Voices from Commerce: Doug Hollinger, Chief Strategy Officer at Commerce, on building durable strategy in an unsettled market

Meet Voices from Commerce, our monthly blog series spotlighting the people shaping what's next in digital commerce. Each instalment features a Q&A with a leader at Commerce, offering fresh perspectives and practical insights to help you keep pace with this fast-moving industry. We kicked off the series last month with Michaela Weber, who shared her thoughts on the future of product-led platforms. This month, we're sitting down with Doug Hollinger, Chief Strategy Officer, to get his insights on what strategy actually means at a commerce platform, how Commerce is positioning for a fast-moving market, and what he believes will separate the winners from the rest. 

Q: You've spent more than 25 years working across commerce agencies, consultancies, and technology companies. How does that background shape the way you approach strategy at Commerce?

A: Most of my career has been on the services side, so I come at strategy with a consultant's mindset. That means looking closely at the context of the problem we're trying to solve and bringing in lessons, what worked and what didn't, from other places I've been. I don't believe in a perfect solution. It's better to have a framework that's adaptable over time.

I started in digital on the UX side, working in user experience and content strategy. That stays with me. When we set strategy, I'm always thinking about who the end customer is, what they're trying to do, and how we make them successful. The same applies to our own merchants: how do they actually use our software in the context of running their business? Mapping our success to theirs is a big part of how I think.

Q: Strategy means different things in different organisations. What does being Chief Strategy Officer actually mean at Commerce, and how is it different from just planning?

A: Strategy is a flexible word. I'm not the only strategist here, and my team isn't either; there's strategy happening across product, engineering, and beyond. My role is more about facilitating strategic thinking and helping leaders like Travis and Daniel set a North Star to orient around.

Strategy includes planning and tactics, but it's also about being clear on our end goals and the context we're working in. That means looking at what's happening in the industry, the economy, and with our customers. This is a fascinating time to do this work. The emerging AI space reminds me a lot of the early internet in the late 90s, when nobody really knew what they were doing and we were borrowing old models to apply to something new. I try to fight against leaning too hard on what worked before. My focus is mostly commercial: what are we putting in market, who are we targeting, and how do we get the company aligned around that vision?

Q: The ecommerce platform landscape is increasingly competitive. How does Commerce differentiate itself, and how do you make sure that differentiation holds up as the market evolves?

A: What's interesting about Commerce is that we're a platform company, but we're also more than that. With Feedonomics and Makeswift, our offerings span data intelligence and visual building. That gives us an unusual competitive position — we compete with players like Shopify or Salesforce Commerce Cloud on the platform side, but we're also available to their customers through Feedonomics. We can be ‘frenemies’ with different parties depending on the context.

We also differentiate by being open. Shopify is more of a closed ecosystem where everything runs through their own rails. We're trying to be the opposite, but openness alone isn't enough. When I started in this space, you could differentiate on features. You really can't anymore. Our space has matured. So differentiation now comes down to ecosystem, packaging, services, and business model. The product has to be solid, complete, and competitive, but people stick with you because you fit what they need and feel like a safe, durable choice.

“Feature sets are important. They have to be there, but they're not enough. People decide based on whether you're a safe choice — whether you're going to be around, support them, and keep evolving. We have to distinguish beyond the platform itself, into how we treat the ecosystem and how we put together a holistic solution that makes people feel like we're a core part of how they do business.”

— Doug Hollinger, Chief Strategy Officer, Commerce

Q: You've recently launched the Commerce Collective, an ecommerce think tank. Why is it important for companies to brainstorm cross-functionally like this, and where do you see this group going?

A: The Commerce Collective sounds more formal than it is. It's a loose group of people, some with 10, 15, 20 years in this space, who can pressure-test strategies and tactics. We pull from different functions, and the value is in the perspective: how will this resonate with partners? With analysts? In a competitive framing?

The danger of a group like this is leaning too heavily on the wisdom of what worked a decade ago. We have to keep checking ourselves. But I'm seeing more of these informal coalitions form across the company, especially during our Lead Together Weeks in Austin. It's a healthy way to solve problems without relying solely on traditional org boundaries, where you just chew on issues together, ad hoc, as needed.

Q: Commerce is investing heavily in AI, from agentic checkout to semantic search. From a strategy lens, how do you decide which AI bets are worth making versus which are just noise?

A: We need to remain flexible and at least dip our toe in certain areas, because things are still settling. But our AI bets have to be tied to our ideal customer profiles, to the customer cohorts we already serve well. On Feedonomics, that includes very large global retailers. On the platform, we serve everyone from mid-market to small businesses to regulated industries. So we're always asking: how does this benefit the customer? Where are they in their journey? What problem is this AI bet actually solving?

