Assessing SPS Commerce In Pictures

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a series of screenshots covering the years 2019 to 2024 based on a Google search of SPS Commerce. The search was inspired by the first picture, which was taken from a video the company posted on LinkedIn 5 Days ago. Subsequent screenshots were the result of using search terms like SPS competitors, ratings, analyst reviews, etc.

The purpose of this exercise is two-fold. To start, having never heard of the company before – perhaps only in passing, I wanted to learn more about them. The second reason is that as more people start using ChatGPT, is this the kind of “source information” that the app will use to provide a summary assessment?

What Are Your Thoughts?

• What is your overall assessment of SPS Commerce?
• What if the images were in a different order?
• Would the information create more confidence or less confidence in the company?

Here Are My Thoughts (In Bullet Summary)

• The company has been around since 1987 (37 years) which means they have to be doing something right.
• 373 reviews with an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars on G2 do carry some weight versus a handful of negative reviews.
• Unfortunately, the company’s self-congratulatory chest pounding by way of the Capterra press release, the litany of “client logos,” and Aren’t we amazing “92 consecutive quarters of growth” post may be as much of a turn-off to some as they are an assurance to others.
• I also find it a little troubling that most of their posts on LinkedIn seem to garner likes from “friends” but virtually no meaningful comment activity and reader engagement. Of course, this is a common practice for most solution providers.
• The net result is that understanding the complex nature of connectivity between internal and external stakeholders, e.g., EDI, XML, and the Oracle rep who in the late 1990s told me they don’t get out of bed for anything less than $1 million dollars when I asked them to build a “bridge” between buyers and suppliers, I would still check them out.

The above is my take, what is yours. And by the way, it would be interesting to see what ChatGPT has to say about SPS Commerce.

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