salesforce-reports-33%-yoy-growth-in-third-quarter-results

Global CRM provider Salesforce announced its third-quarter fiscal results this week, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) reported another record-breaking quarter. The company’s total third-quarter revenue reached $4.5 billion, representing an increase of 33% year-over-year.

Source: Salesforce

Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff pointed to Customer 360 Truth, expanded strategic partnerships with their competitors and the company’s streak of acquisitions as drivers of growth. Benioff also cited the company’s commitment to helping its customers undergo digital transformations.

“On the heels of Dreamforce, Salesforce’s plan to continue expanding its strong product portfolio and increasing cloud adoption within its customer base creates an attractive rationale for growth, said Dustin Grosse, chief marketing and strategy officer at Nintex. “But, with competition from cloud companies like Microsoft and Amazon reporting higher than expected earnings, Salesforce must close out this year with compelling results to meet investors’ rising expectations.”

Why we should care

Organizations typically rely on dozens — if not hundreds — of martech applications and vendors to execute their sales, marketing, and other operational functions.

“We’re working with them [customers] on all three pillars of digital transformation, technology business model and culture,” added Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block during an investor relations call. “These three pillars are absolutely essential to achieving a 360-degree view of each customer, and that is the holy grail of digital transformation.”

By maintaining an open ecosystem and honoring its commitment to collaborate with partners including IBM, Amazon and Microsoft, Salesforce is able to deliver a more connected customer view to its users than platforms that strictly limit their integrations.

“We know this data is not just in Salesforce, we know our customers have many platforms. That’s why we’re open and why we work with all of our strategic partners; IBM, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, HP, Dell, and many others,” said Benioff. “Because it’s critical for us to work with these strategic partners to deliver a working, incredible solution for our customers. That’s what our customers want. These partnerships continue to deliver incredible innovation and success.”

More on the news

  • Benioff also included statements regarding Salesforce’s Cyber Week performance noting that Commerce Cloud processed more than 30 million orders and powered over 614 million retail site visits. Digital sales on Commerce Cloud increased by 13% during this year’s Cyber Week
  • Salesforce Marketing Cloud reportedly deployed over 24 billion emails on Cyber Monday, while Service Cloud processed over 428 million agent interactions.
  • “We’re now on track to double our revenue in five years,” said Benioff. “WIth Customer 360, only Salesforce is providing companies with a single source of truth, bringing them even closer to their customers across every touchpoint.”


About The Author

Jennifer Videtta Cannon serves as Third Door Media’s Senior Editor, covering topics from email marketing and analytics to CRM and project management. With over a decade of organizational digital marketing experience, she has overseen digital marketing operations for NHL franchises and held roles at tech companies including Salesforce, advising enterprise marketers on maximizing their martech capabilities. Jennifer formerly organized the Inbound Marketing Summit and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing Analytics from MIT Sloan School of Management.



reddit-reports-30%-increase-in-monthly-active-users,-eclipsing-twitter-and-pinterest

Last year, Reddit reported 330 million monthly active users (MAU) on its platform. This year, Reddit’s 2019 trend roundup reveals that number has grown by 30% – adding an additional 100 million monthly users since 2018.

Why we should care

This significant growth means Reddit now claims more monthly users than Twitter (321 million) and Pinterest (250 million). After undergoing a massive site redesign last year, Reddit has reported an increase in page views and time spent on its website and app, along with user engagement growth.

With the redesign complete, Reddit is focused on building out more comprehensive ad offerings – something it has been steadily accomplishing over the past year. This, coupled with a significant spike in users this year, is prime pickings for advertisers looking to target niche audiences through a platform that continues to grow in engagement.

More on the news

While user growth stands out as the most impressive takeaway, Reddit also offered a snapshot of the platform’s yearly growth in other areas:

  • Reddit reports 1.7 billion thread comments were created this year – an increase of 37% from last year.
  • Monthly view counts have also grown, resulting in a 53% increase from 2018.
  • Redditors have created a total of 199 million posts this year, according to the company.


About The Author

Taylor Peterson is Third Door Media’s Deputy Editor, managing industry-leading coverage that informs and inspires marketers. Based in New York, Taylor brings marketing expertise grounded in creative production and agency advertising for global brands. Taylor’s editorial focus blends digital marketing and creative strategy with topics like campaign management, emerging formats, and display advertising.



shopify-reports-45%-revenue-growth,-more-than-one-million-merchants-on-the-platform-in-q3

E-commerce provider Shopify reported revenue growth of 45% to $390.6 million, driven largely by its subscription and merchant solutions for the third quarter of the year. Last year’s third-quarter revenue reached $270.1 million.

The company also reportedly surpassed one million merchants on its platform. Growth was driven in part by international expansion, said Shopify CFO Amy Shapero.

As global adoption of the e-commerce platform grows, the company continues to invest in making marketing technologies more accessible — and affordable — to its merchants, many of which compete with Amazon.

Why we should care

Earlier this year, Shopify launched a machine learning-powered network for US-based merchants to help with inventory allocation and streamlining deliveries. In September, the company acquired robotics and warehouse provider 6 River Systems Inc. to help grow its Shopify Distribution Network.

While Shopify it continues to build out and invest in the operational aspect of the network, the company continues to add different marketing integrations and features for its merchants. Earlier this month, Shopify Marketing released an integration with Microsoft Advertising that gives merchants the ability to expand the reach of their marketing campaigns. And other platforms such as Constant Contact continue to innovate and enhance their Shopify integrations for marketers.

