UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K
(Mark one)
x
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20172020
or
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ____ to ____

Commission file number 001-35940
CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware56-2257867
(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)
(IRS Employer

Identification No.)
3025 Carrington Mill Boulevard
Morrisville, NC
27560
(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)
Registrant’sRegistrant's telephone number, including area code: (919) 228-4700
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class:ClassTrading SymbolName of Each Exchange on which Registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par valueECOMNew York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

_____________________________________
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.      Yes     x   No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.      Yes     x  No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     x   Yes     No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).     x  Yes      No
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.     x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filerAccelerated filerx
Non-accelerated filer(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)Smaller reporting company
Emerging growth companyx
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).     Yes    x  No
    
The aggregate market value of ChannelAdvisor Corporation voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 20172020 (the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter) based on the closing sale price of $11.55$15.84 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on that date was $290,341,405.$433,184,052.
At February 1, 2018, 26,605,346 2021, 29,047,290shares of ChannelAdvisor Corporation Common Stock, $0.001 par value, were outstanding.


DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the Company's definitive proxy statement, to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, for its 20182021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.





SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this "Annual Report") contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in Part I, Item 1. "Business," Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors," and Part II, Item 7. "Management’s"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," but are also contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words "may," "might," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "objective," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue" and "ongoing," or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology intended to identify statements about the future. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this Annual Report, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our expectations of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements include statements about:
the growth of the e-commerce industry and the software-as-a-service, or SaaS, enterprise application software market in general and particularly in our markets;
the expected growth of gross merchandise value, or GMV, sold on marketplaces and comparison shopping websites and advertising dollars spent on paid search;
consumer adoption of mobile devices and usage for commerce;
the growth of social networking and commerce applications;
sellers' online sales strategies and fulfillment models;
our growth strategy; and
our beliefs about our capital expenditure requirements and that our capital resources will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements through at least the next 12 months.
You should refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report for a discussion of important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, if our forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Annual Report.

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PART I


ITEM 1. BUSINESS
COMPANY OVERVIEW
We are a leading provider of software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solutions and ourOur mission is to connect and optimize the world's commerce. Our e-commerceproprietary software-as-a-service, or SaaS, cloud platform helps retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers worldwide improve their online performance by expanding sales channels, connecting with consumers around the world, optimizing their operations for peak performance and providing actionable analytics to improve competitiveness. ThroughMore specifically, our platform we enableallows our customers to manage their product listings, inventory availability, pricing optimization, search terms, orders and fulfillment, and other critical functions across these channels. Our customers utilize our platform to connect with new and existing sources of demand for their products through hundreds of channels, including e-commerce marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Jet.com, Newegg, SearsFacebook, Google and Walmart, search enginesWalmart. Our brand analytics solution helps leading global brands gain a competitive advantage on their e-commerce channels with actionable insights into how their products are performing across thousands of retailer websites and comparison shopping websites, such as Google, Microsoft’s Bing and Shopzilla, and social channels, such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.marketplaces. Our fulfillment solution makes it easier for customers to connect to their supply chain, which could include distributors, manufacturers and third-party logisticlogistics providers. Our suite of solutions, accessed through a standard web browser, provides our customers with a single, integrated user interface to manage their product listings, inventory availability, pricing optimization, search terms, data analytics and other critical functions across these channels. We also offer solutions that allow branded manufacturersbrands to send their web visitors or digital marketing audiences directly to authorized resellers and to gain insight into consumer behavior. Our proprietary cloud-based technologyOverall, our platform delivers significant breadth, scalability and flexibility. In 2017, our customers processed approximately $8.9 billionflexibility and facilitates billions of dollars in gross merchandise value ("GMV") through our platform.e-commerce transactions annually across the globe.
We serve customers across a wide range of industries and geographies. Our customers include the online businesses of traditionalbrands and retailers, online retailers and branded manufacturers (manufacturers that market the products they produce under their own name), as well as advertising agencies that use our solutions on behalf of their clients.
E-commerce has grown significantly over the last several years, as consumers have increasingly shifted their retail purchases from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to online stores and marketplaces.marketplaces, with accelerated growth in 2020 due to the global novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. This growth has been due to a number of factors, including:
availability and ease of accessing a broader selection of merchandise online;
consumer convenience and safety, as well as ease of use;
more competitive and transparent pricing;
increased functionality and reliability of e-commerce websites;
convenience and speed of order fulfillment;
broad use of mobile connected devices for e-commerce; and
proliferation of specialized websites and online distribution channels.
As a result of these factors, consumers today have more options than ever before to discover, research and purchase products online.
While these e-commerce growth drivers create significant opportunity for retailersbrands and branded manufacturers,retailers, they also create additional complexity and challenges. RetailersBrands and branded manufacturersretailers seeking new avenues to expand their online sales must manage product data and transactions across hundreds of highly fragmented online channels where data attributes vary, requirements change frequently and the pace of innovation is rapid and increasing. Speed of order fulfillment is becoming increasingly strategic to winning consumers' business. There are a significant number of possible fulfillment locationsservice providers around the world, each with different technological capabilitycapabilities and communication requirements.
OUR MARKET OPPORTUNITY
We address these challenges by offering retailers and branded manufacturersbelieve that the addressable market for our enterprise SaaS solutions that enableis large, growing and under-penetrated, especially with brands customers. Our leading technology helps brands as well as retailers navigate the evolving e-commerce landscape and enables them to integrate, manage and optimize their merchandise sales across these disparate online channels. In addition, we facilitate improved collaboration between branded manufacturersbrands and their authorized resellers through solutions that deliver high value leads from branded manufacturersbrands to those resellers. We generate the majority of our revenue from our customers' access to and usage of our SaaS solutions, which are organized into modules. Each module integrates with a particular type of channel, such as third-party marketplaces, digital marketing websites and authorized reseller websites. Using our solutions, customers can:

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connect with new channels and more easily integrate with channels they already use;
access emerging online sources of consumer demand, such as social networks and mobile devices;
adapt to the frequently changing policies and requirements of each channel;
manage real-time inventory allocation and availability across channels;
implement dynamic pricing and promotion strategies across channels;
efficiently manage, evaluate and optimize customer traffic to their own e-commerce websites;
connect to fulfillment and logistics providers on a global scale;
more easily sell into new geographic territories worldwide;
provide a seamless consumer journey from branded manufacturerbrand websites and digital marketing campaigns to the e-commerce sites and physical stores of authorized resellers;
reduce dependence on in-house information technology staff and avoid significant up-front capital expenses; and
access in real-time the latest product and software upgrades that we regularly release on our SaaS platform to keep up with the rapid pace of change and innovation in the market.
We derive our revenue primarily from subscription fees paid to us by our customers for access to and usage of our SaaS solutionsplatform for a specified contract term, which is usually one year. The majority of our subscription fee is based on the amount of a customer's GMV processed on our platform. Our subscription fee may also be based on the amount of advertising spend processed on our platform. A portion of the GMV-based or advertising spend-based subscription fee is typically fixed and is based on a specified minimum amount of GMV or advertising spend that a customer expects to process through our platform. The remaining portion of GMV-based or advertising spend-based subscription fee is typically variable and is based on a specified percentage of GMV or advertising spend processed through our platform that exceeded the customer’scustomer's specified minimum GMV or advertising spend amount. We believe that our subscription fee pricing model aligns our interests with those of our customers. We also receive implementation fees, which may include fees for providing launch assistance and training.
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
Increasing complexity and fragmentation for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers selling online
E-commerce is a large and global market that continues to expand as retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers continue to increase their online sales. However, it is also an increasingly complex and fragmented market due to the hundreds of channels available to retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers and the rapid pace of change and innovation across those channels. Historically, a retailerbrand or branded manufacturerretailer might have simply established an online storefront and used a basic paid search program to drive traffic to its website. Today, in order to gain consumers’consumers' attention in a more crowded and competitive online marketplace, many retailers and an increasing number of branded manufacturersbrands and many retailers sell their merchandise through multiple online channels, each with its own rules, requirements and specifications. In addition, retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers often seek to sell their products in multiple countries, each with its own local consumer preferences and behaviors.
Several significant trends have contributed to this increasing complexity and fragmentation, including:
Increase in brands' participation in direct-to-consumer e-commerce. With the rise of Amazon and the struggles of some traditional retail partners, more brands are exploring or participating in direct-to-consumer online sales using their own websites and/or third-party marketplaces. The shift to direct-to-consumer online sales is forcing brands to enhance their logistics and fulfillment capabilities compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar retail model. However, because those traditional retail partners still represent a majority of revenue for brands, many brands desire solutions that allow collaboration with those partners in addition to direct-to-consumer solutions.
Emergence and growth of online third-party marketplaces.    Third-party marketplaces, which are marketplaces that aggregate many sellers, are an increasingly important driver of growth for a number of large online retailers. Some of these marketplaces, such as Amazon, offer products from their own inventory, known as first-party products, as well as products sold by others, known as third-party products; other marketplaces, such as eBay,
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offer only third-party products. In addition, several of the largest traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, including La Redoute, Sears, TescoAlbertsons, Target, Urban Outfitters and Walmart, have incorporated third-party marketplaces into their online storefronts, allowing other retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to market their products to consumers they might not otherwise reach.
Mainstream adoption of mobile devices for e-commerce.    Mobile internet-enabled devices, such as smartphones and tablets,    Smartphones enable new consumer shopping behaviors, such as in-store barcode scanning to find online promotions, better pricing or alternative products. While benefiting consumers by increasing the transparency and accessibility of e-commerce, the proliferation of mobile devices and mobile commerce requires brands and retailers and

branded manufacturers to build additional device-specific optimization and functionality into their websites, increasing the complexity of managing their online presences.
Growth of additional online consumer touch points.    As consumers have moved more of their shopping and product discovery online, search engines, social networks and certain comparison shopping sites such as Google Shopping, as well as branded manufacturerbrand websites, have emerged as key influencers and important points of product research for consumers making purchase decisions.
Changing e-commerce landscape. In an effort to stay relevant to consumers, the large e-commerce platforms are expanding their offerings. Third-party marketplaces are monetizing their significant online traffic through search advertising, while traditional search engines and social networks are adding marketplace capabilities. The result is that brands and retailers need to have additional skills, tools and competencies to compete in this increasingly complex world.
Expansion of the global e-commerce ecosystem.    The increasingly global e-commerce ecosystem presents opportunities for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to extend their online presence through country- or region-specific marketplaces, such as Alibaba in Asia.Asia, Zalando in the European Union and Catch in Australia. Conversely, the growth of marketplaces such as Amazon into new countries is driving selling opportunities for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to sell to a broader, global audience.
Widespread use of social networking and commerce applications.    The rapid growth of social networking and commerce applications provides a valuable channel through which retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers can connect to consumers.
Increase in branded manufacturers’ participation in direct-to-consumer e-commerce. With the rise of Amazon and the struggles of some traditional retail partners, more branded manufacturers are exploring or participating in direct-to-consumer online sales using their own websites and/or third-party marketplaces. The shift to direct-to-consumer online sales is forcing branded manufacturers to enhance their logistics and fulfillment capabilities compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar retail model. However, because those traditional retail partners still represent a majority of revenue for branded manufacturers, many branded manufacturers desire solutions that allow collaboration with those partners in addition to direct-to-consumer solutions.
Challenges with alternative e-commerce solutions
The fragmentation and increasing complexity of e-commerce channels isare placing greater demands on retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers that seek to grow their online sales. These retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers require solutions that will enable them to easily integrate their product offerings and inventory across multiple online channels. Traditional solutions, however, typically suffer from several limitations, including the following:
In-house solutions are costly and may be slow to adapt to industry change and innovation.    To maintain pace with the speed of change and innovation of online channels, retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers that rely on in-house capabilities are required to invest in and maintain significant technological infrastructure, human resources and industry relationships. Successful in-house solutions may typically require longer periods of setup time, substantial up-front capital expenditures and significant ongoing maintenance expense.
Point solutions are limited in functionality and channels supported.    There are numerous narrowly tailored, or point, solutions available for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to help them manage single online channels or a single category of channels, but these point solutions often do not address the needs of retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers seeking to manage pricing and inventory across multiple channels through a single, unified platform.
Solutions provided by the channels are not aligned with customers’customers' broader online goals.    Most online channels offer their own solutions that help retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers connect with their specific channel and provide basic inventory control and data reporting functionality. By their very nature, however, these solutions are not channel independent and cannot help customers coordinate or optimize their online sales across the multiple online avenues available to them. As with point solutions, retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers must work with disparate third-party providers to connect with a broad array of channels, which requires significant time and costs.
Neither in-house nor point solutions adequately address fulfillment requirements, leading to error-prone processes.    In-house and point solutions tend to focus on point-to-point connectivity from channels to enterprise resource planning, with separate resources focusing on enterprise resource planning to fulfillment. This design leads to a disconnected experience, decreasing speed of fulfillment and increasing risk of product being out of stock. Slower fulfillment and delayed shipments negatively impact customer satisfaction and online sales.
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SaaS solutions generally offer customers several distinct advantages over traditional in-house models, known as on-premises solutions, including lower upfront and ongoing costs, faster speed of implementation and less reliance on internal IT staff.
THE CHANNELADVISOR SOLUTIONPLATFORM
Our suite of SaaS solutionsThe ChannelAdvisor platform allows our customers to more easily integrate, manage and optimize their online salese-commerce operations across the entire consumer journey.
ecom-20201231_g1.jpg
Specifically, our platform allows brands and retailers to:
Connect to hundreds of availableglobal channels through a single, integrated platform. Our suite of solutions includes a number of individual offerings, or modules. Each module integrates with a particular type of channel, such as third-partyincluding marketplaces, digital marketing websites or authorized reseller websites, or supports specific online functionality aimed at customers wanting to enhance the effectiveness of their existingdropship retailers, search and shopping engines, social media, and online storefronts in order to meet consumers where they prefer to discover and shop, without having to separately integrate with each channel.
Market effectively to consumers on those channels by automating and optimizing processes related to the management of product content, pricing, advertising, competitive analysis and brand protection.
Sell products to interested consumers on global marketplaces, in web stores, through resellers or, employing rich media solutionsfor some brands, by connecting those shoppers directly to authorized retail partners.
Fulfill orders in a timely manner through integrations to distribution, fulfillment and logistics providers around the globe.
Optimize e-commerce performance by highlighting channel sales and advertising results along with opportunities for improvement, and enabling brands to monitor their products on their websites.reseller sites globally.
UsingWe offer our cloud-based platform customers can connectthe choice of self-service accounts or managed-service accounts. Self-service customers operate our software themselves, while managed-service customers generally outsource most or all of the management of one or more channels to multiple, disparate channels throughour experienced services team, which then provides services, including the operation of our software on the customer's behalf, based on best practices and the customer's instructions.
Our platform is a single, user-friendly solution instead of separately integrating with each channel.cloud-based, SaaS solution. We provide a single code base and multi-tenant architecture for our platform customers, which means that all platform customers operate on the same version of our software and that we do not customize our products for individual platform customers. Our platform is highly configurable and designed to ensure that customers have the flexibility needed to implement their business processes. We provide our customers with access to new and
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existing online channels and new sources of demand for their products, which can ultimately lead to increased revenue for our customers.
We believe our suite of solutionsplatform offers the following key benefits for our customers:
Single, fully integrated solution.Through our SaaS platform, we provide our platform customers with a single web-based interface as the central location for them to control, analyze and manage their online sales across hundreds of available channels and multiple geographies. This unified view enables our customers to more cost-effectively manage product listings, inventory availability, pricing optimization, fulfillment, search terms, ad campaigns, data analytics and other critical functions across channels based on the customer’s specifiedcustomer's specific rules and performance metrics in order to drive traffic and increase revenue.
Reduced integration costs, time to market and dependence on in-house resources. Customers can quickly and more easily and quickly introduce their products, both to channels on which they already have a presence and to new channels, without the costs related to installing and maintaining their own hardware and software infrastructure. A customer’scustomer's initial installation and integration of our solutions can often be completed in less than two months, with additional modules of our software generally available immediately without incurringcommitting significant additional resources to integrate. We manage and host our solutions on behalf of our customers, thereby reducing the customer’scustomer's cost and dependency on dedicated IT staff or on-premises systems.
Scalable technology platform.    In 2017, our customers processed approximately $8.9 billion in GMV through our platform. We believe that the The scalability of our platform allows us to quickly and efficiently support an increasing number of product listings and transactions processed through our platform as we add new customers, integrate new channels and accommodate seasonal surges in consumer demand.
Security and privacy. Our platform and infrastructure are designed to ensure the security of customer data and consumer data throughout all data storage and processing in compliance with global and local privacy laws.
Flexibility to adapt and instantaneous access to our most up-to-date capabilities.capabilities. Channels frequently update their product information requirements, policies, merchandising strategies and integration specifications, requiring their customers to frequently revise their product listings, attributes, business rules and possibly even their overall online business strategies. Without the ability to quickly adapt to these changes, their customers risk losingsuspension or removal from a marketplace and loss of revenue. Through our single code base and multi-tenant architecture, we provide platformour customers with the latest channel updates through regular product upgrades. When we develop and deploy new features, functions and capabilities, or make changes to keep up with the changing priorities and requirements of each channel, our customers simultaneously benefit from those new capabilities and changes.
Data and reporting analytics.analytics. Through our dataplatform's analytics and reporting analytics,capabilities, we provide our customers with insight into the latest channel and consumer trends and general product performance. Our dashboards highlight sales trends, top performing products, seller reputation and repricing activity, among other key performance indicators, and alert customers to issues and errors in product listings. These capabilities provide actionable insights that allow customers to evaluate and if necessary, improve the efficiency of their business rulesresults on existing or new channels. Additionally, our solution provides branded manufacturersbrands with insights about online assortment, product coverage gaps, pricing trends, customer reviews, and adherence by their retailers to content guidelines.
We offer our platform customers the choice of self-service accounts or managed-service accounts. Self-service customers operate our software themselves, while managed-service customers generally outsource most or all of the management of one or more channels to our professional services team, which then operates our software on the customer’s behalf based on the customer's instructions.

OUR PRODUCTS
The Platform Solutions
Connect
ChannelAdvisor Platformhelps brands and retailers connect to hundreds of global channels
We automate the workflow through which retailers and branded manufacturers manage their sales through online channels.Connecting to global channels involves sophisticated integrations with unique requirements per channel. Our suite of solutionsplatform includes the following key capabilities:capabilities to help brands and retailers efficiently manage global sales and advertising channels:
Integrations.    Our platform is integrated with hundreds of channels, including global marketplaces, search and shopping engines, social media and dropship retailers. Our customers can also create product feeds to custom destinations.
Product catalog inventory and order management.We provide a Our platform for ourallows customers to upload and modifyregularly update their product catalog data monitor inventory stock levels and createwith a single inventory feed that serves multiple available online channels. Managing inventory and order data is the foundation for much of the customer activity on our platform. We offer a variety of ways for customers to enter and modify product data, including throughusing a sophisticated user interface, file exchange andor application programming interfaces, or APIs. Our platform is capableinterface
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(API). Each customer has the flexibility to support thousands of customers during critical selling periods, such as the year-end holiday season. The flexibility of the system allows each customer to customize the product catalog data specific toattributes for its products, such as size, color, height and width,unique requirements and to vary the format of the data to meet the specific requirements of each channel.
Product matching. Once the product catalog is loaded, our platform provides features that improve the ability of our customers to successfully list their products on the various channels. Depending on the needs of the particular channel, our platform can pre-validate customer data and formats before transmitting to the channel, reducing errors caused by poor data quality and reducing the time it takes to list products on that channel. On some channels, we employ advanced product-matching algorithms that are designed to accurately place the customer's product catalog within the channel's product classification taxonomy.
Market
ChannelAdvisor helps brands and retailers connect to consumers at exactly the right time
Connecting to consumers involves having the right offer, a competitive price, accurate and descriptive product content, and effective advertising to capture consumer attention. Our platform includes the following key capabilities to help brands and retailers connect with consumers when they are ready to buy:
Product content management and optimization. Our platform includes sophisticated tools and product listing templates for automating and optimizing product data for each channel. Brands and retailers can utilize these tools to customize product listing descriptions across various channels using product attributes. These features allow customers to automatically advertise and offer millions of products on multiple channels while ensuring accuracy of product content, availability and price at the individual product level. Our platform also allows brands to produce custom spreadsheets to provide product data to retailers that do not support an automated approach.
Pricing automation. Our platform provides variouscustomers the ability to dynamically price their products across some of our available channels in alignment with margin goals. Our sophisticated pricing algorithms take into account the channel, competitive environment, margin thresholds, historical product sales, and sales velocity. Using our solution, customers avoid the manual effort of monitoring the competition and changing prices, while preserving the ability to remain price competitive. Algorithmic repricing uses predictive analytics and machine learning that may help our customers increase sales while maximizing margin.
Advertising management. Our platform provides customers the ability to create, manage and evaluate advertising using a variety of ad formats across multiple channels, including search engines, social networks, marketplaces and retailers. Our unified platform enables our customers to manage advertising across a large number of channels more efficiently and use learnings from one channel to inform decisions on other channels. Campaign optimization features such as bid management and keyword harvesting can help drive ad spend efficiency.
Digital shelf analytics. Our platform enables global multi-channel brands to manage online distribution, grow sales and protect their brand reputation. Brand Analytics solutions help brands monitor product assortment and availability on retail channels, understand pricing dynamics, identify areas for search performance improvement on the digital shelf, and ensure that the brand looks its best through the use of approved product content and responses to critical customer reviews.
Sell
ChannelAdvisor helps brands connect shoppers to more buying options

Interested consumers are more likely to buy when the path to purchase is easy. To meet this need, brands and retailers require accurate product content, availability status and prices across their selling channels. Further, consumers researching a brand's products or seeing brand advertising may not always be aware of where those products are in-stock at that moment for purchase. Our platform helps create an easier path to purchase for interested consumers through the following capabilities:
Inventory quantity and listing management. Our platform provides features that allow a customerbrands and retailers to list products on multiple channels while mitigating the risk of overselling. These features include the ability to allocate inventory across channels, set buffer quantities to avoid overselling and receive automatic updates based on changes to inventory. The platform supports regular updates to product listings to ensure that consumers have the customer’s inventory.most accurate product information, including availability and price.
Shoppable Media solutions for brand sites. Our platform allows brands to host a dynamically updated widget on their product pages that presents consumers with online retailers that have products in-stock and that links directly to product pages or shopping carts on those retail sites. Similarly, the widget can present consumers with
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Product matching.    Once inventory is loaded intolocal offline stores close to the consumer that carry the brand's products. This creates a seamless path to purchase for the consumer, improves brand relationships with retailers, and provides brands with consumer insights.
Shoppable Media solutions for digital campaigns. Our platform we provide featuresallows brands to create a one-click path to purchase from digital marketing and social campaigns, allowing for retail partners to be included in promotions while eliminating out-of-stock dead-ends by dynamically linking to in-stock retailers and product variations. Our platform also supports the creation of interstitials that improve our customer’s abilityenable consumers to successfully list its productschoose preferred retailers after clicking on the various channels. Depending on the needs of the particular channel, we are abledigital campaign.
Fulfill
ChannelAdvisor helps brands and retailers connect orders to pre-validate the customer’s datasatisfied customers
After placing an online order, customers expect quick, reliable, and formats before sending them to the channel, reducing errors caused by poor data quality and thus reducing the time it takes to list products on that channel. On some channels, we employ advanced product-matching algorithms that are designed to accurately place the customer’s product offerings within the channel’s product classification taxonomy.
Business rules and templates.inexpensive or free shipping. Our platform offers toolsincludes the following key capabilities to help brands and retailers efficiently manage fulfillment operations:
Order management automation. Our platform consolidates marketplace, online storefront and dropship retail orders into a consolidated, customizable view, where they can be tagged, managed and exported in a variety of formats. Customers can manage delivery status, dates and tracking numbers.
Shipping management. Our platform integrates with a wide range of fulfillment options to enable maximum flexibility and resiliency for our customers. For customers that enable a customerfulfill from their own warehouses, our platform provides shipping management functionality, including shipping label generation, connections to developleading carriers and manage sophisticated business rulesintegrations with leading shipping management solutions. Our platform also supports Fulfillment by Amazon), Zalando Fulfillment Services, and product listing templates that automatically determine how a product will be displayed and when it will be available for purchase in each channel. Through a single interface, a platform customer can utilize these tools to customize product listing descriptions across various channels using different attributes,integrations with leading third-party logistics providers, supporting features such as price, brand, category and shipping weight. Features such as these allow customers to automatically advertise millions of products on multiple channels while ensuring accuracysynchronization of product availability, optimizing pricethe generation and managingdistribution of custom purchase orders and simplification of order status management.
Dropship fulfillment. We provide advanced support for dropshipping to specific margin thresholds, all at an individual product level.
Price optimization.help ease common challenges. Our platform provides customersallows for the abilityeasy mapping of product catalogs to dynamically price their products across somethose of our available channelschannel partners, helps avoid overselling through integrated inventory quantity management, incorporates intelligent order routing to find the best distributor based on a numberavailability, cost and shipping speed and enables the management of factors, such as prices of competitors, margin thresholds, historical product salestracking updates.
Custom fulfillment connections. We can provide support for brands that are expanding or looking to more efficiently manage existing fulfillment capabilities by building, managing and current promotions. Prices can vary by channel and, using our sophisticated technology, a customer can automatically update pricing based on the competitive environment. The customer avoids the manual effort of monitoring the competition and changing prices, while preserving the ability to remain price competitive. Our Algorithmic Repricer offers predictive analytics and machine learning that may help our customers make more sales while maximizing margin.
Advertising management. Our platform provides customers the ability to create, manage and evaluate advertising across multiple channels. Advertising formats, which can vary and often change, are associated with numerous channels including search engines, social networks and marketplaces. By providing a unified platform to manage advertising, our customers are able to manage advertisements across a large number of channels more efficiently. Additionally, features such as an automated bid manager provide automation that updates bids based on the customer’s goals and performance.
Fulfillment. In 2017, we acquired a fulfillment and logistics platform that automates order management by connecting online storefronts and marketplacesconnections to distribution points within the fulfillment network.
Our fulfillment capabilities are enhanced by strategic partnerships with leading players in logistics and fulfillment, centers, which we believe will further enhanceincluding DHL, FedEx, Pitney Bowes, ShipStation and UPS.
Optimize
ChannelAdvisor helps brands and retailers connect insights to actions
Direct-to-consumer channel performance. For brands and retailers, our fulfillment network offering and capabilities. With this acquisition and through organic development, our platform provides customers the ability to connect to multiple fulfillment and logistics providers around the globe. These features include the ability to optimize how an order is fulfilled based on the preferences of our customers and the availability of products at different fulfillment locations. Fulfillment-centric functionality provides automated, near real-time inventory updates, cost updates and shipment notifications. Our solution also allows customers to generate shipping labels. In addition, our solution enables our customers to visualize fulfillment performance using analytics. These capabilities are available in a single, unified experience.

