Acquia Appoints Ray Grady as Senior Vice President of Commerce

Industry Veteran Joins Acquia to Drive Commerce Strategy and Enable Brands to Increase Conversions Through Content-Rich, Digital Shopping Experiences


BURLINGTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jul 14, 2014) - Acquia, the digital business company, today announced that Ray Grady has joined the company as its senior vice president of commerce solutions. Grady brings extensive experience leading large commerce businesses and will help drive the commerce strategy for Acquia globally. Acquia works with some of the world's most well-known brands including Puma and Timex to deliver engaging, relevant commerce experiences to consumers. 

The business of commerce is changing rapidly. In her 2014 edition of her annual "Internet Trends" report, Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers defined the "Internet trifecta" as a "critical mass of content, community and commerce." Brands who master the blend of all three have an incredible opportunity to build relationships directly online with customers. Acquia is enhancing Drupal for commerce, helping organizations create a unified digital experience for product discovery, research and purchase. For example, Timex® has created a content-for-commerce experience targeting athletes with fitness-related articles, in addition to product information, reviews, and simple ways to purchase. Style and fashion experiences are also offered. Consumers have come to expect this level of content-for-commerce integration.

"The world is quickly moving toward content-led commerce experiences that are deeply personalized. This is an irreversible trend that digital businesses need to embrace. In this new environment, companies need to tightly integrate content with commerce to drive differentiated brand experiences that convert," Grady said. "I believe that Acquia is in a unique position to usher businesses through the age of digital disruption."

Digital brands striving to succeed need to provide unique shopping experiences personalized for each user, as well as blend relevant content and offers into their digital commerce experiences. Acquia's commerce offerings enable brands to build content-rich, contextually relevant and fully integrated commerce experiences that drive increased loyalty and revenue.

As SVP of commerce solutions, Grady will lead the most rapidly growing area within Acquia. The company enables brands to get more out of existing commerce investments in products from Demandware, Magento and hybris while offering up solutions that engage, personalize and ultimately increase conversion. Acquia's content-for-commerce platform, Acquia Commerce Cloud, makes it easy for brands to build and deliver engaging experiences on the most secure, scalable, and reliable cloud environment available for Drupal.

Grady understands how to succeed in digital commerce. Having helped found the commerce consultancy Acquity Group, he led a team that grew its revenues to more than $100 million annually. Grady then participated in the roadshow that culminated in Acquity Group's acquisition by Accenture in 2013.

His appointment coincides with Acquia's dramatic growth. Acquia recently closed a $50 million financing round lead by leading VC NEA, a firm which has also backed next-generation technology leaders including Tableau Software, Workday and Salesforce.com. Grady's addition as senior vice president of commerce solutions will help Acquia cement its status as the digital business leader, helping major brands deliver engaging shopping experiences to consumers through any digital channel.

About Acquia
Acquia is the digital business company. Join Pinterest, Mercedes Benz, Warner Music Group, Stanford University and the more than 4,000 organizations that are changing how business gets done. Global 2000 enterprises, government agencies and NGOs rely on Acquia to create new revenue streams, lower costs, and engage audiences more deeply through content, community and commerce.

Innovate. Transform. Disrupt. Acquia.

For more information visit www.acquia.com or call +1 781 238 8600.

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Contact Information:

Media Contacts:
Erica Orthmann or Anna Farnum
LaunchSquad
acquia (at) launchsquad.com
+1 617 945 1915

Christopher Rogers
Acquia
christopher.rogers (at) acquia.com
+1 781 238 8645

Ray Grady, Senior Vice President of Commerce Solutions, Acquia