More on the news

  • Shopify reported that it has surpassed one million merchants globally.
  • Early in the third quarter, the company launched Shopify Chat which allows merchants to communicate with customers in real-time.
  • Mobile purchases continued to grow this quarter, accounting for 71% of orders, up from 67% over last year’s third quarter.


About The Author

Jennifer Videtta Cannon serves as Third Door Media’s Senior Editor, covering topics from email marketing and analytics to CRM and project management. With over a decade of organizational digital marketing experience, she has overseen digital marketing operations for NHL franchises and held roles at tech companies including Salesforce, advising enterprise marketers on maximizing their martech capabilities. Jennifer formerly organized the Inbound Marketing Summit and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing Analytics from MIT Sloan School of Management.



apple-reports-declining-profits-and-slowing-growth,-again

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CreditCreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Apple has long performed like clockwork, growing steadily and producing an ever-growing stream of profit. Not anymore.

On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley behemoth said that its net income had fallen 13 percent and that its revenue rose 1 percent in the latest quarter, with iPhone sales continuing to decline and gains in the company’s services and wearables business failing to make up the difference.

The results showed persistent signs of weakness for one of the world’s financial standouts. Apple built its enormous business on the iPhone, but sales of the device have slipped for three straight quarters in a saturated market for smartphones.

Yet the results also suggested that the company could be starting to halt declines in those sales and other key areas, including revenue from the Chinese market. Over the previous two quarters, Apple’s profits and revenue had fallen over all.

“Obviously on the iPhone, we’ve gone through a period where we’ve seen some revenue declines,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s finance chief, said in an interview. “But we are very excited about our product road maps, and we’re very optimistic about the future.”

Apple said net income had dropped to $10.04 billion for its fiscal third quarter, from $11.5 billion a year earlier, with profit of $2.18 a share exceeding Wall Street estimates. Revenue rose to $53.8 billion from $53.3 billion a year earlier. Mr. Maestri said profits had fallen while sales had risen because of narrower margins that he attributed to foreign-exchange rates.

Apple shares rose more than 4 percent in after-hours trading. “They essentially beat fairly low expectations,” said Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA Research.

Mr. Maestri said Apple had slowed the bleeding in its iPhone business by offering financing, cutting prices in some countries and starting a trade-in program for owners of older models after finding that people were keeping their iPhones longer. In the latest quarter, revenue from iPhone sales fell nearly 12 percent, to $25.97 billion, from a year earlier. In the company’s previous quarter, iPhone sales fell 17 percent.

For the first time since 2013, iPhone sales did not account for at least half of Apple’s revenue, said Yoram Wurmser, an analyst at the market-research firm eMarketer.

Consumers are finding fewer reasons to upgrade their iPhones, analysts said, with newer models offering only incremental improvements. The trend could continue this year, when Apple is likely to unveil a new slate of iPhones. The latest models, expected in September, are unlikely to work with the new fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless technology that offers far faster download speeds than current service. Apple is expected to have 5G iPhones for 2020, analysts said.

The other shrinking part of Apple’s business has been China. Sales in the region that includes China fell nearly 25 percent over the previous two quarters, sparking a sell-off of Apple shares in January. Apple blamed the drop in part on economic weakness in China.

In the latest quarter, Apple’s sales in the region fell 4.1 percent, while revenue specifically in mainland China grew. Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said on an earnings call that business had been lifted in part by Apple’s move to cut iPhone prices there and an economic stimulus program from the government.

“There were a lot of questions and uncertainty around China, so the fact that the year-over-year growth rate has improved is likely a relief for investors,” said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein.

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The Chinese market, Apple’s third largest for sales, has emerged as one of the company’s greatest vulnerabilities. This month, Chinese officials disclosed that the country’s growth had fallen to its slowest pace in three decades. Apple also assembles most of its products in China, which has drawn the ire of President Trump, who has publicly pressured Apple to build more products in the United States.

Since 2013, Apple has made its top-of-the-line Mac Pro desktop computer in Texas. Doing so led to headaches that delayed the computer’s launch. In June, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Apple would shift assembly of its new Mac Pro to China.

Last week, Apple filed requests with the United States trade representative’s office asking that components used in the Mac Pro, like power cables and circuit boards, be excluded from tariffs. Apple said in the requests that it could not find the products outside China.

Mr. Trump responded on Twitter that Apple “will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China” and that the company should “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”

On Tuesday, Mr. Cook said Apple still wanted to make the Mac Pro in the United States and suggested that exclusions from the tariffs could help make that happen.

“We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the U.S.,” he said. “We want to continue to do that.”

Mr. Trump has placed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, but so far, Apple products have largely escaped the tariffs’ effect. Mr. Cook has encouraged officials in the United States and China to resolve the trade dispute, but while the countries resumed trade talks this week, hopes for a transformative deal are dwindling.

Apple faces other issues in Washington, including antitrust concerns. Last week, the Department of Justice said it was opening an antitrust review of the Big Tech companies. Apple has come under particular scrutiny for how it wields power in its App Store, where it distributes games, ride-hailing programs and more.

As Apple’s iPhone sales fall, the company has sought to make up the gap in revenue with an expanding business selling apps and services to its existing customers. Apple now offers subscriptions for news, music and TV services and is preparing to start a gaming service soon. Its services revenue rose more than 12 percent to $11.5 billion.

Apple also showed strength in its wearables business, which includes Airpods and the Apple Watch. That business grew nearly 64 percent to $5.5 billion, surpassing the iPad in sales.

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