Proprietary reporting and analytics.    We provide proprietary reporting and analytics capabilities that allow our customers to view general product performance and trends affecting their consumer base across multiple channels and to obtain detailed performance data at a channel or stock-keeping unit level that can be used in a particular online sales campaign. Our dashboards highlight sales trends, top performing products, seller reputation, and repricing activity and buy box attainment, among other key performance indicators. The dashboards also alert customers to issues or errors, such as data that is in a form inconsistent with the requirements of a particular channel. These capabilities provide actionable, cross-channel insights that allow customers to quickly revise their business rules, listings and listings on a real-time basisads with the goal of improving their sales and profitability.
Channel management. Our brand analytics solution allows global multi-channel brands to monitor brand reputation and market trends across their online distribution partners. Our customers use the solution to address issues with product availability, pricing and content; understand how their products appear on the digital shelf in search results; assess customer sentiment and respond quickly to negative customer reviews.
Platform Modules
While our platform allows our customers to more easily integrate, manage and optimize their online sales across the entire consumer journey, our customers will often enter a relationship with us focused on one aspect of that journey. To that end, we offer our solutions as a series of modules, including:
Marketplaces. Our Marketplaces module connects customers to over 100 third-party marketplaces across the globe, including Amazon, eBay, Google, Newegg, Overstock.com, Target, TradeMe, Walmart and Zalando. It also allows for the connection of web stores from Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento. In addition, our platform
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allows our customers to compete more effectively through access to advertising programs, fulfillment services and other advanced features on major marketplaces.
First-party Dropship. Our First-Party Dropship module allows brands and distributors to manage purchase orders, shipment notifications, stock quantities and invoices for multiple retail dropship partners.
Digital Marketing. Our Digital Marketing module enables customers to advertise on comparison shopping websites such as Google Shopping, search engines such as Google and Microsoft's Bing, and social commerce sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. It also supports advertising programs on some marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart. In addition, the Digital Marketing module allows customers to generate and send customized product data feeds to their channel partners, including affiliate networks, retargeting vendors, personalization vendors and product review platforms.
Shoppable Media. Our Shoppable Media module allows brands to provide their web visitors or digital campaign audiences with an easy path to purchase using dynamic links to the product pages or carts of retailers with the products in-stock. The solution improves the consumer experience and helps brands gain a better understanding of consumer behavior through detailed data about the flow of traffic between the brand and retailer.
Brand Analytics. Our Brand Analytics module helps leading global brands gain a competitive advantage on their e-commerce channels with actionable insights into how their products are performing across thousands of retailer websites and marketplaces.
Developer ecosystem.Ecosystem
We offer third-party developers of complementary e-commerce solutions access to our platform through APIs. These APIs enable these third-party developers to build connections to our platform that meet their specific needs without requiring us to offer customized software code to them.code. We currently provide APIs to hundreds of third-party developers who have integrated their solutions with ours. For example, our API integrates our platform with business software provided by NetSuite, a provider of SaaS enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and e-commerce solutions, to further streamline our joint customers’customers' e-commerce operations.
Individual ModulesKEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AFFECTING OUR FUTURE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
We offerGiven the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape and increased demand for our software suite toproprietary SaaS cloud platform, particularly driven by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer shopping habits, we achieved substantial growth in revenue, especially from our brands customers, through a series of modules. Generally, each of our modules is priced individually and is integrated with our platform’s underlying inventory management system, templates, rules and reporting systems. The primary modules we offer are:
Marketplaces.    Our Marketplaces module connects customers to third-party marketplaces including Amazon, Catch, eBay, Jet.com, La Redoute, Newegg, Sears, Tesco, TradeMe, Walmart and Zalando. Our standardized integration API, which we refer to as Access ChannelAdvisor, allows additional e-commerce channels to integrate with our platform requiring less support on launch, which we believe will result in a broader array of channels available to our customers. In addition, our platform provides our customers with access to advertising programs and advanced competitive features on major marketplaces to allow them to compete more effectively. As of December 31, 2017, we supported 89 marketplaces and a dozen first-party connections (first-party connections enable our customers to sell their products directly to the marketplace, which then sells the products to the consumer).
Digital Marketing. Our Digital Marketing module connects customers to comparison shopping websites such as Google Shopping and Shopzilla, allows customers to advertise products on search engines such as Google, Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo! and connects customers to social commerce sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Our Digital Marketing module also allows customers to generate and send customized product data feeds to their partners, such as affiliate networks, retargeting vendors, personalization vendors and product review platforms.
Where to Buy. Our Where to Buy solution allows branded manufacturers to provide their web visitors or digital marketing audiences with up-to-date information about the authorized resellers that carry their products and the availability of those products online, as well as adjusted EBITDA and cash flow. We intend to continue to make strategic investments focused on driving revenue growth, maintaining strong margin performance, and building shareholder value. We expect our financial performance in the future to be driven by our ability to:
Increase penetration and expansion opportunities with new and existing brands customers;
Maintain an appropriate number of sales representatives to identify offline retailers that generally carry those products. This provides consumersaddress the increased demand for our platform;
Enhance our services organization with an easier pathinvestments in people and technology to purchasebetter serve our customers;
Expand the number of marketplaces we integrate with, in addition to Amazon, eBay and Walmart, to further enhance transaction volume from an authorized reseller of their choice. The solution improves the consumer experiencemarketplaces; and helps branded manufacturers gain a better understanding of consumer behavior through detailed data about the flow of traffic between the branded manufacturer
Execute on strategic investments in product innovation targeted to expand and retailer.
Product Intelligence. Our Product Intelligence solution provides branded manufacturers with insights about online assortment, product coverage gaps, pricing trendsoptimize our platform and adherence by their retailers to content guidelines.
drive new revenue streams.
OUR CUSTOMERS
As ofDuring the year ended December 31, 2017,2020, no single customer accounted for more than 1.6% of our total revenue. Increased penetration with brands customers is a key strategic priority for our company. Consequently, we had 2,840have seen an increasing proportion of our customer base and revenues come from brands customers worldwide, including retailas more brands seek to directly manage the advertising and branded manufacturer customers across many consumer product categories.selling of their products online. We generally categorize a customer as a brand if it primarily focuses on selling its own proprietary products. For the year ended December 31, 2017, our ten largest2020, brands customers in the aggregate accounted for 7.9% of our total revenue. No single customer accounted for more than 1.7%represented approximately 33% of our total revenue during thecompared to approximately 30% for year ended December 31, 2017.2019. We believe this is a positive trend and continue to focus our efforts on serving this important customer group. Our goal is to generate at least half of our revenues from brands by the end of 2022.

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Our revenue fluctuates as a result of seasonal variations in our business, principally due to the peak consumer demand and related increased volume of our customers' GMV during the year-end holiday season. As a result, we have historically had higher revenue in our fourth quarter than other quarters due to increased GMV processed through our platform, resulting in higher variable fees. Beginning in the second quarter and continuing through the end of 2020, we saw an increase in GMV processed through our platform, which does not follow the typical seasonal variations in our business, and resulted in higher than normal variable revenue throughout most of 2020. We believe this increase was primarily a result of the effect COVID-19 had on consumer shopping habits and dependency on e-commerce.
OUR TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
We have developed our proprietary technology platform with a focus on delivering industry-leading breadth, scalability, reliability and flexibility. Our platform has always been cloud-based and SaaS, with a single code base and multi-tenant software architecture. Because of this, there is no need for our customers to download, install or upgrade software.
We develop our software using rapid iterations through small, incremental changes that are continuously integrated into our code base. WeIncremental improvements are generally release new versions of our softwarereleased daily, with more significant enhancements and capabilities communicated approximately every 30 days, except during certain holiday seasons. Incremental improvements may be released on daily and weekly schedules.90 days. Through our single code base and multi-tenant software architecture, our customers benefit from our new capabilities as soon as they are made available.
Our platform uses a hybrid cloud architecture in which we utilize secure third-party data center facilities located in North America, as well as cloud-based infrastructure in North America and Europe. In the data center facilities, we deploy hardware we own and lease, including servers, networking systems and storage systems. We use virtualization to maximize the utilization we achieve from our hardware systems. The data center facilities are biometrically secured, environmentally controlled and redundantly powered. We employ system security, including firewalls, encryption technology and antivirus software, and we conduct regular system tests and vulnerability and intrusion assessments. In the event of failure, we have engineered our systems with backup and recovery capabilities designed to provide for business continuity. We also make use of additional third-party cloud-based systems, such as content delivery networks, to augment the capabilities of our platform.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Our research and development efforts are focused on enhancing the architecture of our technology platform, creating additional functionality for our customers, enhancing our external developer APIs and maintaining and extending the various points of integration we have to the online channels we support. We incurredrecorded research and development costs of $21.9$19.0 million, $17.7$19.2 million and $16.6$22.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 2015,2018, respectively. In 2017, we expanded ourThe decrease in research and development capabilities with new talent through organic growth, an acquisition and expanding our operations overseas with the opening of a newcosts in recent years is due to shifting certain research and development facility in Madrid, Spain.to lower cost office locations, which did not impact our product innovation.
COMPETITION
The market for products that help retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers reach online consumers is competitive. The competitive dynamics of our market are unpredictable because it is in an early stage of development, rapidly evolving, fragmented and subject to potential disruption by new technological innovations and the ability of channels to compete with us or make changes to which we need to rapidly adapt.
Several competitors provide solutions that compete with some of the capabilities of our platform, including those who provide software or services to connect retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers with one or more online channels. We also compete with in-house solutions used by retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers that elect to build and maintain their own proprietary integrations to online channels. In addition, we compete with the channels themselves, which typically offer software tools, often for free, allowing retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to connect to them.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our industry include:
industry expertise and thought leadership;
relationships with leading online channels;
relationships with leading retailersbrands and branded manufacturers;retailers;
channel independence;
breadth of online channels supported;
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integration of capabilities;
reporting and analytic capabilities;
proven and scalable technology; and
brand awareness and reputation.
We believe that we compete favorably with respect to all of these factors.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Our ability to protect our intellectual property, including our technology, is an important factor in the success and continued growth of our business. We protect our intellectual property through trade secrets law, patents, copyrights, trademarks and contracts. Some of our technology relies upon third-party licensed intellectual property.
We have received patent protection for some of our technologies in the United States and expect to apply for additional patents to protect our intellectual property as appropriate. We own trademark registrations in the U.S., the European Union, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Brazil for ChannelAdvisor and expect to apply for additional trademark registrations as appropriate.
In addition to the foregoing, we have established business procedures designed to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information, including the use of confidentiality agreements and assignment-of-inventions agreements with employees, independent contractors, consultants and companies with which we conduct business.
BACKLOG
Backlog represents the total committed subscription fees to be received under our customer contracts that have not yet been invoiced or recognized as revenue. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, our backlog was approximately $64.5 million and $55.2 million, respectively.
Our customer contracts usually have a term of one year, and therefore the substantial majority of our backlog is expected to be recognized as revenue within the one-year contract term. Revenue for any period is a function of revenue recognized from deferred revenue, backlog under contracts in existence at the beginning of the period, as well as contract renewals and new customer contracts during the period. As a result, our backlog at the beginning of any period is not necessarily indicative of our future performance. Our presentation of backlog may differ from other companies in our industry.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
The legal environment of the internet is evolving rapidly in the United States and elsewhere. The manner in which existing laws and regulations will be applied to the internet in general, and how they will relate to our business in particular, both in the United States and internationally, are often unclear. For example, we often cannot be certain how existing laws will apply in the e-commerce and online context, including with respect to such topics as privacy, pricing, credit card fraud, advertising, taxation, content regulation, quality of products and services and intellectual property ownership and infringement. Furthermore, it is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as sales and other taxes and personal privacy will apply to the internet, as many of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the internet or e-commerce. It is also unclear how the laws that do reference the internet will be interpreted by courts, which may impact their applicability and scope. Compliance may be costly and may require us to modify our business practices and product offerings. In addition, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on the websites of our customers or may even attempt to completely block access to those websites. Noncompliance or perceived noncompliance could also subject us to significant penalties and negative publicity. Accordingly, adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our business.
Customers load product information and other content onto our platform, generally without any control or oversight by us, at which point we may legally be considered to be the distributor of that content. This presents legal challenges to our business and operations, such as rights of privacy or intellectual property rights related to the content loaded onto our platform. Both in the United States and internationally, we must monitor and comply with a host of legal concerns regarding the content loaded onto our platform. The scope of our liability for third-party content loaded to our platform for delivery to various online e-commerce channels may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and may vary depending on the type of claim, such as privacy, infringement or defamation claims. Our ability to employ processes to quickly remove infringing or offending content from our platform, for example, is an important tool in protecting us from exposure for the potentially infringing activities of our users worldwide. We also incorporate protections in customer contracts that allow us to take steps, if needed, to limit our risk regarding much of the content loaded onto, and collected by, our platform and solutions.
Numerous laws and regulatory schemes have been adopted at the national and state level in the United States and internationally that have a direct impact on our business and operations. These laws include, but are not limited to, the following:
Copyright and trademark.    The Copyright Act of 1976 and the statutes and regulations associated with copyrights and trademarks and enforced by the United States Patent and Trademark Office are intended to protect the rights of third parties from infringement. Using our automated service, customers can generally upload any content they designate for use with our

solutions. We maintain an active copyright and trademark infringement policy and respond to take-down requests by third-party intellectual property right owners that might result from content posted by our customers using our solutions. As our business
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expands to other countries, we must also respond to regional and country-specific intellectual property considerations, including take-down and cease and desist notices in foreign languages, and we must build infrastructure to support these processes. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, also applies to our business. This statute provides relief for claims of circumvention of copyright-protected technologies but includes a safe harbor that is intended to reduce the liability of online service providers for listing or linking to third-party websites that include materials that infringe copyrights or other rights of others. Our copyright and trademark infringement policy is intended to satisfy the DMCA safe harbor in order to reduce our liability for customer-generated materials incorporated into our platform.
Data privacy and security.    Data privacy and security with respect to the collection of personally identifiable information continues to be a focus of worldwide legislation and compliance review. Examples include statutes adopted by various states that require online services to report breaches of the security of personal data,information, and to report to customers when their personal datainformation might be disclosed to direct marketers. In addition, the European Union, U.S.California Consumer Privacy Act, or the CCPA, went into effect on January 1, 2020 and gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used by requiring companies must protectto provide new disclosures to California consumers (as that term is broadly defined) and provide such consumers new ways to opt out of certain sales of personal data in accordance withinformation. A new privacy law, the Data Protection Directive (and local implementing legislation in relevant jurisdictions), which requires comprehensive information privacy and security protections for consumers with respect to information collected about them. Compliance requirements include disclosures, consents, transfer restrictions, notice and access provisions for which we may in the future need to build further infrastructure to support. To comply with the Data Protection Directive, we have registered with the E.U.-U.S.California Privacy Shield, whichRights Act, or CPRA, was approved by California voters November 3, 2020. The CPRA will create additional obligations relating to consumer data beginning on January 1, 2022, with implementing regulations expected on or before July 1, 2022, and enforcement beginning July 1, 2023. Aspects of the European Commission on July 8, 2016.CCPA and the CPRA, and their interpretation and enforcement, remain uncertain.
In addition, in April 2016,Europe, the European Union adopted a new General Data Protection Regulation, (the "GDPR") to unifyor GDPR, went into effect in May 2018 with the intent of unifying data protection within the European Union under a single law, which may result in significantly greater compliance burdens and costs for companies with customers and operations in the European Union. The GDPR will introduceintroduced a number of privacy-related changes for companies operating in the European Union, including greater control for data subjects (e.g., the "right to be forgotten"), increased data portability for European Union consumers, data breach notification requirements and increased fines. In particular, under the GDPR, fines of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of the annual global revenue of the non-compliant company, whichever is greater, could be imposed for violations of certain of the GDPR’sGDPR's requirements. This government action is typically intended to protect the privacy of personal data that is collected, processed and transmitted in or from the governing jurisdiction.European Union. These laws apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, including employee information. As part of our GDPR compliance, we maintain an active registration with the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, which was approved by the European Commission on July 8, 2016 as a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union to the United States. However, the European Court of Justice recently invalidated the use of the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, which had enabled the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States for companies like us that were self-certified under the Privacy Shield. Alternative data transfer mechanisms, including the Standard Contractual Clauses may still be available while the authorities interpret the decisions and scope of the invalidated Privacy Shield and the alternative permitted data transfer mechanisms. The Standard Contractual Clauses, though approved by the European Commission as a suitable alternative, have faced challenges in European courts, and may be further challenged, suspended or invalidated. At present, there are few if any viable alternatives to the Privacy Shield and the Standard Contractual Clauses, so such developments may require us to implement costly substitutions for the data transfers we undertake in order to perform our services, or prevent such transfers entirely.
Further, the United Kingdom's vote in favor of exiting the European Union, referred to as Brexit, and ongoing developments in the United Kingdom have created uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the United Kingdom. Following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on January 31, 2020, pursuant to the transitional arrangements agreed to between the United Kingdom and European Union, the GDPR will go intocontinued to have effect in law in the United Kingdom, and continued to do so until December 31, 2020 as if the United Kingdom remained a Member State of the European Union for such purposes. Following December 31, 2020, and the expiry of those transitional arrangements, the data protection obligations of the GDPR continue to apply to United Kingdom related to processing of personal data in substantially unvaried form and fashion under the UK GDPR. However, going forward, there will be increasing scope for divergence in application, interpretation and enforcement of the data protection law as between the United Kingdom and EEA. Furthermore, the relationship between the United Kingdom and the EEA in relation to certain aspects of data protection law remains unclear. For example, it is still unclear whether transfers of data from the EEA to the United Kingdom will take place on the basis of an adequacy decision or whether we will need to implement appropriate safeguards as required by the GDPR. For the meantime, under the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, between the European Union and the United Kingdom, it has been agreed that transfers of personal data to the United Kingdom from European Union Member States will not be treated as "restricted transfers" to a non-EEA country for a period of up to six months from January 1, 2021. This will also apply to transfers to the United Kingdom from EEA Member States, assuming those Member States
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accede to the relevant provision of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Although the current maximum duration of the extended adequacy assessment period is six months it may end sooner, for example, in the event that the European Commission adopts an adequacy decision in respect of the United Kingdom, or the United Kingdom amends the UK GDPR and/or makes certain changes regarding data transfers under the UK GDPR/ Data Protection Act 2018 without the consent of the European Union (unless those amendments or decisions are made simply to keep relevant United Kingdom laws aligned with the European Union's data protection regime). Unless the European Commission adopts an adequacy decision in respect of the United Kingdom prior to the expiry of the extended adequacy assessment period, from that point onwards the United Kingdom will be an 'inadequate third country' under the GDPR and transfers of data from the EEA to the United Kingdom will require a 'transfer mechanism,' such as the standard contractual clauses. Additionally, as noted above, the United Kingdom has transposed the GDPR into United Kingdom domestic law by way of the UK GDPR with effect from in January 2021, which could expose us beginning in May 2018.to two parallel regimes, each of which potentially authorizes similar fines and other potentially divergent enforcement actions for certain violations.
We will continue to follow developments and work to maintain conforming means of transferring data from Europe, but despite our efforts to address thecontinuing changes, we may be unsuccessful in establishing conforming means of transferring data from Europe.
We post on our website our privacy policies and practices concerning the use and disclosure of user data. Any failure by us to comply with our posted privacy policies, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, requirements or guidance or other privacy-related laws and regulations could result in proceedings by governmental or regulatory bodies that could potentially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In this regard, there are a large number of legislative proposals before the U.S. Congress and various state legislative bodies regarding privacy issues that could affect our business. It is not possible to predict whether or when such legislation may be adopted, and certain proposals, if adopted, could harm our business through a decrease in customers and revenue. These decreases could be caused by, among other possible provisions, the required use of disclaimers or other requirements before prospective buyers can interact with our customers. For example, we have had to work with our customers to comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 instituted by the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the UK Cookie Law, which was designed to protect computer users from technologies identifying their computers and specified activities conducted on those computers without the users’users' consent. We use tracking technology to track purchases from our customers through our platform, in order to calculate variable subscription fees owed by our customers, among other things. Prohibiting or inhibiting such tracking could make it difficult or impossible to monitor our variable subscription fees. The interpretation and implementation of processes to comply with the UK Cookie Law continues to evolve, and we cannot predict how any new laws will apply to us or our business. Similar "do not track" legislative proposals have been considered in the United States at the federal level, although none have been enacted to date. If enacted, such legislative proposals could prohibit or restrict the use of certain technologies, including tracking technology.
Unsolicited e-mails and communications.    The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and similar laws adopted by a number of states regulate unsolicited commercial e-mails, create criminal penalties for unmarked sexually-oriented material and e-mails containing fraudulent headers and control other abusive online marketing practices. Similarly, FTC guidelines impose responsibilities upon us and our customers for communications with consumers and impose fines and liability for any failure to

comply with rules relating to advertising or marketing practices that the FTC may deem misleading or deceptive. The European Union also maintains standards and regulations with respect to communications with consumers that we must comply with as we expand our marketing practices into those countries or with which our customers, utilizing our solutions, must comply. Some ways we seek to comply with these measures include requiring our customers to communicate with their consumers in order to comply with laws concerning spam and unsolicited emails and establishing processes to allow direct receivers of e-mail marketing communications from us to opt out of future communications.
Credit card protections.    Several major credit card companies have formed theThe Payment Card Industry Council, or PCI Council, in order to establishestablished and implementmaintains security standards for companies that transmit, store or process credit card data. The PCI Council has created the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS. Though the PCI DSS is not law, merchants using PCI Council members to process transactions are required by contracts among various stakeholders in the credit card ecosystem to comply with the PCI DSS, with associated fines and penalties for non-compliance. Elements of the PCI DSS have begun to emerge as law in some states, however, and we expect the trend to continue as to further laws and restrictions in collecting and using credit card information. We do not receive, process, or store any credit card information.information, which we believe limits our exposure to liability under the PCI DSS. We utilize a third-party processor to collect credit card data in processing the fees paid to us by our customers. The third-party is certified as PCI DSS compliant for internet / e-commerce payment processing.

