Ecommerce Magazine

What Ecommerce Magazine does

Ecommerce Magazine is a private digital publication founded in 2017 in San Francisco that delivers a weekly email newsletter and on-site articles covering ecommerce strategies, retail and technology trends, brand building, and entrepreneur profiles. Its content is produced with input from a self-reported roster of 50+ ecommerce experts, and it runs a curated "Trending Experts Program" that formalizes contributor intake from founders, CEOs, CMOs, and VPs of Ecommerce. The publication uses a hub (ecommerce-mag.com) on HubSpot, a Facebook page, and a weekly newsletter as its primary distribution channels, and targets SMB owners and ecommerce professionals globally as its audience.

The publication is fully owned by Octane AI, the Shopify-integrated Facebook Messenger marketing platform, and is operated by Octane AI co-founders Matt Schlicht (CEO of Octane AI) and Ben Parr (formerly of Mashable, author of Captivology). Ecommerce Magazine sits alongside a sister publication, Chatbots Magazine, which the company reports reaches 300,000+ monthly readers across 100+ countries with 900+ expert contributors; together the two titles serve as the editorial and top-of-funnel distribution layer for Octane AI's commercial product. Octane AI's Messenger Marketing platform — which offers automated abandoned cart recovery, conversational FAQs, and AI-powered quiz-based product recommendations — is promoted as a "Powered by" partner offering on the Ecommerce Magazine site, starting at $99/month for Shopify stores.

Ecommerce Magazine does not disclose revenue, funding, or paid subscriber figures, and operates with a 1–10 employee headcount out of a San Francisco PO Box address. The unit economics are not visible from the input data, but the structural read is that the publication functions as a low-cost owned-media and lead-generation asset for its parent, monetized indirectly through promotion of Octane AI's SaaS rather than through subscription or advertising fees of its own.

Name

Ecommerce Magazine

Legal name

Ecommerce Magazine

Website

https://ecommerce-mag.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ecommerce Magazine is a private digital publication and weekly email newsletter covering ecommerce strategies, retail trends, and entrepreneur profiles for SMB owners, founders, and ecommerce executives globally. Founded in 2017 and owned by Octane AI.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ecommerce Content Publication

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Ecommerce industry insights
• Ecommerce content publication
• Digital retail trends
• Ecommerce strategy guides
• Ecommerce entrepreneur profiles

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ecommerce Magazine is an online trade publication that delivers curated ecommerce industry knowledge through articles and a weekly email newsletter. It draws on insights from 50+ ecommerce experts and covers marketing strategies, retail trends, technology, and entrepreneurship for founders, CEOs, CMOs, VPs of Ecommerce, and small business operators in the ecommerce space.

Product overview

Ecommerce Magazine is a content publication platform that delivers weekly ecommerce industry knowledge to subscribers, featuring insights from 50+ world-leading ecommerce experts. The publication covers diverse topics including marketing strategies, retail trends, technology, and entrepreneurship. Ecommerce Magazine is owned by Octane AI and operates alongside a partner platform for Facebook Messenger marketing that integrates with Shopify stores for conversational commerce and abandoned cart recovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Chatbots Magazine: The #1 place to learn about bots, operated alongside Ecommerce Magazine with over 300,000 monthly readers from 100+ countries and 900+ experts and contributors.

Products and services

• Ecommerce Magazine An online trade publication delivering weekly ecommerce industry knowledge, featuring articles, guides, and insights drawn from more than 50 world-leading ecommerce experts, aimed at ecommerce founders, operators, and marketing leaders.
• Trending Experts Program A selective recognition and community program featuring elite ecommerce entrepreneurs, executives, and influencers chosen based on their contributions to Ecommerce Magazine, including founders, CEOs, CMOs, and VPs of Ecommerce.
• Octane AI Messenger Marketing (partner platform) Facebook Messenger marketing platform promoted through Ecommerce Magazine that enables Shopify stores to send abandoned cart messages, automate customer Q&A, build conversational FAQs, send receipts and shipping notifications, and help customers discover products.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Modern Retail: Trade publication covering how retailers and brands approach digital commerce, marketing, and technology. Comparable to Ecommerce Magazine in targeting ecommerce and retail executives with editorial coverage of industry trends.
• Practical Ecommerce: Independent trade publication focused on ecommerce strategies, marketing, and technology for merchants and agencies. Comparable to Ecommerce Magazine in its SMB-to-mid-market practitioner audience and article-based content model.
• Digital Commerce 360: A leading B2B trade media company covering ecommerce, digital marketing, and omnichannel retail. Directly comparable to Ecommerce Magazine as a specialist publication serving ecommerce executives with research, news, and events.
• Total Retail: B2B publication serving retail and ecommerce executives with news, features, and reports. Comparable in audience and editorial focus on ecommerce and digital retail trends.
• Retail TouchPoints: B2B media brand covering retail innovation, customer experience, and ecommerce technology. Comparable in audience (retail and ecommerce executives) and in producing newsletters, articles, and industry coverage.
• Internet Retailer: Long-running trade publication (now part of Digital Commerce 360) focused on ecommerce strategy and technology. Comparable as a dedicated ecommerce trade title with similar content categories (marketing, retail, technology).
• Chain Store Age: Established retail industry trade publication covering omnichannel retail, technology, and store operations. Comparable in covering the intersection of retail and ecommerce for executive readers.

Others

• Mashable: General digital media company where co-founder Ben Parr previously worked as an editor. Comparable thematically as a tech/digital culture publication, though it operates at much larger scale and broader scope than Ecommerce Magazine.
• Chatbots Magazine: Sister publication operated by the same Octane AI co-founders, focused on conversational AI and bots with 300,000+ monthly readers. Comparable as a sibling trade media asset under shared ownership and audience cross-promotion.

Broad incumbents

• eMarketer (Insider Intelligence): Major research and media firm covering digital marketing, ecommerce, and advertising with paid research reports and newsletters. Comparable as a higher-end ecommerce intelligence publisher, though it serves larger enterprise subscribers with subscription-priced data products.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EcommerceZine
• Facebookfacebook.com/ecommercemag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ecommerce-mag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ecommerce Magazine