could decline. If we engage in debt financing, we may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, force us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios or restrict our ability to pay dividends or make acquisitions. If we need additional capital and cannot raise it on acceptable terms, we may not be able to, among other things:
|
•
|
develop and enhance our solutions;
|
|
•
|
continue to expand our technology development, sales and marketing organizations;
|
|
•
|
acquire complementary technologies, products or businesses;
|
|
•
|
hire, train and retain employees; or
|
|
•
|
respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated working capital requirements.
|
Our inability to do any of the foregoing could reduce our ability to compete successfully and adversely affect our results of operations.
If the open source community expands into enterprise application and supply chain software, our fee revenues may decline.
The open source community is comprised of many different formal and informal groups of software developers and individuals who have created a wide variety of software and have made that software available for use, distribution and modification, often free of charge. Open source software, such as the Linux operating system, has been gaining in popularity among business users. If developers contribute enterprise and supply chain application software to the open source community, and that software has competitive features and scale to support business users in our markets, we may need to change our product pricing and distribution strategy to compete successfully, and our fee revenues may decline as a result.
22
Our stock price may be volatile.
Shares of our common stock were sold in our April 2010 initial public offering at a price of $12.00 per share and through December 31, 2017, our common stock has traded as high as $79.98 per share and as low as $8.45 per share. An active, liquid and orderly market for our common stock may not be sustained, which could depress the trading price of our common stock. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:
|
•
|
fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;
|
|
•
|
fluctuations in our recorded revenue, even during periods of significant sales order activity;
|
|
•
|
fluctuations in stock market volume;
|
|
•
|
changes in estimates of our financial results or recommendations by securities analysts;
|
|
•
|
failure of any of our solutions to achieve or maintain market acceptance;
|
|
•
|
changes in market valuations of similar companies;
|
|
•
|
success of competitive products or services;
|
|
•
|
changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of debt;
|
|
•
|
announcements by us or our competitors of significant solutions, contracts, acquisitions or strategic alliances;
|
|
•
|
regulatory developments in the United States of America, foreign countries or both;
|
|
•
|
litigation involving our company, our general industry or both;
|
|
•
|
additions or departures of key personnel;
|
|
•
|
investors’ general perception of us; and
|
|
•
|
changes in general economic, industry and market conditions.
|
In addition, if the market for software stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or results of operations. If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause our stock price to fall and may expose us to class action lawsuits that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend and a distraction to management.
If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they publish negative evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes incorrect or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. In addition, if one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Future sales of our common stock by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.
If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decrease significantly. The perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell shares of our common stock could also depress the market price of our common stock. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 4.6 million shares of our common stock issuable under approved equity compensation plans which are covered by effective registration statements.
23
Our charter documents and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover that stockholders consider favorable.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and applicable provisions of Delaware law may delay or discourage transactions involving an actual or potential change in our control or change in our management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares, or transactions that our stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests, and may ultimately result in the market price of our common stock being lower than it would be without these provisions. These provisions:
|
•
|
permit our board of directors to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, with any rights, preferences and privileges as our board may designate, including the right to approve an acquisition or other change in our control;
|
|
•
|
provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed by resolution of the board of directors;
|
|
•
|
provide that all vacancies, including newly created directorships, may, except as otherwise required by law, be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum;
|
|
•
|
provide that stockholders seeking to present proposals before a meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at a meeting of stockholders must provide notice in writing in a timely manner, and also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice; and
|
|
•
|
do not provide for cumulative voting rights.
|
In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law generally limits our ability to engage in any business combination with certain persons who own 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock or any of our associates or affiliates who at any time in the past three years have owned 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. These provisions may have the effect of entrenching our management team and may deprive you of the opportunity to sell your shares to potential acquirers at a premium over prevailing prices. This potential inability to obtain a control premium could reduce the price of our common stock.
We do not intend to declare dividends on our stock in the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain all future earnings for the operation and expansion of our business and, therefore, do not anticipate declaring or paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Investors may need to sell all or part of their holdings of our common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Any payment of future cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Therefore, you should not expect to receive dividend income from shares of our common stock.