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EMPLOYEES
As of December 31, 2017,2020, we had 737725 employees, most of whom are located in the United States. Certain of our employees in various countries outside of the United States are subject to laws providing representation rights. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
INFORMATION ABOUT SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC REVENUEOur human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees. The principal purposes of our equity incentive plans are to attract, retain and reward high performing employees through the granting of equity-based compensation awards in order to increase shareholder value and the success of our company by motivating employees to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our company objectives.
Information about segmentIn response to recent external events, ChannelAdvisor has formed a Diversity, Equity and geographic revenueInclusion (DE&I) task force tasked with five key DE&I objectives for the company: driving awareness, accelerating opportunity, improving access, advocacy, and accountability. We are proud of our long history of inclusion and our merit-based culture, but also believe there is set forth in Part II, Item 8. "Note 10 - Segmentmore work to do to promote DE&I internally and Geographic Information" of this Annual Report.externally.
CORPORATE INFORMATION
We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in June 2001. Our principal executive offices are located at 3025 Carrington Mill Boulevard, Suite 500, Morrisville, North Carolina. Our telephone number is (919) 228-4700.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Our internet website address is www.channeladvisor.com. In addition to the information about us and our subsidiaries contained in this Annual Report, information about us can be found on our website. Our website and information included in or linked to our website are not part of this Annual Report.
Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. The public may read and copy the materials we file with the SEC at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Additionally the SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information.information that we file electronically with the SEC. The address of the SEC's website is www.sec.gov.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
Our business is subject to numerous risks. You should carefully consider the following risks, as well as general economic and business risks, and all of the other information contained in this Annual Report, together with any other documents we file with the SEC. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition and cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.
Among these important risks are the following:
Global economic conditions, including those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, could materially adversely affect demand for our solutions and our financial performance.
A significant portion of our revenue is attributable to sales by our customers on the Amazon and eBay marketplaces and through advertisements on Google. Our inability to continue to integrate our solutions with these channels would make our solutions less appealing to existing and potential new customers and could significantly reduce our revenue.
We rely in part on a pricing model under which a variable portion of the fees we receive from customers is based upon the amount of GMV or advertising spend that those customers process through our platform, and any change in the attractiveness of that model or any decline in our customers' sales could adversely affect our financial results.
We may not be able to respond to rapid changes in channel technologies or requirements, which could cause us to lose revenue and make it more difficult to maintain profitability.
If we are unable to retain our existing customers, our revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected.
As more of our sales efforts are targeted at brands and larger customers, our sales cycle may become more time-consuming and expensive, and we may encounter pricing pressure, which could harm our business and operating results.
We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors. If we do not compete successfully, we could experience lower sales volumes and pricing pressure, which could cause us to lose revenues, impair our ability to pursue our growth strategy and compromise our ability to maintain profitability.
If the e-commerce industry consolidates around a limited number of online channels, or if the complexities and challenges faced by brands and retailers seeking to sell online otherwise diminish, demand for our solutions could decline.
Our growth depends in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
If we pursue opportunistic acquisitions or investments they may be unsuccessful and/or divert our management's attention and consume significant resources.
Errors, defects or failures in our software, or human error, could cause our solutions to oversell our customers' inventory or misprice their offerings or could cause other errors, which would hurt our reputation and reduce customer demand.
If the use of "cookie" tracking technologies is restricted, regulated or otherwise blocked, or if changes in our industry cause cookies to become less reliable or acceptable as a means of tracking consumer behavior, the amount or accuracy of GMV processed on our platform, and our related revenue, could decrease.
We rely on non-redundant data centers and cloud computing providers to deliver our SaaS solutions. Any disruption of service from these providers could harm our business.
Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and may do so in the future, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Evolving domestic and international data privacy regulations may restrict our ability, and that of our customers, to solicit, collect, process, disclose and use personal information or may increase the costs of doing so, which could harm our business.
Cybersecurity incidents could harm our business and negatively impact our financial results.
Activities of our customers or the content of their websites could subject us to liability.
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RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
WeGlobal economic conditions, including those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, could materially adversely affect demand for our solutions and our financial performance.
Our operations and performance depend significantly on worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty about global economic conditions, including the ongoing global disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and any subsequent outbreaks of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases, could negatively affect our ability to generate sales of our solutions. For example, customers may be unwilling to enter into or renew contracts with us as a result of reduced demand for their own products or their own economic uncertainty. In addition, tighter credit policies, increased unemployment rates, negative financial news or declines in income or asset values and other macroeconomic factors, or the perception that any of these may occur, could have incurreda material negative effect on our customers' demand for our solutions and, accordingly, on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, a prolonged recession or market correction resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could decrease technology spending, adversely affecting demand for our solutions, or could lead customers to renegotiate contracts and seek pricing concessions or terminate their contracts, which could negatively impact our revenues and the value of our common stock.
The global pandemic of COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly, and we continue to monitor the situation closely and assess the potential effects on our business; however, the ultimate impact is highly uncertain and subject to change and will depend on a number of future developments, such as the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, the duration and any future recurrences of the outbreak, the duration and effect of business disruptions and the short-term effects and ultimate effectiveness of the travel restrictions, quarantines, social distancing requirements, vaccine deployment and business closures in the United States and other countries to prevent, contain and treat the disease. Accordingly, we do not yet know the full extent of potential impacts on our business and operations, or those of our business partners and customers, or the global economy as a whole. While the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant net losses since inception, andadverse impact on our results of operations during the year ended December 31, 2020, it is possible that our operating expenses will increase in the foreseeable future, which may make it more difficult for us to achieve profitability.
We incurred net losses of $16.6 million and $8.0 million during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and we had an accumulated deficit of $180.1 million as of December 31, 2017. It is possible that our operating expenses will increase in the foreseeable future as we invest in increased sales and marketing and research and development efforts. To achieve profitability, we will need to either increasepandemic could adversely affect our revenue sufficiently to offset increasing expensesgrowth and financial results for 2021 or reducebeyond. Because our expense levels. Our recent revenue growthsolutions are primarily sold on a subscription basis, any such adverse effects may not be sustainable,fully reflected in our operating results until future periods. Accordingly, the current results and if we are forcedfinancial condition discussed in this report may not be indicative of our future operating results and trends.
In addition to reduceoverall economic and market conditions resulting from COVID-19, our expenses, our growth strategybusiness could be compromised. If we are not ablenegatively impacted by other developments that result in decreased consumer spending. For example, the United States has recently imposed increased tariffs on certain imports from China and has expressed a willingness for further tariffs on goods imported from China and other countries. Any economic uncertainty caused by the United States tariffs imposed or expected to achievebe imposed on goods from China or other countries, and maintain profitability, the valueany retaliatory counter-measures imposed by countries subject to such tariffs, could have a negative impact on consumer spending for discretionary items, which in turn could hurt our brand and retailer customers in a manner that might cause them to spend less on our solutions. Any such outcome could impair our revenues and results of our company and our common stock could decline significantly.operations.
A significant portion of our revenue is attributable to sales by our customers on the Amazon and eBay marketplaces and through advertisements on Google. Our inability to continue to integrate our solutions with these channels would make our solutions less appealing to existing and potential new customers and could significantly reduce our revenue.
A substantial majority of the GMV that our customers process through our platform is derived from merchandise sold on the Amazon and eBay marketplaces or advertised on Google, and a similar portion of our variable subscription fees is attributable to sales by our customers through these channels. These channels, and the other channels with which our solutions are integrated, have no obligation to do business with us or to allow us access to their systems, and they may decide at any time and for any reason to significantly curtail or inhibit our ability to integrate our solutions with their channels. Additionally, Amazon, eBay or Google may decide to make significant changes to their respective business models, policies, systems, plans or plans,ownership, and those changes could impair or inhibit our customers’customers' ability to use our solutions to sell their products on those channels, or may adversely affect the volume of GMV that our customers can sell on those channels or reduce the desirability of selling on those channels. Further, Amazon, eBay or Google could decide to compete with us more vigorously. Any of these results could cause our customers to reevaluate the value of our products and services and potentially terminate their relationships with us and significantly reduce our revenue.


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We rely in part on a pricing model under which a variable portion of the fees we receive from customers is based upon the amount of GMV or advertising spend that those customers process through our platform, and any change in the attractiveness of that model or any decline in our customers' sales could adversely affect our financial results.
We have adopted a pricing model under which a portion of the fees we receive from most of our customers is variable, based on the amount of our customers' GMV or advertising spendprocessed through our platform that exceeds a specified amount established by contract, which we refer to as variable fees. Most of our customer contracts include this variable fee component. If sales or advertising spend by our customers processed through our platform were to decline, or if more of our customers require pricing terms that do not provide for any variability based on their GMV or advertising spend processed through our platform, our revenue and margins could decline.
We may not be able to respond to rapid changes in channel technologies or requirements, which could cause us to lose revenue and make it more difficult to achievemaintain profitability.
The e-commerce market is characterized by rapid technological change and frequent changes in rules, specifications and other requirements for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to be able to sell their merchandise on particular channels, as well as developments in technologies that can impede the display and tracking of advertisements. Our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers depends in large part on our ability to enhance and improve our existing solutions and introduce new solutions that can adapt quickly to these technological changes. To achieve market acceptance for our solutions, we must effectively anticipate and offer solutions that meet frequently changing channel requirements in a timely manner. If our solutions fail to do so, our ability to renew our contracts with existing customers and our ability to create or increase demand for our solutions will be impaired.
If we are unable to retain our existing customers, our revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We sell our solutions pursuant to contractual arrangements that generally have one-year terms. Therefore, our revenue growth depends to a significant degree upon subscription renewals. Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscriptions after the subscription term expires, and these subscriptions may not be renewed or, if renewed, may not be renewed on the same or more favorable terms for us. We may not be able to accurately predict future trends in customer renewals, and our customers’customers' renewal rates may decline or fluctuate because of several factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our solutions, the cost of our solutions, the cost of solutions offered by our competitors and reductions in our customers’customers' spending levels. Economic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could also affect our customers' decisions on whether or not to renew their subscriptions with us. If our customers do not renew their subscriptions, renew on less favorable terms or for fewer modules, or do not purchase additional modules, our revenue may grow more slowly than expected or decline, and our ability to become profitablemaintain profitability may be compromised.

As more of our sales efforts are targeted at brands and larger customers, our sales cycle may become more time-consuming and expensive, and we may encounter pricing pressure, which could harm our business and operating results.
The cost and length of our sales cycle varies by customer. As we target more of our sales efforts at selling to brands and larger customers, we may face greater costs, longer sales cycles and less predictability in completing some of our sales. These types of sales often require us to provide greater levels of education regarding our solutions. In addition, brands and larger customers may demand more training and other professional services. As a result of these factors, these sales opportunities may require us to devote greater sales support and professional services resources to individual customers, driving up costs and time required to complete sales and diverting sales and professional services resources to a smaller number of larger transactions.
We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors. If we do not compete successfully, we could experience lower sales volumes and pricing pressure, which could cause us to lose revenues, impair our ability to pursue our growth strategy and compromise our ability to achievemaintain profitability.
We face intense competition in the market for online channel management solutions and services, and we expect competition to intensify in the future. We have competitors, including some of the channels themselves, with longer operating histories, larger customer bases and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. Increased competition may result in reduced pricing for our solutions, longer sales cycles or a decrease in our market share, any of which could negatively affect our revenue and future operating results and our ability to grow our business.
A number of competitive factors could cause us to lose potential sales or to sell our solutions at lower prices or at reduced margins, including:
Potential customers may choose to continue using or to develop applications in-house, rather than pay for our solutions;
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The channels themselves, which typically offer software tools, often for free, that allow retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to connect to them, may decide to compete more vigorously with us;
Competitors may adopt more aggressive pricing policies and offer more attractive sales terms, adapt more quickly to new technologies and changes in customer requirements, and devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products and services than we can;
Current and potential competitors have established or may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to enhance their products and expand their markets, and consolidation in our industry is likely to intensify. Accordingly, new competitors or alliances among competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share;
Current and potential competitors may offer software that addresses one or more online channel management functions at a lower price point or with greater depth than our solutions and may be able to devote greater resources to those solutions than we can; and
Software vendors could bundle channel management solutions with other solutions or offer such products at a lower price as part of a larger product sale.
We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, including any channels that decide to compete against us more vigorously. In addition, competition may intensify as our competitors raise additional capital and as established companies in other market segments or geographic markets expand into our market segments or geographic markets. If we cannot compete successfully against our competitors, our business and our operating and financial results could be adversely affected.
If the e-commerce industry consolidates around a limited number of online channels, or if the complexities and challenges faced by retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers seeking to sell online otherwise diminish, demand for our solutions could decline.
Our solutions enable retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to manage their merchandise sales through hundreds of disparate online channels. One of the key attractions of our solutions to retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers is the ability to help address the complexity and fragmentation of selling online. Although the number and variety of online channels available to retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers have been increasing, at the same time the share of online sales made through a small number of larger channels, particularly Amazon, has also been increasing. If the trend toward consolidation around a few large online channels accelerates, the difficulties faced by retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers could decline, which might make our solutions less important to retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers and could cause demand for our solutions to decline.

Our growth depends in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
We anticipate that we will continue to depend on our relationships with various third parties, including marketplaces and technology, content and logistics providers, in order to grow our business. Identifying, negotiating and documenting relationships with these third parties may require significant time and resources as does integrating their content and technology with our solutions. If the third-party content or technology integrated with our solutions is not well received by our customers, our brand and reputation could be negatively affected. Our agreements with third-party business partners are typically non-exclusive and do not prohibit them from working with our competitors or from offering competing services. If and to the extent that any of these third parties compete with us, it could hurt our growth prospects.
If the e-commerce market does not grow,we pursue opportunistic acquisitions or grows more slowly than we expect, particularly on the channels thatinvestments they may be unsuccessful and/or divert our solutions support, demand for our online channel management solutions could be adversely affected.management's attention and consume significant resources.
For our existing customers and potential customersAny acquisition or investment may require us to be willing to subscribe to our solutions, the internet must continue to be accepted and widely used for selling merchandise. As e-commerce continues to evolve, regulation by federal, stateuse significant amounts of cash, issue potentially dilutive equity securities or foreign agencies may increase. Any regulation imposing greater fees for internet use or restricting information exchanged over the internet could result in a decline in the useincur debt. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, any of the internet, which could harm our business.business, including:
In addition,difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies, services and personnel of acquired businesses, especially if consumer utilizationthose businesses operate outside of our primarycore competency of providing e-commerce channels, such as Amazon, eBaysoftware solutions;
inability to achieve our targeted or forecasted financial results following an acquisition;
cultural challenges associated with integrating employees from acquired businesses into our organization;
ineffectiveness or incompatibility of acquired technologies or services;
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failure to successfully further develop the acquired technology in order to recoup our investment;
potential loss of key employees of acquired businesses;
inability to maintain the key business relationships and Google, does not growthe reputations of acquired businesses;
diversion of management's attention from other business concerns;
litigation associated with activities of acquired businesses, including claims from terminated employees, customers, former stockholders or grows more slowly than we expect, demandother third parties;
in the case of foreign acquisitions, the need to integrate operations across different cultures and languages and to address the particular economic, currency, political and regulatory risks associated with specific countries;
costs necessary to establish and maintain effective internal controls for our solutions would be adversely affected, our revenue would be negatively impactedacquired businesses; and our ability to pursue our growth strategy and become profitable would be compromised.
Software errors,increased fixed costs.
Errors, defects or failures in our software, or human error, could cause our solutions to oversell our customers’customers' inventory or misprice their offerings or could cause other errors, which would hurt our reputation and reduce customer demand.
Complex software applications such as ours may contain errors or defects, particularly when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. Despite our testing and testing by our customers, our current and future products may contain defects. Our customers rely on our solutions to automate the allocation of their inventory simultaneously across multiple online channels, as well as to ensure that their sales comply with the policies of each channel and sometimes to dynamically determine product pricing at any given moment. Some customers subscribe to our solutions on a managed-service basis, in which case our personnel operate our solutions on behalf of the customer. In the event that our solutions do not function properly, or if there is human error on the part of our service staff, errors could occur, including that our customers might inadvertently sell more inventory than they actually have in stock, make sales that violate channel policies or underprice or overprice their offerings. Overselling their inventory could force our customers to cancel orders at rates that violate channel policies. Underpricing would result in lost revenue to our customers and overpricing could result in lost sales. In addition, our pricing policies with our customers are largely based upon our customers’customers' expectations of the levels of their GMV that will be processed through our platform over the term of their agreement with us, and errors in our software or human error could cause transactions to be incorrectly processed that would cause GMV to be in excessexceed contractually agreed-upon thresholds, triggering imposition of variable fees on our customers’ specified minimum amounts,customers, in which case our variable subscription fee-based revenue could be overstated. Any of these results or other errors could reduce demand for our solutions and hurt our business reputation. Customers could also seek recourse against us in these cases and, while our contractual arrangements with customers typically provide that we are not liable for damages such as these, it is possible that these provisions would not be sufficient to protect us.
If the use of "cookie" tracking technologies is restricted, regulated or otherwise blocked, or if changes in our industry cause cookies to become less reliable or acceptable as a means of tracking consumer behavior, the amount or accuracy of GMV processed on our platform, and our related revenue, could decrease.
Cookies are small data files that are sent by websites and stored locally on an internet user's computer or mobile device. Our customers enable cookies on their sites and monitor internet user activity, such as viewing pages and completing transactions. We collect data via cookies that we ultimately use to report GMV, which translates to revenue. However, internet users can easily disable, delete and block cookies directly through browser settings or through other software, browser extensions or hardware platforms that physically block cookies from being created and stored.
Third-party cookies are downloaded from domains not associated with the address currently being viewed in an internet user's browser. Cookies can be specifically blocked by browser settings, and,settings; for example, the Safari internet browser blocks third-party cookies by default. Internet users can also download free or paid "ad blocking" software that prevents third-party cookies from being stored on a user's device. On the other hand, first-party cookies are downloaded directly from the address domain of an internet user, and are generally considered safer by privacy concerns. We currently collect data from both first-party and third-party cookie implementations. Our customers currently implementing our third-party cookie solution might be slow to migrate their sites to first-party cookie technologies, which could result in less cookie data that we can collect, and therefore less reported revenue data that we can store.

There have been efforts within our industry to replace cookies with alternative tracking technologies. To the extent these efforts are successful, we may have difficulty adapting to those new tracking technologies and we may become dependent on
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third parties for access to tracking data. Similarly, privacy regulations may extend to those tracking technologies and restrict how we can use such technologies.
Privacy regulations might also restrict how our customers deploy our cookies and other tracking technologies on their sites, and this could potentially increase the number of internet users that choose to proactively disable cookies and other tracking technologies on their systems. In the European Union, for example, the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications requires users to give their consent before cookie data can be stored on their local computer or mobile device. Users can decide to opt out of any cookie data creation, which could negatively impact the revenue we might recognize.
There have been efforts within our industry to replace cookies with alternative tracking technologies. To the extent these efforts are successful, we may have difficulty adapting to those new tracking technologies and we may become dependent on third parties for access to tracking data.
We may have to develop alternative systems to collect user revenue data if users block cookies or regulations introduce barriers to collecting cookie data. In addition, third parties may develop technology or policies to harvest user data including through next-generation web browsers or other means, which could subsequently prevent us from directly importing data to our systems. We may not be able to develop adequate alternatives to cookie data collection, which could negatively impact our ability to reliably measure GMV.
We rely on non-redundant data centers and cloud computing providers to deliver our SaaS solutions. Any disruption of service from these providers could harm our business.
We manage our platform and serve all of our customers from third-party data center facilities and cloud computing providers that are non-redundant, meaning that the data centers and providers are currently not configured as backup for each other. While we engineer and architect the actual computer and storage systems upon which our platform runs, we do not control the operation of the facilities at which they are deployed.
The owners of our data facilities have no obligation to renew their agreements with us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we are unable to renew these agreements on commercially reasonable terms, we may be required to transfer to new data center facilities, and we may incur significant costs and possible service interruption in connection with doing so.
Any changes in third-party service levels at our data centers or any errors, defects, disruptions or other performance problems with our solutions could harm our reputation and damage our customers’customers' businesses. Interruptions in our services could reduce our revenue, require us to issue credits to customers, subject us to potential liability, cause our existing customers to not renew their agreements or adversely affect our ability to attract new customers.
Our data centers and cloud computing providers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, telecommunications failures, cyber-attackscybersecurity incidents and similar events. The occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, or vandalism or other misconduct, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions in the availability of our SaaS solutions or impair their functionality. Our business, growth prospects and operating results would also be harmed if our customers and potential customers are not confident that our solutions are reliable.
We rely in part on a pricing model under which a variable portion
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We have adopted a pricing model under which a portion of the subscription fees we receive from most of our customers is variable, based on the amount of our customers’ GMV or advertising spendprocessed through our platform that exceeds a specified amount established by contract, which we refer to as variable subscription fees. Most of our customer contracts include this variable subscription fee component. If sales or advertising spend by our customers processed through our platform were to decline, or if more of our customers require fully fixed pricing terms that do not provide for any variability based on their GMV or advertising spend processed through our platform, our revenue and margins could decline.
Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and may do so in the future, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Our operating results have historically fluctuated due to changes in our business, and our future operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. You should not rely on period-to-period comparisons of our operating results as an indication of our future performance. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly operating results include, but are not limited to, the following:
the potential and evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and that of our customers;
seasonal patterns in consumer spending;