The other lens is commercial. Some AI capabilities, like agents that make merchandising or site management easier, will become expected feature sets we just include in BigCommerce. Others might be where we monetise. We also have to ask: is this a six-month problem, or a durable one? Sometimes a six-to-nine-month bridge is worth it. Sometimes it isn't.

“I think of our company as providing valuable infrastructure for executing your business. It's the plumbing or the wiring of your business — core to how you operate. We want to look at AI bets that contribute to that kind of value, not get too cute about surface-level stuff where there are already a billion players.”

— Doug Hollinger, Chief Strategy Officer, Commerce

Q: If you could sit down with a room full of ecommerce leaders today, what's the one thing you'd want them to walk away thinking about differently?

A: Anchor on the fundamentals. There's so much anxiety right now that everything is changing rapidly, but commerce is still about product discovery, engagement, and transacting. The channels, tools, and surfaces will evolve, sometimes dramatically, but underneath, you still have people trying to buy stuff, and you still have payment, security, and inventory issues. Those fundamentals haven't changed.

So as new opportunities come down the pipe, evaluate them based on real value, not just on what's shiny. Shiny things can be valuable — gold is shiny — but the test is the same one it's always been. How does this help me find customers, engage them, transact with them, and keep the valuable ones as long as possible? My job, and our job, is to be a calming influence and give businesses the tools to feel in control of their destiny while the pace keeps accelerating.

Q: When you look at commerce businesses that are genuinely thriving right now, what do they have in common?

A: They've honed in on a target customer that makes sense for their product, and they execute really well in that space. It's not just the product itself; it's how the brand resonates and builds affinity with those customers. The same is true in B2B, just expressed differently. You need trust, and you need to stand out.

The ones that will keep thriving are finding the right balance between innovation and executing on what they already do well. They're constantly evaluating without getting ahead of themselves, and without putting their head in the sand. What ties it all together is staying close to your customer. You see this in beauty, where founder-led brands with strong social followings build that engagement directly into the business. The companies winning right now know exactly who their customers are, stay engaged with them, and show up on the channels their customers actually use.

Q: Unified commerce — truly connecting physical and digital into a seamless customer experience — gets talked about a lot. How many businesses are actually achieving it, and what separates those who are from those who aren't?

A: Honestly, "unified commerce" is just commerce. It used to be called "cross-channel" or "omnichannel." The label keeps changing, but the work is the same: meeting customers wherever they are, including, increasingly, in agentic environments. Real humans aren't going away, but digital agents are now part of the mix.

The foundation of all of this is good data, which is why we're well positioned with Feedonomics to help businesses get their product catalogue data ready. As channels and touchpoints proliferate, with combinations of human and non-human buyers, things might start to get complicated. Visibility into what’s happening is really important, and the businesses investing in enhancing, augmenting, and cleaning up their data right now are poised to do unified commerce well.

That work also extends to the org itself. Speed of execution matters more than ever; we've already seen newer fashion brands react on a dime to social trends. To move that fast, you need clean data tailored to each channel, simplified org structure, and teams empowered to act within clear parameters. Without that, it's nearly impossible to answer the questions that matter. ‘Where do I put my spend? Where do I need inventory? Where are my customers actually showing up?’

Moving forward, you’re going to need that speed across your whole business. You’ll only achieve this if you have your data in order, tailored across channels. How? Unified commerce.

Q: As you look ahead, what does winning look like for Commerce over the next two to three years, and what has to be true for that to happen?

A: I'm already seeing green shoots. We hosted two strong Commerce Live events recently, and the product team did a great job showcasing what's launched and what's coming, including BigCommerce Payments and Feedonomics Surface. Throughput is up. Excitement is real.

Winning, for us, means staying rooted in our customers, clear-eyed about their pain points and how we solve them, and doing that with a focused set of partners who help us build a real ecosystem. It also means being sticky: matching the right level of human, white-glove service (something Feedonomics does really well) with smart automation. Most of all, I want us to become part of the commerce infrastructure. The plumbing. The air you breathe as a B2C or B2B business. If we deliver value bigger than any single product, value that customers feel as they execute every day, we'll be fine. I think we have the tools to do exactly that.

To learn more about what it takes to succeed across today's top sales and ad channels, download our guide Connected Commerce: How to Win Customers Across Every Channel.

About Doug Hollinger

Doug Hollinger is Chief Strategy Officer at Commerce, where he leads commercial strategy and helps align the company's product, engineering, and go-to-market teams around a long-term vision. With more than 25 years of experience in digital strategy, consulting, and commerce — including time at Razorfish, Accenture, Nokia, and LiveArea — Doug brings a rare outside-in view to Commerce's long-term direction, focusing on a services-driven, customer-first perspective to one of the most dynamic moments in ecommerce.