the addition of new customers or the loss of existing customers;
changes in demand for our software;
the timing and amount of sales and marketing expenses;
changes in the prospects of the economy generally, which could alter current or prospective customers’customers' spending priorities, or could increase the time it takes us to close sales;
changes in our pricing policies or the pricing policies of our competitors;
costs necessary to improve and maintain our software platform; and
costs related to acquisitions of other businesses.
Our operating results may fall below the expectations of market analysts and investors in some future periods, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline substantially.
Evolving domestic and international data privacy regulations may restrict our ability, and that of our customers, to solicit, collect, process, disclose and use personal information or may increase the costs of doing so, which could harm our business.
Federal, state and foreign governments and supervising authorities have enacted, and may in the future enact, laws and regulations concerning the solicitation, collection, processing, disclosure or use of consumers' personal information. Evolving regulations regarding personal data and personal information, in the European Union and elsewhere, especially relating to classification of IP addresses, machine identification, household data, location data and other information, may limit or inhibit our ability to operate or expand our business.
Such laws and regulations require or may in the future require us or our customers to implement privacy and security policies and practices; permit individuals to access, correct or delete personal information stored or maintained by us or our customers; inform individuals of security incidents that affect their personal information; and, in some cases, obtain consent to use personal information for specified purposes. Other proposed legislation could, if enacted, impose additional requirements and prohibit the use of specific technologies, such as those that track individuals' activities on web pages or record when individuals click on a link contained in an email message. Such laws and regulations could restrict our customers' ability to collect and use web browsing data and personal information, which may reduce our customers' demand for our solutions.
The laws in this area are complex and developing rapidly. In the United States, many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures relating to privacy, data security and data breaches. Laws in all states require businesses to provide notice to customers whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. The laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is costly. Further, states are constantly adopting new laws or amending existing laws, requiring attention to frequently changing regulatory requirements. For example, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, or the CCPA, on June 28, 2018, which went into effect on January 1, 2020 and has been dubbed the first "GDPR-like" law in the United States (referring to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, described below). The CCPA gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used by requiring covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers (as that term is broadly defined) and provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales of personal information. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, was approved by California voters in the November 3, 2020
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election. The CPRA will create additional obligations relating to consumer data beginning on January 1, 2022, with implementing regulations expected on or before July 1, 2022, and enforcement beginning July 1, 2023. Aspects of the CCPA and the CPRA, and their interpretation and enforcement, remain uncertain. We cannot fully predict the impact of the CCPA or the CPRA on our business or operations, but they may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. Other states are beginning to pass similar laws.
The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, went into effect in the European Union in May 2018, with the intent of unifying data protection within the European Union under a single law. The GDPR has resulted in significantly greater compliance burdens and costs for companies with customers or operations in the European Union. The GDPR creates a range of new compliance obligations and increases financial penalties for non-compliance, and extends the scope of the European Union data protection law to all companies processing personal data of European Union data subjects, regardless of the company's location. These laws apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, including employee information.
Further, the United Kingdom's vote in favor of exiting the European Union, often referred to as Brexit, and ongoing developments in the United Kingdom have created uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the United Kingdom. Following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on January 31, 2020, pursuant to the transitional arrangements agreed to between the United Kingdom and European Union, the GDPR continued to have effect in law in the United Kingdom, and continued to do so until December 31, 2020 as if the United Kingdom remained a Member State of the European Union for such purposes. Following December 31, 2020, and the expiry of those transitional arrangements, the data protection obligations of the GDPR continue to apply to United Kingdom related to processing of personal data in substantially unvaried form and fashion under the UK GDPR. However, going forward, there will be increasing scope for divergence in application, interpretation and enforcement of the data protection law as between the United Kingdom and EEA. Furthermore, the relationship between the United Kingdom and the EEA in relation to certain aspects of data protection law remains unclear. For example, it is still unclear whether transfers of data from the EEA to the United Kingdom will take place on the basis of an adequacy decision or whether we will need to implement appropriate safeguards as required by the GDPR. For the meantime, under the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, between the European Union and the United Kingdom, it has been agreed that transfers of personal data to the United Kingdom from European Union Member States will not be treated as "restricted transfers" to a non-EEA country for a period of up to six months from January 1, 2021. This will also apply to transfers to the United Kingdom from EEA Member States, assuming those Member States accede to the relevant provision of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Although the current maximum duration of the extended adequacy assessment period is six months it may end sooner, for example, in the event that the European Commission adopts an adequacy decision in respect of the United Kingdom, or the United Kingdom amends the UK GDPR and/or makes certain changes regarding data transfers under the UK GDPR/ Data Protection Act 2018 without the consent of the European Union (unless those amendments or decisions are made simply to keep relevant United Kingdom laws aligned with the European Union's data protection regime). Unless the European Commission adopts an adequacy decision in respect of the United Kingdom prior to the expiry of the extended adequacy assessment period, from that point onwards the United Kingdom will be an 'inadequate third country' under the GDPR and transfers of data from the EEA to the United Kingdom will require a 'transfer mechanism,' such as the standard contractual clauses. Additionally, as noted above, the United Kingdom has transposed the GDPR into United Kingdom domestic law by way of the UK GDPR with effect from in January 2021, which could expose us to two parallel regimes, each of which potentially authorizes similar fines and other potentially divergent enforcement actions for certain violations.
We will continue to follow developments and work to maintain conforming means of transferring data from Europe, but despite our efforts to address the changes, we may be unsuccessful in establishing conforming means of transferring data from Europe. For example, the European Court of Justice recently invalidated the use of the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, which had enabled the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States for companies like us that were self-certified under the Privacy Shield. Alternative data transfer mechanisms, including the Standard Contractual Clauses may still be available while the authorities interpret the decisions and scope of the invalidated Privacy Shield and the alternative permitted data transfer mechanisms. The Standard Contractual Clauses, though approved by the European Commission as a suitable alternative, have faced challenges in European courts, and may be further challenged, suspended or invalidated. At present, there are few if any viable alternatives to the Privacy Shield and the Standard Contractual Clauses, so such developments may require us to implement costly substitutions for the data transfers we undertake in order to perform our services, or prevent such transfers entirely. If we are unable to efficiently process personal data from the European Union, or such transfers are prevented entirely, our ability to acquire customers could be negatively impacted.
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There is also significant uncertainty related to the manner in which data protection authorities will seek to enforce compliance with GDPR. For example, it is not clear if the authorities will conduct random audits of companies doing business in the European Union, or if the authorities will just continue to wait for complaints to be filed by individuals who claim their rights have been violated. Enforcement uncertainty and the costs associated with ensuring GDPR compliance could be onerous and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. While we do not currently believe that our compliance with the GDPR will have a material effect on our business, we will continue to monitor regulation and enforcement under this new law.
Changing industry standards and industry self-regulation regarding the collection, use and disclosure of data may have similar effects. Existing and future privacy and data protection laws and increasing sensitivity of consumers to unauthorized disclosures and use of personal information may also negatively affect the public's perception of our customers' sales practices. If our solutions are perceived to cause, or are otherwise unfavorably associated with, insecurity of personal information, whether or not illegal, we or our customers may be subject to public criticism. Public concerns regarding data collection, privacy and security may also cause some consumers to be less likely to visit our customers' websites or otherwise interact with our customers, which could limit the demand for our solutions and inhibit the growth of our business.
Any failure on our part to comply with applicable privacy and data protection laws, regulations, policies and standards or any inability to adequately address privacy or security concerns associated with our solutions, even if unfounded, could subject us to liability, damage our reputation, impair our sales and harm our business. Furthermore, the costs to our customers of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, such laws, regulations, policies and standards may limit adoption of and demand for our solutions.
Cybersecurity incidents could harm our business and negatively impact our financial results.
Cybersecurity incidents could endanger the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information resources and the information we collect, use, store and disclose. These incidents may be an intentional attack or an unintentional event, targeted at us or our third-party contractors or consultants, and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential or personal information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. Such disruptions may be caused by events such as computer hacking, phishing attacks, ransomware, dissemination of computer viruses, worms and other destructive or disruptive software, denial of service attacks, exploits by trusted insiders and other malicious activity, as well as power outages, natural disasters (including extreme weather), terrorist attacks, user error or other similar events. The possibility of such events may be increased in the current environment in which all of our employees and the employees of our customers are working remotely. We believe that we take reasonable steps that are designed to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the information we collect, use, store, and disclose, but there is no guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized data access will not occur despite our efforts. For example, our system redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, or we could be impacted by software bugs or other technical malfunctions, as well as error or malfeasance by anyone with access to our data. In addition, while we believe we have adequate insurance coverage to compensate for any losses associated with such events, the coverage may in fact not be adequate to cover all potential losses. The development and maintenance of these systems, controls and processes is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become increasingly sophisticated. Any unauthorized access or use of information, virus or similar breach or disruption to our, our customers', or our partners' systems and security measures could result in disrupted operations, loss of information, damage to our reputation and customer relationships, early termination of our contracts and other business losses, indemnification of our customers, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, financial penalties, litigation, regulatory investigations, and other significant liabilities, any of which could materially harm our business.
Activities of our customers or the content of their websites could subject us to liability.
Existing laws relating to the liability of providers of online products and services for activities of their users are in flux both within the United States and internationally. Our customer contracts require that our customers are only permitted to use our products in accordance with applicable law. However, if our customers were to use our products in violation of applicable law, we may become subject to lawsuits and liability arising from their conduct. Additionally, the conduct of our customers may subject us to regulatory enforcement actions or liability.
Although we do not have significant opportunities for users of our service to publish user-defined content, we have certain protections against copyright infringement or defamatory content. Specifically, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, contains provisions that limit liability for some user-generated materials that infringe copyrights. In addition, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or CDA, provides immunity from liability for providers of an interactive computer service who publish defamatory information provided by users of the service. Immunity under the DMCA and the
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Table of Contents
CDA has been well-established through case law. On a regular basis, however, challenges to both laws seek to limit immunity. For example, a recent executive order and a letter from several senators to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission have renewed calls for the protections of Section 230 to be scaled back. Any such changes could affect our ability to claim protection under the CDA.
Although these and other similar legal provisions, such as the European Union e-Commerce Directive, provide limited protections from liability for providers like us, those protections may not be interpreted in a way that applies to us, may be amended in the future, or may not provide us with complete protection from liability claims. If we are found not to be protected by the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA, CDA or other similar laws, or if we are deemed subject to laws in other countries that may not have the same protections or that may impose more onerous obligations on us, we may owe substantial damages and our brand, reputation and financial results may be harmed.
The seasonality of our business creates significant variance in our quarterly revenue, which makes it difficult to compare our financial results on a sequential quarterly basis.
Our customers are retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers that typically realize a significant portion of their online sales in the fourth quarter of each year during the holiday season. As a result of this seasonal variation, our subscription revenue fluctuates, with the variable portion of our subscription fees being higher in the fourth quarter than in other quarters and with revenue generally declining in the first quarter sequentially from the fourth quarter. Our business is therefore not necessarily comparable on a sequential quarter-over-quarter basis and you should not rely solely on quarterly comparisons to analyze our growth.
Failure to adequately manage our growth could impair our ability to deliver high-quality solutions to our customers, hurt our reputation and compromise our ability to become profitable.maintain profitability.
We have experienced, and may continue to experience in the future, significant growth in our business. If we do not effectively manage our growth, the quality of service of our solutions may suffer, which could negatively affect our reputation and demand for our solutions. Our growth has placed, and is expected to continue tomay place in the future, a significant strain on our managerial, operational and financial resources and our infrastructure. Our future success will depend, in part, upon the ability of our senior management to manage growth effectively. This will require us to, among other things:
hire additional personnel, both domestically and internationally;
implement additional information management information systems;
maintain close coordination among our engineering, operations, legal, finance, sales and marketing and client service and support organizations; and
further develop our operating, administrative, legal, financial and accounting systems and controls.
Moreover, if our sales continue to increase, we may be required to concurrently deploy our hosting infrastructure at multiple additional locations or provide increased levels of customer service. Failure to accomplish any of these requirements could impair our ability to continue to deliver our solutions in a timely fashion, fulfill existing customer commitments or attract and retain new customers.
If we do not retain our senior management team and key employees, or if we fail to attract and retain additional highly skilled sales talent, we may not be able to sustain our growth or achieve our business objectives.
Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued service of our senior management team. Our future success also depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain, integrate and motivate highly skilled technical, sales and administrative employees. Competition for these employees in our industry is intense. As a result, we may be unable to attract or retain these management and other key personnel that are critical to our success, resulting in harm to our key client relationships, loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and training costs. The loss of the services of our senior management or other key employees could make it more difficult to successfully operate our business and pursue our business goals.

Our business and growth objectives also may be hindered if our efforts to expand our sales team do not generate a corresponding increase in revenue. In particular, if we are unable to hire, develop and retain talented sales personnel or if our new sales personnel are unable to achieve expected productivity levels in a reasonable period of time, we may not be able to significantly increase our revenue and grow our business.
Our strategy
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Table of pursuing opportunistic acquisitions or investments may be unsuccessful and may divert our management’s attention and consume significant resources.Contents
A part of our growth strategy is to opportunistically pursue acquisitions of, or investments in, other complementary businesses or individual technologies. Any acquisition or investment may require us to use significant amounts of cash, issue potentially dilutive equity securities or incur debt. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, any of which could harm our business, including:
difficulties in integrating the operations, technologies, services and personnel of acquired businesses, especially if those businesses operate outside of our core competency of providing e-commerce software solutions;
cultural challenges associated with integrating employees from acquired businesses into our organization;
ineffectiveness or incompatibility of acquired technologies or services;
failure to successfully further develop the acquired technology in order to recoup our investment;
potential loss of key employees of acquired businesses;
inability to maintain the key business relationships and the reputations of acquired businesses;
diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns;
litigation for activities of acquired businesses, including claims from terminated employees, customers, former stockholders or other third parties;
in the case of foreign acquisitions, the need to integrate operations across different cultures and languages and to address the particular economic, currency, political and regulatory risks associated with specific countries;
costs necessary to establish and maintain effective internal controls for acquired businesses; and
increased fixed costs.
If current efforts to allow states to require online retailers to collect sales tax on their behalf are successful, e-commerce in general could decline, our solutions could become less attractive and the amount of GMV processed through our platform, and our related revenue, could decline.
Although current U.S. Supreme Court decisions restrict the imposition of obligations to collect state and local sales taxes with respect to remote sales, an increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that attempt to require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on their behalf. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case challenging a South Dakota law that permits the state to tax online sales where a remote seller has sales above an economic threshold in the state. In addition, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives are currently considering a variety of legislation, most notably the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would override the Supreme Court rulings and enable states to require that online retailers collect sales tax from the states’ residents. Some larger online retailers, including Amazon, have announced their support for legislation along these lines. This is a rapidly evolving area and we cannot predict whether this or other similar legislation will ultimately be adopted or what form it might take if adopted. For example, the current Senate and House legislation includes an exception for small retailers, although there can be no assurance that any legislation ultimately adopted would include such an exception. If the states or Congress are successful in these attempts to require online retailers to collect state or local sales taxes on out-of-state purchases, buying online would lose some of its current advantage over traditional retail models and could become less attractive to consumers. This could cause e-commerce to decline, which would, in turn, hurt the business of our customers, potentially make our products less attractive and cause the amount of GMV processed through our platform, and ultimately our revenue, to decline. In addition, it is possible that one or more states or the federal government or foreign countries may seek to impose a tax collection, reporting or record-keeping obligation on companies like us that facilitate e-commerce, even though we are not an online retailer. Similar issues exist outside of the United States, where the application of value-added tax or other indirect taxes on online retailers and companies like us that facilitate e-commerce is uncertain and evolving.

We may be subject to additional obligations to collect and remit sales tax and other taxes, and we may be subject to tax liability for past sales, which could harm our business.
State, local and foreign jurisdictions have differing rules and regulations governing sales, use, value added and other taxes, and these rules and regulations are subject to varying interpretations that may change over time. In particular, the applicability of such taxes to our platform in various jurisdictions is unclear. Further, these jurisdictions’jurisdictions' rules regarding tax nexus are complex and vary significantly. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed its prior decision that prohibited states from requiring online retailers without a physical presence to collect and remit sales tax. In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld a South Dakota statute that imposed a sales tax collection obligation on remote sellers with sales exceeding specified thresholds. In addition, it is possible that one or more states or the federal government or foreign countries may seek to impose a tax collection, reporting or record-keeping obligation on companies like us that facilitate e-commerce, even though we are not an online retailer. This is a rapidly evolving area and we cannot predict what legislative or enforcement action might be taken by the states of the federal government or foreign countries.
As a result, we could face the possibility of tax assessments and audits, and our liability for these taxes and associated penalties could exceed our original estimates. As further described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have entered into voluntary disclosure agreements, or VDAs, with certain jurisdictions and recorded a $2.5 million one-time charge in general and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2017. If the VDAsWe do not resolve all potential unpaidcurrently have any ongoing sales tax obligations, then it is possible that the actual aggregate unpaid sales tax liability may be higher than our estimate. Through December 31, 2017, we have paid approximately $1.5 million under terms of the VDAs that we have completed with certain jurisdictions. During the third quarter of 2017, one jurisdiction rejected our VDA application and will conduct a sales tax audit. We believe the scope of the audit will be limited and similar in principle to the VDA program. Anyaudits, though any successful assertion that we should be collecting additional sales, use, value added or other taxes in those jurisdictions where we have not historically done so and do not accrue for such taxes could result in substantial tax liabilities and related penalties for past sales. The imposition of a tax collection, reporting or record-keeping obligation in a jurisdiction where we do not currently have such an obligation could also create additional administrative burdens for us, put us at a competitive disadvantage if they do not impose similar obligations on our competitors and decrease our future sales, discourage customers from purchasing our application or otherwise harmwhich could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.
The recently passed comprehensiveOur effective tax reform billrate may fluctuate, and we may incur obligations in tax jurisdictions in excess of accrued amounts.
We are subject to taxation in numerous countries, states and local tax jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various places that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payable in each jurisdiction. Nevertheless, our effective tax rate may be different than experienced in the past due to numerous factors, including passage of new federal income tax laws, changes in the mix of our profitability from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the results of examinations and audits of our tax filings, our inability to secure or sustain acceptable agreements with tax authorities, changes in accounting for income taxes and changes in tax laws. Any of these factors could adversely affectcause us to experience an effective tax rate significantly different from previous periods or our businesscurrent expectations and may result in tax obligations in excess of amounts accrued in our financial condition.statements.
On December 22,For example, in 2017, new legislationthe Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the Tax Act, went into effect that significantly revisesrevising the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The newly enacted federal income tax law,Act, among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, one time taxation of offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they are repatriated, elimination of U.S. tax on foreign earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits. Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of the new federal tax lawTax Act is uncertain and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the newly enacted federal tax law.Tax Act. The impact of this tax reform on holders of our common stock is also uncertain and could be adverse. We urge our stockholders to consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to this legislation and the potential tax consequences of investing in or holding our common stock.
Our effectiveability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax rateattributes may fluctuate,be limited.
As of December 31, 2020, we had $110.3 million of U.S. federal and we may incur obligations$136.5 million of state net operating loss carryforwards available to reduce future taxable income, which will begin to expire in 2026 for federal and 2021 for state tax jurisdictions in excess of accrued amounts.
We are subject to taxation in numerous countries, states and local tax jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax ratepurposes. It is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various placespossible that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payablenot generate taxable income in each of such places. Nevertheless, our effective tax rate may be different than experiencedtime to use these net operating loss carryforwards before their expiration or at all. Under legislative changes made in the past due to numerous factors, including passage of the newly enactedDecember 2017, as modified by federal income tax law changes enacted in March 2020, U.S. federal net operating losses incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and in future years may be carried forward indefinitely, but, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020, the deductibility of such net operating losses is limited. In addition, the federal and state net operating loss carryforwards and certain tax credits may be subject to significant limitations under Section 382 and Section 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, respectively, and similar provisions of state law. Under those sections of the Code, if a corporation undergoes an "ownership change," the corporation's ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change attributes, such as
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research tax credits, to offset its post-change income or tax may be limited. In general, an "ownership change" will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by "5-percent shareholders" that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have completed a Section 382 review and have determined that, excluding a de minimis amount of acquired net operating losses, none of the operating losses will expire solely due to Section 382 limitation(s). However, we may experience ownership changes in the mixfuture as a result of future shifts in our stock ownership, some of which may be outside of our profitability from jurisdictioncontrol. If an ownership change occurs and our ability to jurisdiction, the results of examinationsuse our net operating loss carryforwards and auditstax credits is materially limited, it would harm our business by effectively increasing our future tax obligations.
We recorded a valuation allowance against all of our U.S. federal and state deferred tax filings, our inabilityassets as of December 31, 2020. We intend to securecontinue maintaining a full valuation allowance on these deferred tax assets until there is sufficient evidence to support the reversal of all or sustain acceptable agreements with tax authorities, changes in accounting for income taxes and changes in tax laws. Anysome portion of these factors could cause us to experience an effective tax rate significantly different from previous periods orallowances. However, given our current expectationsearnings and anticipated future earnings, we believe that there is a reasonable possibility that in the foreseeable future, sufficient positive evidence may become available to reach a conclusion that a portion of the valuation allowance will no longer be needed. Release of the valuation allowance would result in the recognition of certain deferred tax obligationsassets and a decrease to income tax expense for the period the release is recorded. However, the exact timing and amount of the valuation allowance release are still unknown and will be based on a number of factors, including the level of profitability that we are able to actually achieve.
We have incurred significant net losses since inception, and even though we achieved net income for the most recent and prior year periods, it is possible that our operating expenses will increase in excessthe future and impact our level of amounts accruedprofitability.
We had an accumulated deficit of $157.7 million as of December 31, 2020 due to net losses incurred in periods prior to 2019. Although we achieved net income of $18.8 million and $3.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, it is possible that our financial statements.
Evolving domestic and international data privacy regulations may restrictoperating expenses will increase in the future, which could negatively impact our ability, and thatprospects for maintaining profitability in future periods. If we are not able to maintain profitability, the value of our company and our common stock could decline significantly.
If the e-commerce market does not grow, or grows more slowly than we expect, particularly on the channels that our solutions support, demand for our online channel management solutions could be adversely affected.
For our existing customers and potential customers to solicit, collect, process, disclosebe willing to subscribe to our solutions, the internet must continue to be accepted and widely used for selling merchandise. As e-commerce continues to evolve, regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies may increase. Any regulation imposing greater fees for internet use personalor restricting information or may increaseexchanged over the costsinternet could result in a decline in the use of doing so,the internet, which could harm our business.
Federal, state and foreign governments and supervising authorities have enacted, and may in the future enact, laws and regulations concerning the solicitation, collection, processing, disclosure or useIn addition, if consumer utilization of consumers’ personal information. Evolving regulations regarding personal data and personal information, in the European Union and elsewhere, especially relating to classification of IP addresses, machine identification, location data and other information, may limit or inhibit our ability to operate or expand our business.
Such laws and regulations require or may require us or our customers to implement privacy and security policies, permit consumers to access, correct or delete personal information stored or maintained by us or our customers, inform individuals of security incidents that affect their personal information, and, in some cases, obtain consent to use personal information for specified purposes. Other proposed legislation could, if enacted, impose additional requirements and prohibit the use of specific technologies,primary e-commerce channels, such as those that track individuals’ activities on web pagesAmazon, eBay and Google, does not grow or record when individuals click on a link contained

in an email message. Such laws and regulations could restrict our customers’ ability to collect and use web browsing data and personal information, which may reduce our customers’ demand for our solutions.
The laws in this area are complex and developing rapidly. In the United States, many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures relating to privacy, data security and data breaches. Laws in 48 states require businesses to provide notice to customers whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. The laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is costly. Further, states are constantly amending existing laws, requiring attention to frequently changing regulatory requirements.
In April 2016, the European Union adopted a new General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR") to unify data protection within the European Union under a single law, which may result in significantly greater compliance burdens and costs for companies with customers and operations in the European Union. The GDPR creates a range of new compliance obligations and increases financial penalties for non-compliance, and extends the scope of the European Union data protection law to all companies processing data of European Union residents, regardless of the company’s location. The GDPR will go into effect on May 25, 2018. We have not yet assessed the full effect of the GDPR on our business and operations.
Changing industry standards and industry self-regulation regarding the collection, use and disclosure of data may have similar effects. Existing and future privacy and data protection laws and increasing sensitivity of consumers to unauthorized disclosures and use of personal information may also negatively affect the public’s perception of our customers’ sales practices. If our solutions are perceived to cause, or are otherwise unfavorably associated with, invasions of privacy, whether or not illegal,grows more slowly than we or our customers may be subject to public criticism. Public concerns regarding data collection, privacy and security may also cause some consumers to be less likely to visit our customers’ websites or otherwise interact with our customers, which could limit theexpect, demand for our solutions would be adversely affected, our revenue would be negatively impacted and inhibit theour ability to pursue our growth of our business.
Any failure on our part to comply with applicable privacystrategy and data protection laws, regulations, policies and standards or any inability to adequately address privacy concerns associated with our solutions, even if unfounded, could subject us to liability, damage our reputation, impair our sales and harm our business. Furthermore, the costs to our customers of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, such laws, regulations, policies and standards may limit adoption of and demand for our solutions.
Cybersecurity incidents could harm our business and negatively impact our financial results.
Cybersecurity incidents could endanger the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information resources and the information we collect, use, store and disclose. These incidents maybecome profitable would be an intentional attack or an unintentional event and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. We believe that we take reasonable steps to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the information we collect, use, store, and disclose, but there is no guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized data access will not occur despite our efforts. For example, we could be impacted by software bugs or other technical malfunctions, as well as employee error or malfeasance. Any unauthorized access or use of information, virus or similar breach or disruption to our, our customers’, or our partners’ systems and security measures could result in disrupted operations, loss of information, damage to our reputation and customer relationships, early termination of our contracts and other business losses, indemnification of our customers, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, financial penalties, litigation, regulatory investigations, and other significant liabilities, any of which could materially harm our business.compromised.
RISKS RELATED TO THE SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS) MODEL
If we fail to manage and increase the capacity of our hosted infrastructure, our customers may be unable to process transactions through our platform, which could harm our reputation and demand for our solutions.
We have experienced significant growth in the number of users, transactions and data that our hosting infrastructure supports. We seek to maintain sufficient excess capacity in our hosted infrastructure to be sufficiently flexible and scalable to meet the needs of all of our customers. We also seek to maintain excess capacity to facilitate the rapid provision of new customer deployments and the expansion of existing customer deployments and to handle spikes in usage. However, the provision of new hosting infrastructure requires significant lead time. If we do not accurately predict our infrastructure capacity requirements, particularly in the fourth quarter when we typically experience significant increases in the volume of customer transactions processed through our platform, our customers could experience service outages that may subject us to financial penalties or other liabilities, result in customer losses, harm our reputation and adversely affect our ability to grow our revenue.

We derive most of our revenue from annual subscription agreements, as a result of which a significant downturn in our business may not be immediately reflected in our operating results.
We derive most of our revenue from subscription agreements, which are typically one year in length. As a result, a significant portion of the revenue we report in each quarter is generated from customer agreements entered into during previous periods. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in any one quarter may not be reflected in our financial performance in that quarter but might negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant
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declines in sales and market acceptance of our solutions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, may not be reflected in our short-term results of operations.
Our business is substantially dependent upon the continued growth of the market for on-demand SaaS solutions. If this market does not continue to grow, demand for our solutions could decline, which in turn could cause our revenues to decline and impair our ability to become profitable.
We derive, and expect to continue to derive, substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our solutions, which are delivered under a SaaS model. As a result, widespread use and acceptance of this business model is critical to our future growth and success. Under the more traditional license model for software procurement, users of the software typically run the applications in-house on their own hardware. Because many companies are generally predisposed to maintaining control of their information technology systems and infrastructure, there may be resistance to the concept of accessing software functionality as a service provided by a third party. In addition, the market for SaaS solutions is still evolving, and existing and new market participants may introduce new types of solutions and different approaches to enable organizations to address their needs. If the market for SaaS solutions fails to grow or grows more slowly than we currently anticipate, demand for our solutions and our revenue, gross margin and other operating results could be negatively impacted.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
Our increasing international operations subject us to increased challenges and risks. If we do not successfully manage the risks associated with international operations, we could experience a variety of costs and liabilities and the attention of our management could be diverted.
We have expanded,international operations and expect tomay further expand our operations internationally by opening offices in new countries and regions worldwide. However, our ability to manage our business and conduct our operations internationally requires considerable management attention and resources and is subject to the particular challenges of supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures, customs, taxation systems, alternative dispute systems, regulatory systems and commercial infrastructures. International expansion will require us to invest significant funds and other resources. Expanding internationally may subject us to new risks that we have not faced before or increase risks that we currently face, including risks associated with:
recruiting and retaining employees in foreign countries;
increased competition from local providers;
compliance with applicable foreign laws and regulations;
compliance with changing foreign privacy, data protection and information security laws and regulations and the risks and costs of noncompliance;
cross-border data transfers among us, our subsidiaries, and our customers, vendors, and business partners;
longer sales or collection cycles in some countries;
credit risk and higher levels of payment fraud;
compliance with anti-bribery laws, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
currency exchange rate fluctuations;
tariffs, customs, trade sanctions, trade embargoes and other barriers to importing or exporting materials and products in a cost-effective and timely manner, or changes in applicable tariffs or customs rules;
foreign exchange controls that might prevent us from repatriating cash earned outside the United States;
economic and political instability in some countries, including terrorist attacks and civil unrest;
less protective intellectual property laws;
compliance with the laws of numerous foreign taxing jurisdictions in which we conduct business, potential double taxation of our international earnings and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in applicable U.S. and foreign tax laws;
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increased costs to establish and maintain effective controls at foreign locations; and

overall higher costs of doing business internationally.
If our revenue from our international operations does not exceed the expense of establishing and maintaining these operations, our business and operating results will suffer.suffer and we may decide to make changes to our business in an effort to mitigate losses. For example, in the third quarter of 2019, as part of a strategic initiative to reduce our expenses and align our operations with evolving business needs, we discontinued our physical operations in China.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets due to licensing requirements and subject us to liability if we are not in full compliance with applicable laws.
Our solutions are subject to export controls, including the Commerce Department’sDepartment's Export Administration Regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations established by the Treasury Department’sDepartment's Office of Foreign Assets Controls, and exports of our solutions must be made in compliance with these laws. If we fail to comply with these U.S. export control laws and import laws, including U.S. Customs regulations, we could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges, fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers, and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers. Obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required license, for a particular sale may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities.
Furthermore, the U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions laws prohibit the shipment or export of specified products and services to U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments and persons. Even though we take precautions to prevent our solutions from impermissibly being provided to U.S. sanctions targets, if our solutions and services were to impermissibly be exported to those prohibited countries despite such precautions, we could be subject to government investigations, penalties, reputational harm or other negative consequences.
Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related laws, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our solutions, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our solutions to existing or potential customers with international operations. Additionally, changes in our solutions may be required in response to changes in export and import regulations, which could lead to delays in the introduction and sale of our solutions in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our solutions or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our solutions to some countries, governments or persons altogether. Any decreased use of our solutions or limitation on our ability to export our solutions or sell them in international markets would hurt our revenue and compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy.
RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We operate in an industry with extensive intellectual property litigation. Claims of infringement against us may hurt our business.
Our success depends, in part, upon non-infringement of intellectual property rights owned by others and being able to resolve claims of intellectual property infringement without major financial expenditures or adverse consequences. The internet-related software field generally is characterized by extensive intellectual property litigation. Although our industry is rapidly evolving, many companies that own, or claim to own, intellectual property have aggressively asserted their rights. From time to time, we have been subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others, and we expect that third parties will continue to assert intellectual property claims against us, particularly as we expand the complexity and scope of our business. In addition, most of our subscription agreements require us to indemnify our customers and business partners against claims that our solutions infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties.
Future litigation may be necessary to defend ourselves or our customers and business partners by determining the scope, enforceability, and validity of third-party proprietary rights or to establish our proprietary rights. Some of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do and are able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater degree and for longer periods of time than we could. In addition, patent holding companies that focus solely on extracting royalties and settlements by enforcing patent rights may target us. Regardless of whether claims that we are infringing patents or other intellectual property rights have any merit, these claims are time-consuming and costly to evaluate and defend and could:
hurt our reputation;
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adversely affect our relationships with our current or future customers;
cause delays or stoppages in providing our services;
divert management’smanagement's attention and resources;

require technology changes to our software that would cause us to incur substantial cost;
subject us to significant liabilities; and
require us to cease some or all of our activities.
In addition to liability for monetary damages against us, which may be tripled and may include attorneys’attorneys' fees under certain statutes, or, in some circumstances, damages against our customers, we may be prohibited from developing, commercializing or continuing to provide some or all of our software solutions unless we obtain licenses from, and pay royalties to, the holders of the patents or other intellectual property rights, or license or develop substitute solutions, which may not be available on commercially favorable terms, or at all.
Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights could diminish the value of our services, weaken our competitive position and reduce our revenue.
We regard the protection of our intellectual property, which includes trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, domain names and patent applications, as critical to our success. We strive to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights, as well as contractual restrictions. We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors, and confidentiality agreements with parties with whom we conduct business in order to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our proprietary information. However, these contractual arrangements and the other steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not prevent the misappropriation of our proprietary information or deter independent development of similar technologies by others.
We have received patent protection for some of our technologies and are seeking patent protection for other of our technologies but there can be no assurance that any patents will ultimately be issued. We have registered domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and in jurisdictions outside the United States and are also pursuing additional registrations both in and outside the United States.registrations. Effective trade secret, copyright, trademark, domain name and patent protection is expensive to develop and maintain, both in terms of initial and ongoing registration requirements and the costs of defending our rights. We may be required to protect our intellectual property in an increasing number of jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and may not be successful or which we may not pursue in every location. We may, over time, increase our investment in protecting our intellectual property through additional patent filings that could be expensive and time-consuming.
We have licensed in the past, and expect to license in the future, some of our proprietary rights, such as trademarks or copyrighted material, to third parties. These licensees may take actions that diminish the value of our proprietary rights or harm our reputation.
Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. Our efforts to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. Further, we may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. Our competitors may also independently develop similar technology. In addition, the laws of many countries, such as China and India, do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of European countries and the United States. Further, the laws in the United States and elsewhere change rapidly, and any future changes could adversely affect us and our intellectual property. Our failure to meaningfully protect our intellectual property could result in competitors offering services that incorporate our most technologically advanced features, which could seriously reduce demand for our software solutions. In addition, we may in the future need to initiate infringement claims or litigation. Litigation, whether we are a plaintiff or a defendant, can be expensive, time-consuming and may divert the efforts of our technical staff and managerial personnel, which could harm our business, whether or not such litigation results in a determination that is unfavorable to us. In addition, litigation is inherently uncertain, and thus we may not be able to stop our competitors from infringing upon our intellectual property rights.
Our use of "open source" software could negatively affect our ability to sell our solutions and subject us to possible litigation.
A portion of our technology platform and our solutions incorporates so-called "open source" software, and we may incorporate additional open source software in the future. Open source software is generally licensed by its authors or other third parties under open source licenses. If we fail to comply with these licenses, we may be subject to specified conditions,
30

including requirements that we offer our solutions that incorporate the open source software for no cost, that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of the particular open source license. If an author or other third party that distributes open source software we use were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, including being enjoined from the sale of our solutions that contained the open source software and required to comply with the foregoing conditions, which could disrupt the sale of the affected solutions. In

addition, there have been claims challenging the ownership of open source software against companies that incorporate open source software into their products. As a result, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software. Litigation could be costly for us to defend, have a negative effect on our operating results and financial condition and require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our products.
RISKS RELATED TO OWNERSHIP OF OUR COMMON STOCK
An active trading market for our common stock may not continue to develop or be sustained.
Although our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, we cannot assure you that an active trading market for our shares will continue to develop or be sustained. If an active market for our common stock does not continue to develop or is not sustained, it may be difficult for investors in our common stock to sell shares without depressing the market price for the shares or to sell the shares at all.
The trading price of the shares of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile.
Our stock price has been volatile. The stock market in general and the market for technology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their common stock at or above the price paid for the shares. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:
actual or anticipated variations in our operating results;
changes in financial estimates by us or by any securities analysts who might cover our stock;
conditions or trends in our industry;
stock market price and volume fluctuations of comparable companies and, in particular, those that operate in the software industry;
announcements by us or our competitors of new product or service offerings, significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships or divestitures;
announcements of investigations or regulatory scrutiny of our operations or lawsuits filed against us;
capital commitments;
investors’investors' general perception of our company and our business;
recruitment or departure of key personnel; and
sales of our common stock, including sales by our directors and officers or specific stockholders.
In addition, in the past, stockholders have initiatedStockholders may initiate class action lawsuits against technology companiesus following periods of volatility in the market prices of these companies’our common stock. InFor example, in 2015, two purported class action complaints were filed against us, alleging violations of the federal securities laws against a group of defendants including us and certain of our executive officers.laws. The consolidated case wascases were later dismissed in April 2016, and the dismissal was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in November 2016.federal courts without any liability to us. New litigation, if instituted against us, could cause us to incur substantial costs and divert management’smanagement's attention and resources from our business.
If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports, about us, our business or our market, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. As a newly public company,business, and we have only limited research coverage by equity research analysts. Equity research analysts may elect not to initiate or continue to provide research coverage of our common stock, and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Even if we have equity research analyst coverage, we will not have any control over the analysts or the content and opinions included in their reports. The price of our stock could decline if one or
31

more equity research analysts downgrade our stock or issue other unfavorable commentary or research. If one or more equity research analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

The issuance of additional stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our stock incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such rights and preferences as may be determined by our board of directors. Subject to compliance with applicable rules and regulations, we may issue our shares of common stock or securities convertible into our common stock from time to time in connection with a financing, acquisition, investment, our stock incentive plans or otherwise. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.
Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law may prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to change our management and hinder efforts to acquire a controlling interest in us, and the market price of our common stock may be lower as a result.
There are provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws that may make it difficult for a third party to acquire, or attempt to acquire, control of our company, even if a change in control was considered favorable by some or all of our stockholders. For example, our board of directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The board of directors can fix the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock without any further vote or action by our stockholders. The issuance of shares of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change in control transaction. As a result, the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of our stockholders may be adversely affected. An issuance of shares of preferred stock may result in the loss of voting control to other stockholders.
Our charter documents also contain other provisions that could have an anti-takeover effect, including:
only one of our three classes of directors is elected each year;
stockholders are not entitled to remove directors other than by a 66 2/3% vote and only for cause;
stockholders are not permitted to take actions by written consent;
stockholders cannot call a special meeting of stockholders; and
stockholders must give advance notice to nominate directors or submit proposals for consideration at stockholder meetings.
In addition, we are subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which regulates corporate acquisitions by prohibiting Delaware corporations from engaging in specified business combinations with particular stockholders of those companies. These provisions could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control transaction. They could also have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our common stock, including transactions that may be in your best interests. These provisions may also prevent changes in our management or limit the price that investors are willing to pay for our stock.
We are an "emerging growth company" and as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.
We are an "emerging growth company" as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of some of the exemptions from reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We expect to remain an emerging growth company until December 31, 2018.
Under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired.
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act, of 1934, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and the rules and regulations of the NYSE. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controlscontrol over financial reporting and perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This requires that we incur substantial professional fees and internal costs to expand ourmaintain appropriate and necessary accounting and finance functions and that we expend significant management efforts.
We may discover weaknesses in our system of internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that could result in a material misstatement of our financial statements, and we may in the future discover additional weaknesses that require improvement. In addition, our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’ssystem's objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide
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absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected.
If we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls, we may not be able to produce timely and accurate financial statements. If that were to happen, the market price of our stock could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the NYSE, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future and our stock may not appreciate in value.
We have not declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock to date. We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the terms of any existing or future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. There is no guarantee that shares of our common stock will appreciate in value or that the price at which our stockholders have purchased their shares will be able to be maintained.
We incur significant costs and demands upon management as a result of being a public company.
As a public company listed in the United States, we incur significant additional legal, accounting and other costs, which we expect to increase, particularly after we cease to be an "emerging growth company" under the JOBS Act. These additional costs could negatively affect our financial results. In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including regulations implemented by the SEC and stock exchanges, may increase legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If notwithstanding our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards, we fail to comply, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.
Failure to comply with these rules might also make it more difficult for us to obtain some types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we might be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these events could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, on committees of our board of directors or as members of senior management.
We may need additional capital in the future to meet our financial obligations and to pursue our business objectives. Additional capital may not be available on favorable terms, or at all, which could compromise our ability to meet our financial obligations and grow our business.
While we anticipate that our existing cash, together with our cash flow from operations, will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12twelve months, we may need to raise additional capital to fund operations in the future or to meet various objectives, including developing future technologies and services, increasing working capital, acquiring businesses and responding to competitive pressures. If we seek to raise additional capital, it may not be available on favorable terms or may not be available at all. Lack of sufficient capital resources could significantly limit our ability to manage our business and to take advantage of business and strategic opportunities. Any additional capital raised through the sale of equity or debt securities

with an equity component would dilute our stock ownership. If adequate additional funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate material parts of our business strategy, including potential additional acquisitions or development of new technologies.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal offices occupy approximately 130,000110,000 square feet of leased office space in Morrisville, North Carolina pursuant to a lease agreement that expires in October 2022.
We also maintain sales, service, support and research and development offices in various domestic and international locations. Please refer to our website www.channeladvisor.com for a complete list of our domestic and international office locations.
We believe that our current facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our current needs. We intend tomay add new facilities or expand existing facilities as we add employees, and we believe that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate any such expansion of our operations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The information required by this item is set forth under Note 6, "Commitments and Contingencies," in our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report, and is incorporated herein by reference.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.

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PART II


ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’SREGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
MARKET INFORMATION FOR COMMON STOCK
Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol "ECOM." The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low reported sales prices of our common stock as reported on the NYSE:
 2017 2016
 High Low High Low
First quarter$15.00
 $10.35
 $14.30
 $10.28
Second quarter$12.20
 $10.90
 $15.00
 $11.03
Third quarter$11.75
 $9.85
 $15.91
 $11.61
Fourth quarter$12.50
 $8.40
 $15.85
 $10.50
STOCK PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The graph set forth below compares the cumulative total stockholder return on an initial investment of $100 in our common stock between May 23, 2013, the date on which our common stock began trading on the NYSE, andfrom December 31, 2017,2015 through December 31, 2020, with the comparative cumulative total return of such amount on (i) the Dow Jones Industrial Average Total Return and (ii) the NASDAQNasdaq Computer Index over the same period. We have not paid any cash dividends and, therefore, the cumulative total return calculation for us is based solely upon our stock price appreciation or depreciation and does not include any reinvestment of cash dividends. The graph assumes our closing sales price on May 23, 2013 of $18.44 per share as the initial value of our common stock.
The comparisons shown in the graph below are based upon historical data. We caution that the stock price performance shown in the graph below is not necessarily indicative of, nor is it intended to forecast, the potential future performance of our common stock.
  ecom-20201231_g2.jpg
The information presented above in the stock performance graph shall not be deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, except to the extent that we subsequently specifically request that

such information be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or a filing under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
DIVIDEND POLICY
We have never declared or paid any dividends on our common stock. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings, if any, for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.Act.
STOCKHOLDERS
As of February 1, 2018,2021, there were 7760 holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares are held in
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street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.
RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
None.
PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PARTIES
None.

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected consolidated financial data asNot applicable.
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Table of and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 is derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future. The selected consolidated financial data should be read together with Item 7 "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, related notes, and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
 (in thousands, except share and per share data)
Consolidated statements of operations data:         
Revenue$122,535
 $113,200
 $100,585
 $84,901
 $68,004
Gross profit96,585
 85,580
 74,751
 60,681
 49,916
Loss from operations(16,578) (13,837) (21,193) (34,008) (14,365)
Other income (expense)305
 172
 57
 (465) (6,060)
Net loss$(16,557) $(8,007) $(20,951) $(34,514) $(20,628)
Net loss per share—basic and diluted$(0.63) $(0.31) $(0.84) $(1.40) $(1.51)
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding used in computing net loss per share—basic and diluted26,366,748
 25,604,893
 25,062,610
 24,619,714
 13,695,804
Other financial data:         
Adjusted EBITDA (1)$4,569
 $7,436
 $1,443
 $(19,532) $(8,532)
____________________________ 
(1)
We define adjusted EBITDA as net loss plus or (minus): income tax expense (benefit), interest expense, net, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, one-time charge for VDAs related to sales taxes in 2017, headquarters relocation and related costs in 2015, one-time severance and related costs in 2015, acquisition-related costs in 2014 and loss on extinguishment of debt in 2013. Please see "—Adjusted EBITDA" below for more information and for a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP.
 As of December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
 (in thousands)
Consolidated balance sheets data:         
Cash and cash equivalents$53,422
 $65,420
 $60,474
 $68,366
 $104,406
Accounts receivable, net27,452
 19,445
 18,949
 14,619
 13,951
Total assets140,511
 139,158
 130,956
 127,047
 148,786
Total liabilities58,600
 52,161
 47,032
 33,399
 31,006
Additional paid-in capital262,805
 252,158
 240,360
 228,370
 218,330
Total stockholders’ equity81,911
 86,997
 83,924
 93,648
 117,780
ADJUSTED EBITDA
To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have provided within this Annual Report adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure. We have provided a reconciliation below of adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
We have included adjusted EBITDA in this Annual Report because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to understand and evaluate our operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget and to develop short- and long-term operational plans. In particular, the exclusion of some expenses in calculating adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business. Accordingly, we believe that adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results.
Our use of adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect interest or tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and
other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Because of these and other limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA together with other GAAP-based financial performance measures, including various cash flow metrics, net income (loss) and our other GAAP results. The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss to adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
 (in thousands)
Net loss$(16,557) $(8,007) $(20,951) $(34,514) $(20,628)
Adjustments:
        
Interest (income) expense, net(222) 1
 184
 209
 2,960
Income tax expense (benefit)284
 (5,658) (185) 41
 203
Depreciation and amortization expense6,578
 7,838
 8,793
 6,264
 3,722
Total adjustments, net6,640
 2,181
 8,792
 6,514
 6,885
EBITDA(9,917) (5,826) (12,159) (28,000) (13,743)
Stock-based compensation expense11,947
 13,262
 11,837
 7,981
 2,099
One-time charge for VDAs related to sales taxes2,539
 
 
 
 
Headquarters relocation and related costs
 
 1,109
 
 
One-time severance and related costs
 
 656
 
 
Acquisition-related costs
 
 
 487
 
Loss on extinguishment of debt
 
 
 
 3,112
Adjusted EBITDA$4,569
 $7,436
 $1,443
 $(19,532) $(8,532)


ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’SMANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review Item 1A. "Risk Factors" and "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in this Annual Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.


EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
FINANCIAL RESULTSHIGHLIGHTS
Total revenue of $122.5$145.1 million for the year ended December 31, 20172020 increased 8.2% year over11.6% from the prior year;
AverageRevenue was comprised of 73.9% subscription revenue per customer of $42,693and 26.1% variable revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased 8.5%2020 compared to $39,339with 79.6% subscription revenue and 20.4% variable revenue for the prior year;
Revenue was comprisedfrom our brands customers represented 33.1% of 76.3% and 23.7% fixed and variable subscription fees, respectively,total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to fixed and variable subscription fees of 76.0% and 24.0%, respectively,2020, up from 29.6% for the year ended December 31, 2016;prior year;
Revenue derived from customers located outside of the United States as a percentage of total revenue was 21.9%25.2% for the year ended December 31, 20172020 compared to 21.7%with 25.3% for the prior year;
Gross margin of 78.8%79.1% for the year ended December 31, 20172020 improved by 320140 basis points compared towith gross margin of 75.6%77.7% for the prior year;
Operating margin of (13.5)% for the year ended December 31, 2017 declined 130 basis points compared to operating margin of (12.2)% for the prior year;
Net loss13.2% for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $16.6 million2020 improved 1,030 basis points compared to net losswith operating margin of $8.0 million2.9% for the prior year;
Adjusted EBITDA of $4.6Net income was $18.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 decreased 38.6%2020 compared to adjusted EBITDA of $7.4with $3.5 million for the prior year;
Cash and cash equivalents was $53.4 million at December 31, 2017 compared to $65.4 million at December 31, 2016; and
Operating cash flow was $(3.0)Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, of $36.3 million for the year ended December 31, 20172020 increased 80.0% compared to $11.6with adjusted EBITDA of $20.2 million for the prior year;
Cash and cash equivalents were $71.5 million at December 31, 2020 compared with $51.8 million at December 31, 2019;
Operating cash flow was $34.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared with $13.0 million for the prior year; and
Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, was $29.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared with $9.3 million for the prior year.
EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON OUR BUSINESS

In late February 2020, in response to the rapidly-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, we activated our business continuity program led by our business continuity team, to help us manage the situation. In early March, we implemented a COVID-19 work-from-home policy for our various global offices. The transition to a COVID-19 work-from-home model went smoothly because our employees already had the equipment necessary to do their jobs remotely (including laptops and video conferencing systems), our back-office systems were already cloud-based, and because our interactions with customers, prospects, and business partners do not require in-person interaction. Accordingly, our business has not been dependent on our physical office locations nor on travel. We have conducted surveys of our employees and the vast majority have responded that they felt as (or more) productive working remotely and that they had what they needed to do their jobs. We believe we will be able to continue to operate effectively under this model for the foreseeable future.

COVID-19 has affected e-commerce in different ways. In general, the closing of many physical retail stores and the stay-at-home orders issued by many jurisdictions have driven a substantial shift in commerce to online channels like Amazon and Walmart. Beginning in March, we saw a significant increase in gross merchandise value, or GMV, processed through our platform, which benefited our variable revenue. At the same time, in March and early in the second quarter of 2020, sellers of certain categories of products, like apparel, were impacted by reduced demand while concurrently dealing with store closures and, in some cases, disruptions to supply chains or fulfillment operations. We proactively adjusted contract and/or payment
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terms for some customers who were facing financial or operational distress in an effort to help them get through this period and to maintain long-term client relationships.

COVID-19 presents our business with both opportunities and risks. Our business has been positively affected by a substantial increase in e-commerce volumes, which drove an increase in GMV and variable revenue compared to the prior years. How long, and to what extent, this level of higher GMV can continue is very difficult to forecast. We believe that the heightened GMV levels we have seen are likely to dissipate somewhat over time as retail stores reopen and stay-at-home orders ease, but we also believe it is possible that some level of increased e-commerce may become permanent as customers become more regular online shoppers.

Lastly, we cannot ignore that tens of millions of people around the world have lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and that the global economy has experienced, and may continue to experience, economic distress. Governments around the world, including the U.S. Federal government and European Union, have enacted historic fiscal and monetary stimulus programs in an effort to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19, and we believe these programs have helped support consumer spending. Whether and when, and to what extent, future stimulus programs are enacted is difficult to predict. Therefore, the risk of continued global economic distress remains high and may impact consumer demand and, hence, e-commerce volumes. How long this economic climate lasts, and whether or not the impact on consumer demand is more than offset by the shift to online shopping that we have seen since March 2020 is not knowable at this point.

For all of these reasons, it has remained difficult to forecast our revenue and profitability for future periods, especially as continued outbreaks of COVID-19 could disrupt our operations and/or those of our customers. However, we believe we currently have sufficient liquidity and that our business model, which is substantially based on subscription revenues, positions us to continue to manage through the challenges presented by COVID-19.
TRENDS IN OUR BUSINESS
The following trends have contributed to the results of our consolidated operations, and we anticipate that they will continue to impactaffect our future results:
Growth in Online Shopping. Consumers continue to move more of their retail spending from offline to online retail.online. The continuing shift to online shopping and overall growth has contributed to our historical growth and we expect that this online shift will continue to benefit our business.
Global efforts to implement social distancing, including stay-at-home orders and similar mobility and gathering restrictions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have increased e-commerce as consumers have increasingly turned to online purchasing for many products they would have purchased at brick and mortar stores. However, it is unclear to what degree this recent shift in favor of e-commerce will continue once the public health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have begun to subside.
Product Offering Expansion. As online shopping evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings to reflect the needs of companies seeking to attract consumers. We continue to enhance our product offerings by increasing online shopping channel integrations, including marketplace and first-party retail programs, and providing capabilities that allow brands and retailers to be more competitive. This expansion may result in additional researchincludes support for advertising, advanced algorithmic repricing, machine learning-based demand forecasting, improving our analytics capabilities, most recently with our acquisition of Blueboard, a private limited company organized under the laws of France, or BlueBoard, fulfillment features and development investment.
user experience.
Growth in Mobile Usage. We believe the shift toward mobile commerce will increasingly favor aggregators such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Google Shopping,Walmart, all of which are focal points of our platform. TheThese systems understand the identity of the buyer, helping to reduce friction in the mobile commerce process, while offering a wide selection of merchandise in a single location. TheWe believe that the growth in mobile commerce may result in increased revenue for us.
Shift to Larger Customers. We believe that the growth in online shopping increasingly favors larger enterprises. This move impacts our business both in longer sales cycles as well as increased average revenue per customer.

Evolving Fulfillment Landscape. Consumers have been conditioned to expect fast, efficient delivery of products. We believe that determining and executing on a strategy to more expeditiously receive, process and deliver online orders, which we refer to collectively as fulfillment, is critical to success for online sellers. Therefore, it will be increasingly important for us to facilitate and optimize fulfillment services on behalf of our customers, which in turn may result in additional research and development investment. We believe our 2017 acquisition of a fulfillment platform will further enhance our fulfillment offering and strategy.
Focus on Employees. None of our success would be possible without our team. We strive to provide our employees competitive compensation and benefits programs to help driveattract and retain employees who are focused on facilitating the success of our customers. We increased headcount by 5.7% from December 31, 2016 to December 31, 2017implemented a COVID-19 global work-from-home policy beginning in March 2020 to help drive revenue growthprotect our employees and support our overall operations.communities' efforts
37

Shifts in Foreign Currency. Our operations into slow the United Kingdom were impacted bytransmission of COVID-19. This transition went smoothly, as our workforce is globally distributed and employees have the 4.5% decline in the average exchange rate of the British Pound Sterling against the U.S. Dollarequipment they need to work from home, including global video communications systems. We are not substantially dependent on our physical office locations or travel for our business operations. In response to recent external events, we formed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) task force tasked with five key DE&I objectives for the year ended December 31, 2017 as comparedcompany: driving awareness, accelerating opportunity, improving access, advocacy, and accountability. We are proud of our long history of inclusion and our merit-based culture, but also believe there is more work to the prior year. The declinedo to promote DE&I internally and externally. We conduct periodic surveys to assess employee engagement and our surveys reflect a high level of the British Pound Sterling against the U.S. Dollar resulted in a $0.7 million decrease in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2016.
employee engagement.
Seasonality. Our revenue fluctuates as a result of seasonal variations in our business, principally due to the peak consumer demand and related increased volume of our customers’customers' GMV during the year-end holiday season. As a result, we have historically had higher revenue in our fourth quarter than other quarters due to increased GMV processed through our platform, resulting in higher variable subscription fees.
Since the second quarter of 2020, we have seen an increase in GMV processed through our platform, which does not follow the typical seasonal variations in our business, and resulted in higher than normal variable revenue throughout most of 2020. Refer to "Revenue" below for additional information.
OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS
Brands.As the e-commerce landscape evolves to increasingly favor brands, we have identified that growing our brands business represents a significant strategic opportunity for us. We generally categorize a customer as a brand if it primarily focuses on selling its own proprietary products. Brands tend to have longer customer life cycles, stronger financial stability and overall better unit economics than retailers, which we consider to be companies focused primarily on selling third-party products. Brands also offer increased expansion opportunities to grow their e-commerce business through our platform; however they tend to have longer sales cycles. To help drive our future growth, we have made significant investments in our sales force, modified our sales compensation plans and allocated resources focused on growing our customer base of brands. These investments have also contributed to expanding the relationships we already have with our current brands customers.
Dynamic E-commerce Landscape. We will need to continue to innovate in the face of a rapidly changing e-commerce landscape if we are to remain competitive,competitive.
Strategic Partnerships. Our business development team's mission is to expand our sales and we will need to effectively manage our growth, especially related to our international expansion.
Retailers and Branded Manufacturers. As consumer preferences potentially shift from smaller retailers, we needmarket opportunities through strategic partner relationships. We plan to continue to add large retailersinvest in initiatives to expand our strategic partnership base to further enhance our offerings for customers and branded manufacturers as profitable customers. These customers generally pay a lower percentageto help support our indirect sales channel efforts. The goal of GMV as feesthese strategic partnerships is to us based onfurther improve the relatively higher volumevalue of their GMV processed through our platform. To help drive our future growth, we have made significant investments in our sales force and allocated resources focused on growing our customer base of large retailers and branded manufacturers. We continue to focus our efforts on increasing valueplatform for our customers to support higher rates.
and, when possible, provide us opportunities for incremental revenue streams.
Increasing Complexity and Fragmentation of E-commerce. Although e-commerce continues to expand as retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers continue to increase their online sales, it is also becoming more complex and fragmented due to the hundreds of channels available to retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers and the rapid pace of change and innovation across those channels. In order to gain consumers’consumers' attention in a more crowded and competitive online marketplace, many retailers and an increasing number of branded manufacturersbrands and retailers sell their merchandise through multiple online channels, each with its own rules, requirements and specifications. In particular, third-party marketplaces are an increasingly important driver of growth for a number of brands and large online retailers and branded manufacturers, and asretailers. As a result, we need to continue to support multiple channels in a variety of geographies in order to support our targeted revenue growth. As of December 31, 2017, we supported 89 marketplaces, up from over 70 at December 31, 2016.
Global Growth in E-commerce. We believe the growth in e-commerce globally presents an opportunity for retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers to engage in international sales. However, country-specific marketplaces are often thea market share leadersleader in their regions, as is the case for AlibabaZalando in Asia.Europe, for example. In order to help our customers capitalize on this potential market opportunity, and to address our customers’customers' needs with respect to cross-border trade, we intend to continue to invest in our international operations, specifically in the Asia Pacific region.operations. Doing business overseas involves substantial challenges, including management attention and resources needed to adapt to multiple languages, cultures, laws and commercial infrastructure, as further described in this report under the caption "Risks Related to our International Operations."
Our senior management continuously focuses on these and other trends and challenges, and we believe that our culture of innovation and our history of growth and expansion will contribute to the success of our business. We cannot, however, assure you that we will be successful in addressing and managing the many challenges and risks that we face.

38


KEY FINANCIAL AND OPERATING METRICS
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The average revenue generated by our customers is a primary determinant of our revenue. We calculate this metric by dividing our revenue for a particular period by the average monthly number of customers during the period, which is calculated by taking the sum of the number of customers at the end of each month in the period and dividing by the number of months in the period. We typically calculate average revenue per customer in absolute dollars on a rolling twelve-month basis, but we may also calculate percentage changes in average revenue per customer on a quarterly basis in order to help us evaluate our period-over-period performance. For purposes of this metric and the number of customers metric described below, we include all customers who subscribe to at least one of our solutions, excluding the approximately 50 net new customers acquired from our 2017 acquisition of HubLogix Commerce Corp., or HubLogix (renamed ChannelAdvisor Fulfillment, Inc.), and customers subscribing only to certain legacy product offerings that are no longer part of our strategic focus.
The number of customers decreased slightly in 2017. We continue our focus on obtaining large retailer and branded manufacturer customers, which may represent a smaller number of customers, but a potentially larger source of predictable or sustaining recurring revenue.


Adjusted EBITDA represents our earnings before interest expense, income tax expense (benefit) and depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate stock-based compensation expense, which is a non-cash item, a one-time charge of $2.5 million in 2017 for VDAs related to sales taxes, headquarters relocation and related costs in 2015 and one-time severance and related costs in 2015 (refer to Note 6 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information regarding the one-time charge for VDAs related to sales taxes in 2017). Accordingly, we believe that adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to management and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results. However, adjusted EBITDA is not a measure calculated in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies because other companies may not calculate adjusted EBITDA in the same manner that we do. Please refer to Item 6. "Selected Financial Data—Adjusted EBITDA" in this Annual Report for a discussion of the limitations of adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most comparable GAAP measurement.


RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following tables set forth our consolidated statement of operations data and such data expressed as a percentage of revenues for each of the periods indicated.
Year Ended December 31, Period-to-Period Change  Year Ended December 31,Period-to-Period Change 
2017
2016
2015 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015 2020201920182020 to 20192019 to 2018
(dollars in thousands)    (dollars in thousands)
Revenue$122,535
 $113,200
 $100,585
 $9,335
8.2 % $12,615
12.5 %Revenue$145,072 $129,959 $131,218 $15,113 11.6 %$(1,259)(1.0)%
Cost of revenue25,950
 27,620
 25,834
 (1,670)(6.0) 1,786
6.9
Cost of revenue30,354 29,008 29,501 1,346 4.6 (493)(1.7)
Gross profit96,585
 85,580
 74,751
 11,005
12.9
 10,829
14.5
Gross profit114,718 100,951 101,717 13,767 13.6 (766)(0.8)
Operating expenses:      

 

Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing63,495
 56,602
 53,770
 6,893
12.2
 2,832
5.3
Sales and marketing52,905 52,813 60,080 92 0.2 (7,267)(12.1)
Research and development21,868
 17,736
 16,566
 4,132
23.3
 1,170
7.1
Research and development18,990 19,200 22,359 (210)(1.1)(3,159)(14.1)
General and administrative27,800
 25,079
 25,608
 2,721
10.8
 (529)(2.1)General and administrative23,739 25,136 26,784 (1,397)(5.6)(1,648)(6.2)
Total operating expenses113,163
 99,417
 95,944
 13,746
13.8
 3,473
3.6
Total operating expenses95,634 97,149 109,223 (1,515)(1.6)(12,074)(11.1)
Loss from operations(16,578) (13,837) (21,193) (2,741)19.8
 7,356
(34.7)
Income (loss) from operationsIncome (loss) from operations19,084 3,802 (7,506)15,282 11,308 
Other income (expense):      

 

Other income (expense):
Interest income (expense), net222
 (1) (184) 223
*
 183
(99.5)Interest income (expense), net175 754 510 (579)(76.8)244 47.8 
Other income (expense), net83
 173
 241
 (90)(52.0) (68)(28.2)Other income (expense), net(385)394 *(394)*
Total other income (expense)305
 172
 57
 133
77.3
 115
201.8
Total other income (expense)184 369 519 (185)(50.1)(150)(28.9)
Loss before income taxes(16,273) (13,665) (21,136) (2,608)19.1
 7,471
(35.3)
Income tax expense (benefit)284
 (5,658) (185) 5,942
(105.0) (5,473)*
Net loss$(16,557) $(8,007) $(20,951) $(8,550)106.8
 $12,944
(61.8)
Income (loss) before income taxesIncome (loss) before income taxes19,268 4,171 (6,987)15,097 11,158 
Income tax expenseIncome tax expense443 689 614 (246)(35.7)75 12.2 
Net income (loss)Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)$15,343 $11,083 
* Not meaningful.
 Year Ended December 31,
 202020192018
(as a percentage of revenue)
Revenue100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %
Cost of revenue20.9 22.3 22.5 
Gross profit79.1 77.7 77.5 
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing36.5 40.6 45.8 
Research and development13.1 14.8 17.0 
General and administrative16.4 19.3 20.4 
Total operating expenses65.9 74.8 83.2 
Income (loss) from operations13.2 2.9 (5.7)
Other income (expense):
Interest income (expense), net0.1 0.6 0.4 
Other income (expense), net— (0.3)— 
Total other income (expense)0.1 0.3 0.4 
Income (loss) before income taxes13.3 3.2 (5.3)
Income tax expense0.3 0.5 0.5 
Net income (loss)13.0 2.7 (5.8)
39
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017
2016
2015
 
(as a percentage of revenue)

Revenue100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
Cost of revenue21.2
 24.4
 25.7
Gross profit78.8
 75.6
 74.3
Operating expenses:

 

 

Sales and marketing51.8
 50.0
 53.5
Research and development17.8
 15.7
 16.5
General and administrative22.7
 22.2
 25.5
Total operating expenses92.4
 87.8
 95.4
Loss from operations(13.5) (12.2) (21.1)
Other income (expense):

 

 

Interest expense, net0.2
 
 (0.2)
Other income (expense), net0.1
 0.2
 0.2
Total other income (expense)0.2
 0.2
 0.1
Loss before income taxes(13.3) (12.1) (21.0)
Income tax expense (benefit)0.2
 (5.0) (0.2)
Net loss(13.5) (7.1) (20.8)

Table of Contents
ReclassificationADJUSTED EBITDA
To provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we have provided within this Annual Report adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, which is defined as net income (loss) plus (or minus): income tax expense (benefit); interest (income) expense, net; depreciation and amortization; and stock-based compensation. For some periods, we have also excluded non-recurring costs, such as severance and related costs or transaction costs in connection with acquisitions. We have provided a reconciliation below of adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018.
We have included adjusted EBITDA in this Annual Report because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to understand and evaluate our operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget and to develop short- and long-term operational plans. In 2015particular, the exclusion of some income and prior,expenses in calculating adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business. Accordingly, we presentedbelieve that adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results.
Our use of adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:
although depreciation and amortization expenseare non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation;
adjusted EBITDA does not reflect interest or income tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and
other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a separate component, bothcomparative measure.
Because of costthese and other limitations, you should consider adjusted EBITDA together with other GAAP-based financial performance measures, including various cash flow metrics, net income (loss) and our other GAAP results.
 Year Ended December 31,
 202020192018
 (in thousands)
Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Adjustments:
Interest (income) expense, net(175)(754)(510)
Income tax expense443 689 614 
Depreciation and amortization expense6,513 6,336 6,094 
Total adjustments, net6,781 6,271 6,198 
EBITDA25,606 9,753 (1,403)
Stock-based compensation expense10,200 8,976 10,598 
Transaction costs in connection with acquisition488 — — 
Non-recurring severance and related costs— 1,429 587 
Adjusted EBITDA$36,294 $20,158 $9,782 
40

Table of revenue and of operating expenses, in our consolidated statements of operations. Beginning with the first quarter of 2016, we includeContents

depreciation and amortization expense in cost of revenue and the applicable line items of operating expenses. Since the first quarter of 2016, we have also disclosed the depreciation and amortization expense amounts included in each financial statement line item in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. In addition, we revised the classification of certain operating expenses to better align the income statement line items with how operations are managed. The financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015 shown in this management’s discussion and analysis reflect the reclassification of relevant items to conform to the new presentation, and the specific reclassifications are shown in Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report. All reclassifications had no effect on our reported gross profit or net loss for the year ended December 31, 2015.
REVENUE
ecom-20201231_g3.jpg




We derive the majority of our revenue from subscription fees paid to us by our customers for access to and usage of our SaaS solutions for a specified contract term, which is usuallytypically one year. A portion of thecustomer typically pays a recurring subscription fee is typically fixed and based on a specified minimum amount of GMV or advertising spend that athe customer expects to process through our platform. Subscription fees may also include implementation fees such as launch assistance and training fees. The remaining portion of the subscriptiona customer's fee is variable and is based on a specified percentage of GMV or advertising spend processed through our platform in excess of the customer’scustomer's specified minimum GMV or advertising spend amount. In most cases, the specified percentage of excess GMV or advertising spend on which the variable portion of the subscriptionfee is based is fixed and does not vary depending on the amount of the excess. We also receive implementation fees, which may include fees for providing launch assistance and training.
Because our customer contracts generally contain both fixedsubscription and variable pricing components, changes in GMV between periods do not translate directly or linearly into changes in our revenue. We use customized pricing structures for each of our customers depending upon the individual situation of the customer. For example, some customers may commit to a higher specified minimum GMV amount per month in exchange for a lower fixed percentage fee on that committed GMV. In addition, the percentage fee assessed on the variable GMV in excess of the committed minimum for each customer is typically higher than the fee on the fixed, committed portion. As a result, our overall revenue could increase or decrease even without any change in overall GMV between periods, depending on which customers generated the GMV. In addition, changes in GMV from month to month for any individual customer that are below the specified minimum amount would have no effect on our revenue from that customer, and each customer may alternate between being over the committed amount or under it from month to month. For these reasons, while GMV is an important qualitative and long-term directional indicator, we do not regard it as a useful quantitative measurement of our historic revenues or as a predictor of future revenues.
    ecom-20201231_g4.jpg




We recognize fixed subscription fees and implementation fees ratably over the contract period once four conditions have been satisfied:
The contract has been signed by both parties;
Thebeginning on the date the customer has access to our platformthe software. In determining the amount of revenue to be recognized, we apply the following steps:
Identify the promised services in the contract;
Determine whether the promised services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract;
Determine the transaction price;
Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations based on estimated selling prices; and transactions can be processed;
The fees are fixed or determinable; and
Collection is reasonably assured.Recognize revenue as we satisfy each performance obligation.







41

The primary products we offer are:
Marketplaces. Our Marketplaces module connects customers to third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Jet.com, La Redoute, Newegg, Sears, Tesco, TradeMe, Walmart and Zalando.Table of Contents
Digital Marketing. Our Digital Marketing module connects customers to search engines and comparison shopping websites, such as Google, Microsoft's Bing and Shopzilla, and social channels, such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
ecom-20201231_g5.jpg


Our customers are categorized as follows:
Retailers. We generally categorize a customer as a retailer if it primarily focuses on selling third-party products.
Brands. We generally categorize a customer as a brand if it primarily focuses on selling its own proprietary products.
Other. Other is primarily comprised of strategic partnerships.
(1) Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period
presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on the reported total revenue is derived from our Where to Buy and Product Intelligence solutions, as well as from channel integration agreements. Our Where to Buy solution allows branded manufacturers to provide their web visitors or customers of their digital marketing initiatives with up-to-date information about for
the authorized resellers that carry their products and the availability of those products. Our Product Intelligence solution provides branded manufacturers with insights about online assortment, product coverage gaps, pricing trends, and adherence by their retailers to content guidelines. We also enter into integration agreements with certain marketplaces or channels under which the partner engages us to integrate our platform with their marketplace or channel.period.

We generally invoice our customers for the fixed portion of therecurring subscription feefees in advance, in monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual installments. We generally also invoice our customers for theany implementation feefees at the inception of the arrangement. Fixed subscription and implementation feesFees that have been invoiced in advance are initially recorded as deferred revenue and are generally recognized ratably over the contract term.
WeIn general, we invoice and recognize revenue from the variable portion of subscription fees in the period in which the related GMV or advertising spend is processed, assuming that the four conditions specified above have been met.processed.
Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Revenue increased by 8.2%11.6%, or $9.3$15.1 million, to $122.5$145.1 million for the year ended December 31, 20172020 compared with $130.0 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to an $11.3 million increase in variable revenue, primarily driven by sustained and broad-based growth in GMV processed on our platform as e-commerce spending remained elevated for most of the averageyear, consistent with broader e-commerce trends as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in consumer buying behavior. Subscription revenue per customer.
On a trailing twelve-month basis, averageincreased $3.8 million compared to the prior year, driven by strong net bookings, particularly from brands customers. Revenue from our brands customers increased 24.8%, or $9.5 million, compared to the prior year, driven by an increase in new customers, expansions with existing customers and improved customer retention, as well as an increase in transaction volume and variable revenue per customer increased 8.5%, to $42,693 forduring the period as mentioned above. For the year ended December 31, 2017 as2020, brands customers represented approximately 33% of our total revenue compared to $39,339approximately 30% for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in the average revenue per customer was primarily driven by revenue growth of 8.3%prior year. Revenue from our marketplaces solution. Thestrategic partnerships also increased $2.2 million compared to the prior year, driven primarily by growth of our marketplaces solution was largely attributable to an overall increase in transaction volume and, toGMV as mentioned above as well as a lesser extent, to modest overall increases in the percentage fees assessedcontinued focus on the fixed and variable portions of GMV under our contractual arrangements with some of our customers during the period. Because we generally enter into annual contracts with our customers, we may renegotiate either or both of the fixed and variable components of the pricing structure of a customer’s contract each year. In addition, the increase in average revenue per customer was due in part to our established customers who have increased their revenue over time on our platform. In general, as customers mature they generate a higher amount of GMV from which we derive revenue and in some cases they may subscribe to additional modules on our platform, thereby increasing our subscription revenue.

strategic partnerships.
Comparison of 20162019 to 20152018
Revenue increaseddecreased by 12.5%1.0%, or $12.6$1.3 million, to $113.2$130.0 million for the year ended December 31, 20162019 compared with $131.2 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to ana $4.5 million decline in variable revenue, primarily due to a shift in our revenue mix from variable to subscription resulting from more customers moving to higher subscription fee tiers and some of our strategic partner agreements evolving to incorporate more subscription fees instead of purely variable revenues. This decrease was partially offset by a $3.3 million increase in subscription revenue primarily attributable to growth in our international operations, as well as continued revenue growth from our brands customers. For the averageyear ended December 31, 2019, brands customers represented approximately 30% of our total revenue per customer.
On a trailing twelve-month basis, average revenue per customer increased 14.0%compared to $39,339approximately 25% for the year ended December 31, 2016 as compared to $34,513 for the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase in the average revenue per customer was primarily driven by revenue growth2018.

42


COST OF REVENUE
    ecom-20201231_g6.jpg


Cost of revenue primarily consists of:
Salaries and personnel-related costs for employees providing services to our customers and supporting our platform infrastructure, including benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation;
Co-location facility costs for our data centers;
Infrastructure maintenance costs; and
Fees we pay to credit card vendors in connection with our customers’customers' payments to us.


Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Cost of revenue decreasedincreased by 6.0%4.6%, or $1.7$1.3 million, to $26.0$30.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017,2020 compared with $29.0 million for the prior year. The change beingwas comprised primarily of decreasescompensation and employee-related costs due to an increase in quarterly bonuses earned from strong net bookings performance, as well as an increase in headcount, with the prior year being impacted by our implementation of a plan to reduce expenses and align our operations with evolving business needs in the third quarter of 2019, or the 2019 Actions.
Comparison of 2019 to 2018
Cost of revenue decreased by 1.7%, or $0.5 million, to $29.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with $29.5 million for the prior year. The change was comprised primarily of (decreases) increases of:
$1.1(0.6) million in compensation and employee-related costs due to reductions in headcount, primarily as a result of the 2019 Actions; partially offset by
$0.2 million in non-recurring severance and related costs in connection with the 2019 Actions.
OPERATING EXPENSES
SALES AND MARKETING EXPENSE
ecom-20201231_g7.jpg
Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of:
Salaries and personnel-related costs for our sales and marketing employees, including benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation;
Amortization of capitalized sales commissions and related incentive payments over their expected term of benefit;
Marketing, advertising and promotional event programs; and
Corporate communications.

Comparison of 2020 to 2019
Sales and marketing expense increased by 0.2%, or $0.1 million, to $52.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared with $52.8 million for the prior year. The change was comprised primarily of increases (decreases) of:
$2.5 million in compensation and employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation, due to an increase in amortization of deferred contract costs, as well as an increase in headcount, with the prior year being impacted by the 2019 Actions; partially offset by
43

$(1.9) million in our promotional event programs and travel, primarily due to travel and gathering restrictions as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
$(0.5) million in allocated expenses, driven by certain office closures, including our operations in China.
Comparison of 2019 to 2018
Sales and marketing expense decreased by 12.1%, or $7.3 million, to $52.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with $60.1 million for the prior year. The change was comprised primarily of (decreases) increases of:
$(5.5) million in compensation and employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, due to changesreductions in headcount;headcount, primarily as a result of the 2019 Actions; and
$0.5(1.6) million in co-locationpromotional event programs, marketing, advertising and infrastructure maintenancetravel, primarily due to reductions in costs primarily associated with closing a data center and retiring servers used to support legacy product offerings that are no longer part of our strategic focus.annual e-commerce conference; partially offset by
Comparison of 2016 to 2015
Cost of revenue increased by 6.9%, or $1.8 million, to $27.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, with the change being comprised of increases (decreases) of:
$1.7 million in compensation and employee-related costs mainly due to additional headcount to support our customers;
$0.4 million in contractornon-recurring severance and related costs primarily to support our international services team; and
$0.2 million in rent and facilities costs due to the relocation of our corporate headquarters in the fourth quarter of 2015; partially offset by
$0.4 million reduction in hosting, co-location and infrastructure maintenance costs primarily due to our migration to a public cloud infrastructure.



OPERATING EXPENSES
SALES AND MARKETING EXPENSE
    

Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of:
Salaries and personnel-related costs for our sales and marketing and customer support employees, including benefits, bonuses, stock-based compensation and commissions;
Marketing, advertising and promotional event programs; and
Corporate communications.

Comparison of 2017 to 2016
Sales and marketing expense increased by 12.2%, or $6.9 million, to $63.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017connection with the change being comprised primarily of increases of:2019 Actions.
$4.5 million in compensation and employee-related costs, mainly due to additional headcount in our sales organization; and
$2.1 million in marketing and advertising expenses, promotional event programs and travel costs to support expanding marketing activities to continue to grow our business.
Comparison of 2016 to 2015
Sales and marketing expense increased by 5.3%, or $2.8 million, to $56.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 with the change being comprised of increases of:
$2.5 million in compensation and employee-related costs, mainly due to additional headcount in our sales organization, stock-based compensation and the payment of increased sales commissions; and
$0.3 million in recruiting fees, namely for expanding our international sales personnel, and consulting fees.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENSE


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Research and development expense consists primarily of:
Salaries and personnel-related costs for our research and development employees, including benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation;
Costs related to the development, quality assurance and testing of new technology and enhancement of our existing platform technology; and
Consulting expenses.




Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Research and development expense increaseddecreased by 23.3%1.1%, or $4.1$0.2 million, to $21.9$19.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017,2020 compared with $19.2 million for the prior year. The change beingwas comprised primarily of (decreases) increases of:
$3.4(0.4) million in compensation and employee-related costs due to an increase in capitalized employee-related costs attributable to software development to support the enhancement of our product offerings; and
$(0.3) million in allocated expenses, driven by certain office closures, including our operations in China; partially offset by
$0.6 million in compensation and employee-related costs due to an increase in quarterly bonuses earned from strong net bookings performance, as well as an increase in headcount driven by our acquisition of BlueBoard in July 2020.
Comparison of 2019 to 2018
Research and development expense decreased by 14.1%, or $3.2 million, to $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with $22.4 million for the prior year. The change was comprised primarily of (decreases) of:
$(2.0) million in compensation and employee-related costs, mainly due to additional headcount from our acquisition of HubLogix and the expansion of our R&D footprint with the opening of our engineering officean increase in Madrid, Spaincapitalized employee-related costs attributable to software development to support our growth and the enhancement of our product offerings; and

$0.5 million in software, hosting and travel costs to further support our growth and investment in research and development.
Comparison of 2016 to 2015
Research and development expense increased by 7.1%, or $1.2 million, to $17.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, with the change driven primarily by an increase of $1.0(0.7) million in compensation and employee-related costs mainly due to additional headcountshifting certain research and stock-based compensation.development to lower cost office locations, which did not impact our product innovation.
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GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE


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General and administrative expense consists primarily of:
Salaries and personnel-related costs for administrative, finance and accounting, information systems, legal and human resource employees, including benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation;
Consulting and professional fees;
Insurance;
Bad debt expense; and
Costs associated with SEC compliance, including with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulations governing public companies.companies; and
Transaction related costs.
Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
General and administrative expense increaseddecreased by 10.8%5.6%, or $2.7$1.4 million, to $27.8$23.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017,2020 compared with $25.1 million for the prior year. The change beingwas comprised primarily of (decreases) increases of:
a $2.5$(1.1) million one-time charge in connection with entering into VDAs relatedallocated expenses driven by certain office closures, including our operations in China;
$(0.6) million in bad debt expense due to sales taxes with certain jurisdictions;improved cash collections; and
increases of $0.2$(0.4) million in compensation and employee-related costs mainly due to additional headcount.reductions in headcount, primarily as a result of the 2019 Actions; partially offset by
$0.8 million in transaction and subsequent general and administrative costs associated with our July 2020 acquisition of BlueBoard.
Comparison of 20162019 to 20152018
General and administrative expense decreased by 2.1%6.2%, or $0.5$1.6 million, to $25.1 million for the year ended December 31, 20162019 compared with $26.8 million for the prior year. The change beingwas comprised primarily of (decreases) increases of:
$(1.1) million due to headquarters relocation and related expenses charged in the fourth quarter of 2015;
$(0.7) million due to one-time severance and related costs charged in the second quarter of 2015 to support our strategic effort to strengthen margins in our business and identify operating efficiencies;
$(0.7) million in bad debt expense driven by lower bad debt write-offs and reductions to our allowance for doubtful accounts based on collections activities; and
$(0.6) million due to indirect taxes charged in the fourth quarter of 2015; partially offset by
$2.7(1.2) million in compensation and employee-related costs, mainlyincluding stock-based compensation expense, due to additionalreductions in headcount, incentive bonusesprimarily as a result of the 2019 Actions and stock-based compensation, all to support growthchanges in management; and
$(0.8) million in professional fees in connection with the assessment by our business.independent auditors of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, which was required for the first time as part of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2018, and our implementation of the new revenue recognition standard in 2018; partially offset by

$0.7 million in severance and related costs in connection with the 2019 Actions and changes in management.

GROSS AND OPERATING MARGINS
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Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Gross marginimproved by 320140 basis points to 78.8%79.1% during the year ended December 31, 20172020 compared with 77.7% for the prior year as a result of the 11.6% increase in revenue and decreasewhich exceeded the 4.6% increase in cost of revenue noted above. Our improved gross margin is a result of our continuing strategic efforts to achieve increasing scale in our business operations.
Operating margin declinedimproved by 1301,030 basis points to (13.5)%13.2% during the year ended December 31, 2017 due to2020 compared with 2.9% for the prior year. Our improved operating margin was a 13.8% growthresult of the 11.6% increase in revenue and 1.6% decrease in operating expenses which includesdriven by the $2.5 million one-time charge for VDAs2019 Actions, cost savings attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily related to sales taxes described abovetravel and an increase in compensationpromotional event program cancellations, and employee-related costs driven by additional headcount as we invest in resourcesour continuing strategic efforts to support the growth ofscale our business. These operating expenses exceeded the 8.2% year-over-year increase in our revenue and 6.0% decrease in our cost of revenue.business operations while managing costs.
Comparison of 20162019 to 20152018
Gross margin improved by 13020 basis points to 75.6%77.7% during the year ended December 31, 2016 as2019 compared with 77.5% for the prior year, primarily due to a result of the increase in revenue, only partially offset by a slower rate of growthdecrease in cost of revenue resulting from our 2019 Actions, which exceeded the decrease in revenue, noted above. Our improved gross margin is a result of our strategic efforts to achieve increasing scale in our business operations.
Operating margin improved by 890860 basis points to (12.2)%2.9% during the year ended December 31, 20162019 compared with (5.7)% for the prior year due to our 12.5% increasedecreases in revenue, which exceeded the increases in ouroperating expenses and cost of revenue of 11.1% and 1.7%, respectively. Our improved operating expenses of 6.9% and 3.6%, respectively, asmargin was a result of athe 2019 Actions and our continuing strategic effortefforts to strengthen margins inscale our business.business operations while managing costs.
TOTAL OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE)
Other income (expense) consists primarily of:
Interest received on our cash and cash equivalents;
Interest expense on our capitalfinance leases;
Other gains and losses; and
The net effect of foreign currency revaluation gains and losses.
Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Other income (expense) increaseddecreased by $0.1 million to $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily due to interest income on our cash and cash equivalents.
Comparison of 2016 to 2015
Other income (expense) increased by $0.1$0.2 million to $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 20162020 compared with $0.4 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to a $0.6 million decrease in interest income driven by lower interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents due to overall market conditions, partially offset by a $0.4 million loss recorded in the prior year due to the closing of our China operations.
Comparison of 2019 to 2018
Other income (expense) decreased by $0.2 million to $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared with $0.5 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to a $0.4 million loss recorded due the closing of our China operations, partially offset by a $0.2 million increase in interest income driven by higher interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents.
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)
Our provision for income taxes consists of provisions for federal, state, and foreign income taxes. We operate in an international environment with operations in various locations outside of the United States. Accordingly, our combined income tax rate is a composite rate reflecting our operating results in various locations and the applicable rates.

Comparison of 20172020 to 20162019
Income tax expense was $0.3$0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 20172020 compared with $0.7 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to the recognition of tax benefits in 2020, driven by an increase in the UK corporate income tax rate resulting in an increase to the UK deferred tax assets, the acquisition of BlueBoard and the ability to recognize the tax benefit on BlueBoard's 2020 operating losses and the completion of $5.7an R&D credit project in Spain. This was partially offset by an increase in current U.S. state tax expense due to being in a taxable income position in the current year, as well as California suspending the ability to carry forward net operating losses (NOLs) from previous years in 2020.
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Comparison of 2019 to 2018
Income tax expense was $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.2019 compared with $0.6 million for the prior year. The change was primarily due to the release of a valuation allowancenonrecurring deferred tax benefit recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016 on deferred tax assetsUnited States in several of our foreign jurisdictions totaling $5.3 million. The release of the valuation allowance was the result of our evaluation of the likelihood of potential tax benefits related to our foreign subsidiaries' most recent three years of operating results and projections of future profitability, which primarily resulted from a change in our global transfer pricing methodology.
Comparison of 2016 to 2015
Income tax benefit was $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to an income tax benefit of $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2015 primarily due2018 attributable to the releaseenactment of a valuation allowance in the fourth quarter of 2016 on deferred tax assets in several of our foreign jurisdictions totaling $5.3 million noted above.Tax Act.


LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
We derive our liquidity and operating capital primarily from cash flows from operations. Based on our current level of operations and anticipated growth, we believe our future cash flows from operating activities and our existing cash balances will be sufficient to meet our cash requirements for at least the next 12 months. During this period, we expect our capital expenditure requirements to approximate a range of $2.0$4.0 million to $4.0$5.0 million, which will primarily consist of computer hardware and purchased software.
The foregoing estimate does not give effect to any potential amounts that we may draw under our credit facility, or Credit Facility, with HSBC Bank, or HSBC, that we entered into in August 2020 and which is described in more detail below.
Our principal future commitments consist of non-cancelable leases for our office space and computer equipment, totaling $10.1 million as of December 31, 2020. We believe our future cash flows from operating activities and existing cash balances are sufficient to meet these commitments.
WORKING CAPITAL
The following table summarizes our cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and working capital as of the end of each of the last three years:
December 31, December 31,
2017 2016 2015 202020192018
(in thousands) (in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents$53,422
 $65,420
 $60,474
Cash and cash equivalents$71,545 $51,785 $47,185 
Accounts receivable, net of allowance27,452
 19,445
 18,949
Accounts receivable, net of allowance24,705 22,126 23,436 
Working capital45,862
 52,137
 52,413
Working capital67,110 47,946 41,139 
Our cash at December 31, 20172020 was held for working capital purposes. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. Our policy is to invest any cash in excess of our immediate requirements in investments designed to preserve the principal balance and provide on-demand immediate liquidity. Accordingly, our cash is invested primarily in demand deposit accounts and short-term money market accounts.
Of our total cash and cash equivalents, approximately 10%13.1% was held outside of the United States at December 31, 2017.2020. Our international operations primarily consist of selling and marketing and research and development functions supported by our U.S. operations, and we are dependent on our U.S. operations for our international working capital needs. If our cash and cash equivalents held outside of the United States were ever needed for our operations inside the United States, we could be required to accrue and pay U.S.income and withholding taxes to repatriate these funds. We currently intend to permanently reinvest these foreign amounts outside the United States, and based on our current plans we do not demonstrate abelieve we will need to repatriate the foreign amounts to fund our U.S. operations.

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CASH FLOWS
ecom-20201231_g12.jpgecom-20201231_g13.jpgecom-20201231_g14.jpg
Free Cash Flow
We view free cash flow as an important financial metric as it demonstrates our ability to generate cash and can allow us to pursue opportunities that enhance shareholder value. Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures of our financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The following table presents a reconciliation of cash (used in) provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to free cash flow for each of the periods indicated:
Year Ended December 31,
Year Ended December 31, 202020192018
2017 2016 2015 (in thousands)
(in thousands)
Cash (used in) provided by operating activities$(2,996) $11,571
 $(1,459)
Cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activitiesCash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities$34,306 $13,008 $1,230 
Less: Purchases of property and equipment(2,790) (1,755) (4,062)Less: Purchases of property and equipment(1,704)(986)(2,045)
Less: Payment of capitalized software development costsLess: Payment of capitalized software development costs(3,034)(2,721)(894)
Free cash flow$(5,786) $9,816
 $(5,521)Free cash flow$29,568 $9,301 $(1,709)
Free cash flow decreasedincreased by $15.6$20.3 million to $(5.8)$29.6 million for the year ended December 31, 20172020 and increased $15.3$11.0 million to $9.8$9.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.2019. The decreaseincrease in free cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2017 is2020 was primarily a result of a $(4.9) million changerevenue growth during the year, as well as lower operating expenses, primarily related to the 2019 Actions, cost savings in 2020 attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, improved cash collections and changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition, combined with our strategic investmentwhich are further described below. The increase in additional headcount and territorial expansion for our sales and marketing and research and development functions to support the growth of our business. Further analysis on the increases (decreases) in the components of free cash flow is providedfor the year ended December 31, 2019 was a result of lower operating expenses, primarily related to the 2019 Actions, improved cash collections and changes in assets and liabilities, which are further described below.

Operating activities cash flows are largely driven by:
The amount of cash we invest in personnel and infrastructure to support the anticipated growth of our business;
The amount and timing of customer payments;
The seasonality of our business, as noted above, which results in variations in the timing of invoicing and the receipt of payments from our customers;
In 2019, the amount paid in non-recurring severance and
In 2017, the amounts paid related costs in connection with entering into VDAsthe 2019 Actions and non-recurring severance and related costs due to our reorganization of our China operations in 2018; and
In 2018, the amount we paid to settle a sales taxes.tax audit.
Investing activities cash flows are largely driven by:
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired;
Purchases of property and equipment to support the expansion of our infrastructure and acquisitions; and
Capitalized expenditures to create internally developed software and implement software purchased for internal use.use; and
Purchases of property and equipment to support the expansion of our infrastructure.

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Financing activities cash flows are largely driven by:
Proceeds from the exercises of stock options;
Payments on capitalfinance lease obligations;obligations and debt;
Tax withholdings related to the net-share settlement of restricted stock units; and
In 2016, acquisition-related contingent consideration.Payment of line of credit financing costs.

20172020
Operating Activities
Our cash used inprovided by operating activities consisted of a net lossincome of $(16.6)$18.8 million adjusted for certain non-cash items totaling $18.5$16.4 million, which consisted of stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization expense, bad debt expense and other non-cash items, principally the amortizationand cash decreases of a lease incentive obligation related to our corporate headquarters.$0.9 million from changes in assets and liabilities.
The net decrease in cash resulting from changes in assets and liabilities net of acquisition, of $(4.9)$0.9 million primarily consisted of:
a $8.3$2.6 million increase in deferred contract costs consisting of sales commissions and a portion of other incentive compensation that is deferred and amortized to expense over the expected period of benefit;
a $2.1 million increase in accounts receivable as a result of increased billings, primarily driven by strong net bookings performance and an increase in average contract size as well as more semi-annualvariable revenue during the period; and annual contracts being invoiced; and
a $5.5$1.7 million increase in prepaid expenses and other assets primarily relateddriven by the timing of payments to certain customer arrangements for which we collect and remit monthly activity-based fees incurred for specific channels on behalf of our customers (we recordvendors during the amounts due from customers as a result of these arrangements as other receivables).period. These decreases in cash were partially offset by increases in cash due toto:
a $5.2$4.3 million increase in accrued expenses and accounts payable primarily due to an increase in quarterly bonuses earned and accrued expenses, primarily driven by timingthe deferral of payments to our vendorspayroll taxes associated with COVID-19 pandemic relief; and
a one-time charge in connection with our decision to enter into VDAs related to our potential unpaid sales tax obligations; and
a $3.6$1.3 million increase in deferred revenue as a result of an increased number of customers prepaying for subscription services invoiced on a semi-annual and annual basis.
increase in net bookings during the period.
Investing Activities
Our cash used in investing activities consisted of:
$2.88.5 million for the acquisition of BlueBoard, net of cash acquired;
$3.0 million of capitalized software development costs; and
$1.7 million of capital expenditures primarily related to the purchase of computer equipment;
$2.2 million for the acquisition of HubLogix, net of cash acquired; and
$0.3 million of internal-use software development costs.equipment.
Financing Activities
Our cash used in financing activities consisted of:
$2.8 million used for the repayment of capital leases;
$2.73.3 million used for the payment of taxes related to the net-share settlement of restricted stock units;
$1.8 million used for the repayment of finance leases and debt; and
$0.2 million used for the payment of line of credit financing costs in connection with entering into our Credit Facility as described below; partially offset by
$1.43.8 million in cash received upon the exercise of stock options.
20162019
Operating Activities
Our cash provided by operating activities consisted of a net loss of $(8.0)$3.5 million adjusted for certain non-cash items totaling $15.1$17.1 million, which consisted of stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization expense, bad debt expense and other non-cash items, principally the amortizationand cash decreases of a lease incentive obligation related to our new corporate headquarters.$7.6 million from changes in assets and liabilities.
The net increasedecrease in cash resulting from changes in assets and liabilities of $4.5$7.6 million primarily consisted of:
a $4.7$3.4 million increasedecrease in deferred revenue as a result of an increased numberthe timing of customers prepayingrevenue recognition for subscription services invoiced on managed-service contracts;
a semi-annual and annual basis; and
a $3.7$3.1 million increase in deferred contract costs consisting of sales commissions and a portion of other incentive compensation that is deferred and amortized to expense over the expected period of benefit; and
a $2.3 million decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses, primarily relateddriven by the timing of payments to activity-based fees incurred for specific channels on behalf of our customers.vendors during the period. These increasesdecreases in cash were partially offset by decreasesincreases in cash due toto:
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a $2.0$0.9 million increasedecrease in prepaid expenses and other assets, primarily related to certain customer arrangements for which we collect and remit monthly activity-based fees incurred for specific channels on behalfagency of our customersrecord receipts (we record the amounts due from customers as a result of these arrangements as other receivables). The increase is partially offset by the receipt of cash for ; and
a lease incentive related to our new corporate headquarters; and
a $1.9$0.4 million increasedecrease in accounts receivable as a result of increased billings, primarily driven by an increase in average contract size as well as more semi-annual and annual contracts being invoiced.


cash collections during the period.
Investing Activities
Our cash used in investing activities consisted of:
$1.82.7 million of capitalized software development costs; and
$1.0 million of capital expenditures primarily related to the purchase of computer equipment; and
$0.2 million for the payment of internal-use software development costs.equipment.
Financing Activities
Our cash used in financing activities consisted of:
$2.43.4 million used for the payment of taxes related to the net-share settlement of restricted stock units; and
$2.12.2 million used for the repayment of capitalfinance leases;
$0.3 million used for the payment of our acquisition-related contingent consideration; partially offset by
$0.91.0 million in cash received upon the exercise of stock options.
CREDIT FACILITY
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONSOn August 5, 2020, we established the Credit Facility with HSBC under which we may borrow up to $25 million. We may use proceeds from borrowings under the Credit Facility for working capital and general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, and up to $10 million is available for letters of credit. We may also request increases in the amount of the Credit Facility, with such increases not to exceed $10 million in the aggregate, subject to HSBC's consent. As of the date of this report, we have not drawn on, or issued any letters of credit under, the Credit Facility. The Credit Facility matures in August 2023.
Any borrowings under the Credit Facility will bear interest at a per annum interest rate based on a base rate plus 2.25% or LIBOR plus 3.25%. The base rate will equal the highest of (a) the prime rate as publicly announced by HSBC, (b) the sum of (i) the weighted average of the rates on overnight federal funds transactions with members of the Federal Reserve System plus (ii) 0.50%, and (c) the LIBOR rate plus 1.00% per annum, with a floor of 1.50%. The LIBOR rate will be based on London interbank offered rates published by ICE Benchmark Administration Limited for the applicable interest period, with a floor of 0.50%. We will pay a fee on all outstanding letters of credit at a rate of 3.25% per annum. We will pay HSBC a commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the facility at a rate per annum equal to 0.50%. We may terminate the Credit Facility, or prepay any borrowings, at any time in our discretion without premium or penalty.
Each of our existing and future material domestic subsidiaries must guarantee all of our obligations under the Credit Facility, and, in addition, our immaterial domestic subsidiaries may guarantee our obligations. As of the date of this report, we do not have any material domestic subsidiaries, but all of our obligations are guaranteed by our wholly-owned subsidiary CA Washington, LLC. Our obligations under the Credit Facility are secured by first priority liens on substantially all of our assets and those of our subsidiary CA Washington, LLC.
The credit agreement for the Credit Facility, or the Credit Agreement, contains affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that, without consent of HSBC, limit our ability to, or to permit our subsidiaries to, (a) incur indebtedness, with exceptions permitting, among others, earnouts and other indebtedness incurred in an acquisition; (b) grant or incur liens; (c) make loans and investments, with exceptions permitting, among others, specified acquisitions of up to an aggregate amount of $30 million, subject to satisfaction of a pro forma consolidated leverage ratio; (d) enter into mergers; (e) dispose of assets; (f) pay dividends on our equity and complete distributions, redemptions and equity repurchases; (g) transact with affiliates; and (h) make capital expenditures in excess of $10 million during any fiscal year.
In addition, under the Credit Agreement, we may not permit the ratio of our outstanding indebtedness to consolidated EBITDA to exceed 2.50 to 1.00 as of the last day of any fiscal quarter. We also may not permit the ratio of our consolidated EBITDA (minus maintenance-related capital expenditures paid in cash and minus dividends, distributions and stock repurchases paid in cash) to consolidated interest expense to be less than 3.00 to 1.00 for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters.
The Credit Agreement contains customary events of default. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an event of default, HSBC may terminate the commitments under the Credit Facility and declare the outstanding advances and all other obligations under the Credit Facility immediately due and payable.

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OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
Our principal commitments consist of non-cancelable leases for our office space and computer equipment and purchase commitments for our co-location and other support services, as well as commitments related to our annual marketing events. The following table summarizes these contractual obligations at December 31, 2017. Future events could cause actual payments to differ from these estimates.
 Payment due by period
Total 
Less than 1
year
 1-3 years 3-5 years 
More than 5
years
 (in thousands)
Operating lease obligations$25,511
 $5,893
 $9,816
 $8,806
 $996
Capital lease obligations1,679
 1,027
 652
 
 
Purchase commitments4,422
 2,909
 1,513
 
 
Total$31,612
 $9,829
 $11,981
 $8,806
 $996
Operating lease obligations reflected above exclude future sublease income from certain spaces that we have subleased to third parties. We anticipate receiving $0.5 million, based on the exchange rate as of December 31, 2017, and $0.2 million in annual rental payments during the terms of the sublease agreements, which are through December 2018 and August 2022, respectively.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2017,2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of SEC Regulation S-K, such as the use of unconsolidated subsidiaries, structured finance, special purpose entities or variable interest entities.


CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our management’smanagement's discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reported period. In accordance with GAAP, we base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions, and to the extent that there are differences between our estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will be affected.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2, "Significant Accounting Policies," to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report, we believe the following accounting policies are critical to the process of making significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue
The following discussion of our revenue recognition and deferred revenue accounting policies is based on the accounting principles that were used to prepare the audited consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. On January 1, 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) ("ASU 2014-09"). This standard replaces existing revenue recognition rules with a comprehensive revenue measurement and recognition standard and expanded disclosure requirements. Refer to Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a discussion of ASU 2014-09 and other recently issued accounting pronouncements.
We derive the majority of our revenue from subscription fees paid to us by our customers for access to and usage of our SaaS platformsolutions for a specified contract term, which is typically one year. A portion of thecustomer typically pays a recurring subscription fee is typically fixed and is based on a specified minimum amount of GMV or advertising spend that athe customer expects to process through our platform over the contract term.platform. Subscription fees may also include implementation fees such as launch assistance and training fees. The remaining portion of the subscriptiona customer's fee is variable and is based on a specified percentage of GMV or advertising spend processed through our platform in excess of the customer’scustomer's specified minimum GMV or advertising spend amount. We also receive implementation fees,In most cases, the specified percentage of excess GMV or advertising spend on which may include fees for providing launch assistance and training. We recognize revenue when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, the service has been provided to the customer, the collection of thevariable fee is reasonably assuredbased is fixed and does not vary depending on the amount of the fee to be paid by the customer is fixed or determinable. Our contractual arrangements include performance, termination and cancellation provisions, but do not provide for refunds.excess. Customers do not have the contractual right to take possession of our software at any time.
We generally recognize the fixed portion of subscription fees and implementation fees ratably over the contract term. Recognition begins whenperiod beginning on the date the customer has access to the Company's platform or to its solutions for branded manufacturerssoftware. In general, we invoice and transactions can be processed, provided all otherrecognize revenue recognition criteria has been met. For customers that elect a managed-service solution, customer transactions cannot be processed through our platform until the completion of implementation services. As such, revenue is contingent upon our completion of the implementation services and recognition commences when transactions can be processed on our platform, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. At that time, we recognize a pro-rata portion of the fees earned since the inception of the arrangement. The balance of the fees is recognized ratably over the remaining contract term.
We recognizefrom the variable portion of subscription fee revenuefees in the period in which the related GMV or advertising spend is processed,processed.
Customers may elect to purchase a subscription to multiple modules, multiple modules with multiple service levels, or, for certain of our solutions, multiple brands or geographies. We evaluate such contracts to determine whether the services to be provided all other revenue recognition criteria haveare distinct and accordingly should be accounted for as separate performance obligations. If we determine that a contract has multiple performance obligations, the transaction price, which is the total price of the contract, is allocated to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price method. We estimate standalone selling price based on observable prices in past transactions for which the product offering subject to the performance obligation has been met.sold separately.
Deferred revenue typically represents the unearned portion of fixed subscription fees and implementation fees. Deferred amounts are generally recognized within one year. Amounts that are expected to be recognized in greater thanbeyond one year are recorded in other long-term liabilities.
51

Accounts Receivable and AllowancesAllowance for Doubtful AccountsCredit Losses
We extend credit to customers without requiring collateral. Accounts receivable are stated at realizable value,amortized cost, net of an allowance for doubtfulcredit losses. We record an allowance for credit losses at the time that accounts that we maintain for estimated losses expected to result fromreceivable are initially recorded based on our consideration of the inabilitycurrent economic environment, expectations of some customers to make payments as they become due. Our estimate is based onfuture economic conditions, our historical collection experience and a review ofloss-rate approach whereby impairment is calculated by multiplying an estimated loss rate by the current status of accounts receivable. Historically, our actual collection experience hasasset's amortized cost at the balance sheet date. We reassess the allowance at each reporting date. When it becomes apparent, based on age or customer circumstances, that such amounts will not varied significantly from our estimates, due primarilybe collected, they are charged to our collection policiesthe allowance. Payments subsequently received are credited to the credit loss expense account included within general and administrative expense in the financial strength of our customers. However, adverse changes in general economic conditions could affect our allowance estimates, collectability of accounts receivable, cash flows and resultsconsolidated statements of operations. At December 31, 2017,2020, our allowance for doubtful accountscredit losses was 2.2%1.7% of our gross accounts receivable. A hypothetical 1% increase or decrease in the value of our allowance for doubtful accounts receivable as of December 31, 2017 would have resulted in an increase or decrease of $0.3 million to our pre-tax net loss for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Goodwill
Goodwill arises from business combinations and is measured as the excess of the cost of the business acquired over the sum of the acquisition-date fair value of tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired, less any liabilities assumed. In connection with the acquisition of HubLogix in May 2017, we recorded a $1.9 million increase in goodwill.

We test goodwill for impairment annually on October 1 or more frequently if events or changes in business circumstances indicate the asset might be impaired. During 2016, we changed the date of our annual impairment testing from December 31 to October 1. Refer to Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for information regarding our voluntary change in the date of our annual goodwill impairment testing.
To perform our impairment testing, we first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of our single reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. The qualitative factors we consider include, but are not limited to, macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, company-specific events, changes in circumstances and after-tax cash flows. If the qualitative factors indicate that the fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit, then we do not consider the assigned goodwill to be impaired. We are only required to perform the two-step impairment test if the qualitative factors indicate that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. We may elect to perform the two-step impairment test without considering such qualitative factors. As of December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, we concluded there was no impairment of goodwill.
In connection with our acquisition of BlueBoard in July 2020, we recorded a $7.5 million increase in goodwill. Refer to Note 4, "Business Combination, Goodwill and Intangible Assets," to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information regarding the purchase price allocation and recording of goodwill in connection with this acquisition.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-based compensation awards, which include stock options, andtime-based restricted stock units, or RSUs, and performance-based vesting restricted stock units, or PSUs, are measured at fair value at each grant date. We recognize stock-based compensation expense using the accelerated attribution method, net of estimated forfeitures, in which compensation cost for each vesting tranche in an award is recognized ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for that tranche. Options generally vest either quarterly or annually over a four-year period.and RSUs generally vest annually over a four yearfour-year period. PSUs are eligible for vesting only if we achieve pre-defined targets set by the Compensation Committee for our combined year-over-year revenue growth and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, margin over a multi-year measurement period (a two-year measurement period for fiscal 2020 grants), subject to continued service with us. Refer to Note 10, "Equity Incentive Plans and Stock-Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information regarding PSU grants and vesting.
The determination of the fair value of stock options is affected by a number of variables, including estimates of the fair value of our common stock, expected stock price volatility, risk-free interest rate and the expected life of the award. We value stock options using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options that are fully transferable and have no vesting restrictions. Black-Scholes and other option valuation models require the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility. Refer to Note 810, "Equity Incentive Plans and Stock-Based Compensation," to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for the assumptions used for estimating the fair value of stock options granted to employees.
We have assumed no dividend yield because we do not expect to pay dividends in the future, which is consistent with our history of not paying dividends. The risk-free interest rate assumption is based on observed interest rates for constant maturity U.S. Treasury securities consistent with the expected life of our employee stock options. The expected life represents the period of time the stock options are expected to be outstanding and is based on the simplified method. Under the simplified method, the expected life of an option is presumed to be the midpoint between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term. We used the simplified method due to the lack of sufficient historical exercise data to provide a reasonable basis upon
52

which to otherwise estimate the expected life of the stock options. Expected volatility is estimated based on the historical volatility of our stock. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2017, expected volatility was estimated based on volatilities of publicly traded stock for comparable companies over the estimated expected life of the stock options.
The fair value of our common stock, for purposes of determining the grant date fair value of option, RSU and RSUPSU awards, has been determined by using the closing market price per share of our common stock as quoted on the New York Stock Exchange on the date of grant.
Our estimate of pre-vesting forfeitures, or forfeiture rate, is based on our historical experience and is reviewed on an annual basis, at a minimum. The estimated forfeiture rate is applied to the total estimated fair value of the awards to compute the stock-based compensation expense, net of pre-vesting forfeitures, to be recognized in our consolidated statements of operations. A hypothetical increase of 1% in our forfeiture rate assumption would have resulted in a $0.5 million decrease in stock-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2017. A hypothetical decrease of 1% in our forfeiture rate assumption would have resulted in a $0.5 million increase in stock-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Stock-based compensation expense is expected to increase in 2018 compared to 2017 as a result of our existing unrecognized stock-based compensation and as we issue additional stock-based awards to continue to attract and retain employees.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method. We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, as well as for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We measure deferred tax

assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which we expect to recover or settle those temporary differences. We recognize the effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities in the results of operations in the period that includes the enactment date. We reduce the measurement of a deferred tax asset, if necessary, by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that we will not realize some or all of the deferred tax asset.
We account for uncertain tax positions by recognizing the financial statement effects of a tax position only when, based upon technical merits, it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination. We recognize potential accrued interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax positions within our global operations in income tax expense.
Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide income tax provision. In the ordinary course of a global business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax outcome is uncertain. Our judgments, assumptions and estimates relative to the provision for income taxes take into account current tax laws, our interpretation of current tax laws, and possible outcomes of future audits conducted by foreign and domestic tax authorities. Although we believe that our estimates are reasonable, the final tax outcome of matters could be different from that which is reflected in our historical income tax provision and accruals. Such differences, if identified in future periods, could have a material effect on the amounts recorded in our consolidated financial statements.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("Tax Act"), which went into effect on December 22, 2017, significantly revises the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended ("IRC"). The Tax Act contains, among other things, significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, one time taxation of offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they are repatriated, elimination of U.S. tax on foreign earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits. The Tax Act is complex and it will take time to assess the implications thoroughly. Please refer to Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for additional information regarding the recently enacted Tax Act and its expected impact on our financial results as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 2, "Significant Accounting Policies," to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report for a full description of recent accounting pronouncements.
53

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Market risk is the risk of loss to future earnings, values or future cash flows that may result from changes in the price of a financial instrument. The value of a financial instrument may change as a result of changes in interest rates, exchange rates, commodity prices, equity prices and other market changes. We are exposed to market risk related to changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative, hedging or trading purposes, although in the future we may enter into exchange rate hedging arrangements to manage the risks described below.
FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE RISK
With international operations, we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. These exposures may change over time as business practices evolve, and if our exposure increases, adverse movement in foreign currency exchange rates could have a material adverse impact on our financial results. Our primary exposures are related to non-U.S. dollar denominated revenue and operating expenses transacted in British Pounds Sterling, Euros,pounds sterling, euros and Australian dollars, Brazilian reals, Chinese yuan renminbi and Hong Kong dollars. As a result, we would experience increased revenue and operating expenses at our non-U.S. operations if there were a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to these foreign currencies. Conversely, we would experience decreased revenue and operating expenses at our non-U.S. operations if there were an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to these foreign currencies. However, based on the size of our international operations and the amount of our revenue and expenses denominated in foreign currencies, a 10% change in foreign exchange rates would not have had a material impact on our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017.



2020.
INTEREST RATE RISK
We are only marginally exposed to interest rate risk through our portfolio of cash and cash equivalents. Interest rates that may affect these items in the future will depend on market conditions and may differ from the rates we have experienced in the past. Although we have not drawn on our Credit Facility, we may do so in the future which may subject us to risks from changing interest rates.
INFLATION RISK
We do not believe that inflation has had a material effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We continue to monitor the impact of inflation in order to minimize its effects through pricing strategies, productivity improvements and cost reductions. If our costs were to become subject to significant inflationary pressures, we may not be able to fully offset such higher costs through price increases. Our inability or failure to do so could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

55


Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm


To the ShareholdersStockholders and the Board of Directors of ChannelAdvisor Corporation and Subsidiaries


Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of ChannelAdvisor Corporation and Subsidiaries (the “Company“)Company) as of December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss,income (loss), changes in stockholders‘stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated"consolidated financial statements“statements"). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company as ofat December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2020, in conformity with USU.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) and our report dated February 11, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company‘sCompany's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company‘sCompany's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB“)PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the USU.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we were required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures includeincluded examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Revenue Recognition
Description of the Matter
As described in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognizes revenue when a customer obtains control of promised services, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those services. Contracts with customers may include multiple services, modules, brands, and/or geographies. The Company evaluates such contracts to determine whether the services to be provided are distinct and accordingly accounted for as separate performance obligations. If a contract has multiple performance obligations, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price method.

The audit effort in evaluating the Company's accounting for revenue recognition was extensive and required auditor judgment for certain customer contracts to evaluate the terms and conditions and to identify distinct performance obligations.
56

How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of the controls over the Company's revenue recognition process, including management’s review of terms and conditions and identification of distinct performance obligations in customer contracts.

To test the Company's accounting for revenue recognition, our audit procedures included, among others, selecting a sample of revenue transactions covering each of the significant service offerings for which we evaluated the terms and conditions and reperformed management’s assessment of distinct performance obligations within the arrangement, as well as tested the application of the revenue recognition accounting requirements, including reperforming calculations of revenue recognized to test the mathematical accuracy and the underlying data used in the calculations. We also assessed the appropriateness of the related disclosures in the consolidated financial statements.
Accounting for Acquisitions
Description of the Matter
As disclosed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company completed its acquisition of Blueboard SAS ("BlueBoard") for a cash purchase price of $9.0 million. The transaction was accounted for as a business combination.

Auditing the Company's accounting for its acquisition of BlueBoard was complex due to the estimation utilized in the Company's determination of the fair value of the contingent consideration and acquired developed technology of $1.5 million and $3.3 million, respectively. The significant estimation was primarily due to the complexity of the valuation models used by management to measure the fair value of the contingent consideration and acquired developed technology and the sensitivity of the respective fair values to the significant underlying assumptions. The Company utilized Black Scholes models to measure the fair value of the contingent consideration and the significant assumptions used in the models were forecasted revenues, among other assumptions. The Company used an income approach (discounted cash flow model) to measure the fair value of the acquired developed technology and the significant assumptions used in the model were the discount rate as well as the significant assumptions that form the basis of the forecasted results (e.g., forecasted revenue, EBITDA and the obsolescence rate of the technology). The assumptions utilized in the models are forward looking and could be affected by future economic and market conditions.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of the controls over the Company's accounting for acquisitions including management’s review of the valuation models and underlying assumptions used to develop the estimated fair values of the contingent consideration and acquired developed technology.

To test the estimated fair values of the contingent consideration and acquired developed technology, we performed audit procedures that included, among others, evaluating the methodologies and significant assumptions used in the models, and evaluating the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data supporting the significant assumptions and estimates. For example, we evaluated significant forecast assumptions used in the models considering historical results as well as third-party industry projections for the e-commerce industry. We involved our valuation specialists to assist with our evaluation of the methodologies and significant assumptions used as well as to independently calculate fair value estimates for contingent consideration and acquired developed technology to compare to the Company's recorded amounts.


/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

We have served as the Company‘sCompany’s auditor since 2001.
Raleigh, North Carolina
February 13, 201811, 2021



57

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of ChannelAdvisor Corporation and Subsidiaries

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited ChannelAdvisor Corporation and Subsidiaries' internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 Framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, ChannelAdvisor Corporation and Subsidiaries (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), changes in stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes and our report dated February 11, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company's management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Raleigh, North Carolina
February 11, 2021
58

CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except share and per share data)

December 31, December 31,
2017 2016 20202019
Assets   Assets  
Current assets:   Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$53,422
 $65,420
Cash and cash equivalents$71,545 $51,785 
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $609 and $594 as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively27,452
 19,445
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $417 and $733 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectivelyAccounts receivable, net of allowance of $417 and $733 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively24,705 22,126 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets16,462
 10,972
Prepaid expenses and other current assets13,874 10,452 
Total current assets97,336
 95,837
Total current assets110,124 84,363 
Operating lease right of use assetsOperating lease right of use assets8,141 11,128 
Property and equipment, net10,877
 13,252
Property and equipment, net8,707 9,597 
Goodwill23,486
 21,632
Goodwill30,990 23,486 
Intangible assets, net2,503
 2,660
Intangible assets, net4,155 1,285 
Deferred contract costs, net of current portionDeferred contract costs, net of current portion14,040 12,810 
Long-term deferred tax assets, net5,550
 5,244
Long-term deferred tax assets, net3,551 3,584 
Other assets759
 533
Other assets953 614 
Total assets$140,511
 $139,158
Total assets$180,661 $146,867 
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity   
Liabilities and stockholders' equityLiabilities and stockholders' equity
Current liabilities:   Current liabilities:
Accounts payable$7,243
 $4,709
Accounts payable$158 $409 
Accrued expenses12,611
 11,067
Accrued expenses14,008 8,577 
Deferred revenue27,143
 23,474
Deferred revenue22,819 21,000 
Other current liabilities4,477
 4,450
Other current liabilities6,029 6,431 
Total current liabilities51,474
 43,700
Total current liabilities43,014 36,417 
Long-term capital leases, net of current portion641
 1,262
Lease incentive obligation3,328
 4,206
Long-term operating leases, net of current portionLong-term operating leases, net of current portion5,394 9,767 
Long-term finance leases, net of current portionLong-term finance leases, net of current portion27 
Other long-term liabilities3,157
 2,993
Other long-term liabilities2,154 1,007 
Total liabilities58,600
 52,161
Total liabilities50,570 47,218 
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6)
 
Commitments and contingencies (Note 6)00
Stockholders’ equity:   
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively
 
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 26,601,626 and 25,955,759 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively27
 26
Stockholders' equity:Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, 0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectivelyPreferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, 0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 29,020,424 and 28,077,469 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectivelyCommon stock, $0.001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized, 29,020,424 and 28,077,469 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively29 28 
Additional paid-in capital262,805
 252,158
Additional paid-in capital288,842 278,111 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss(789) (1,612)Accumulated other comprehensive loss(1,095)(1,740)
Accumulated deficit(180,132) (163,575)Accumulated deficit(157,685)(176,750)
Total stockholders’ equity81,911
 86,997
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity$140,511
 $139,158
Total stockholders' equityTotal stockholders' equity130,091 99,649 
Total liabilities and stockholders' equityTotal liabilities and stockholders' equity$180,661 $146,867 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

59

Table of Contents
CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except share and per share data)

 Year Ended December 31,  Year Ended December 31,
2017 2016 2015202020192018
Revenue$122,535

$113,200

$100,585
Revenue$145,072 $129,959 $131,218 
Cost of revenue25,950

27,620

25,834
Cost of revenue30,354 29,008 29,501 
Gross profit96,585
 85,580
 74,751
Gross profit114,718 100,951 101,717 
Operating expenses:     Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing63,495

56,602

53,770
Sales and marketing52,905 52,813 60,080 
Research and development21,868

17,736

16,566
Research and development18,990 19,200 22,359 
General and administrative27,800

25,079

25,608
General and administrative23,739 25,136 26,784 
Total operating expenses113,163
 99,417
 95,944
Total operating expenses95,634 97,149 109,223 
Loss from operations(16,578) (13,837) (21,193)
Income (loss) from operationsIncome (loss) from operations19,084 3,802 (7,506)
Other income (expense):     Other income (expense):
Interest income (expense), net222

(1)
(184)Interest income (expense), net175 754 510 
Other income (expense), net83

173

241
Other income (expense), net(385)
Total other income (expense)305
 172
 57
Total other income (expense)184 369 519 
Loss before income taxes(16,273) (13,665) (21,136)
Income tax expense (benefit)284

(5,658)
(185)
Net loss$(16,557) $(8,007) $(20,951)
Net loss per share:     
Basic and diluted$(0.63)
$(0.31)
$(0.84)
Income (loss) before income taxesIncome (loss) before income taxes19,268 4,171 (6,987)
Income tax expenseIncome tax expense443 689 614 
Net income (loss)Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Net income (loss) per share:Net income (loss) per share:
BasicBasic$0.66 $0.12 $(0.28)
DilutedDiluted$0.63 $0.12 $(0.28)
Weighted average common shares outstanding:     Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic and diluted26,366,748

25,604,893

25,062,610
BasicBasic28,616,401 27,886,278 27,138,274 
DilutedDiluted30,035,261 28,816,977 27,138,274 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSSINCOME (LOSS)
(in thousands)

Year Ended December 31,
Year Ended December 31, 202020192018
2017 2016 2015
Net loss$(16,557)
$(8,007)
$(20,951)
Net income (loss)Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Other comprehensive income (loss):




Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments823

(719)
(763)Foreign currency translation adjustments645 (33)(918)
Total comprehensive loss$(15,734) $(8,726) $(21,714)
Total comprehensive income (loss)Total comprehensive income (loss)$19,470 $3,449 $(8,519)
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
(in thousands, except share data)

 Common StockAdditional
Paid-In
Capital
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
Accumulated
Deficit
Total
Stockholders'
Equity
 SharesAmount
Balance, December 31, 201726,601,626 $27 $262,805 $(789)$(180,132)$81,911 
Cumulative effect of accounting change (1)— — — — 7,501 7,501 
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units1,034,146 1,106 — — 1,106 
Stock-based compensation expense— — 10,598 — — 10,598 
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(288,657)— (2,959)— — (2,959)
Net loss— — — — (7,601)(7,601)
Foreign currency translation adjustments— — — (918)— (918)
Balance, December 31, 201827,347,115 27 271,550 (1,707)(180,232)89,638 
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units1,021,730 974 — — 975 
Stock-based compensation expense— — 8,976 — — 8,976 
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(291,376)— (3,389)— — (3,389)
Net income— — — — 3,482 3,482 
Foreign currency translation adjustments— — — (33)— (33)
Balance, December 31, 201928,077,469 28 278,111 (1,740)(176,750)99,649 
Cumulative effect of accounting change (2)— — — — 240 240 
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units1,183,904 3,825 — — 3,826 
Stock-based compensation expense— — 10,200 — — 10,200 
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(240,949)— (3,294)— — (3,294)
Net income— — — — 18,825 18,825 
Foreign currency translation adjustments— — — 645 — 645 
Balance, December 31, 202029,020,424 $29 $288,842 $(1,095)$(157,685)$130,091 
(1) The Company recorded a reduction to accumulated deficit at January 1, 2018 as a result of its adoption of Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).
 Common Stock 
Additional
Paid-In
Capital
 
Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
 
Accumulated
Deficit
 
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
 Shares Amount 
Balance, December 31, 201424,915,510
 $25
 $228,370
 $(130) $(134,617) $93,648
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units386,654
 
 892
 
 
 892
Stock-based compensation expense
 
 11,837
 
 
 11,837
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(71,206) 
 (739) 
 
 (739)
Net loss
 
 
 
 (20,951) (20,951)
Foreign currency translation adjustments
 
 
 (763) 
 (763)
Balance, December 31, 201525,230,958
 25
 240,360
 (893) (155,568) 83,924
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units924,196
 1
 930
 
 
 931
Stock-based compensation expense
 
 13,262
 
 
 13,262
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(199,395) 
 (2,394) 
 
 (2,394)
Net loss
 
 
 
 (8,007) (8,007)
Foreign currency translation adjustments
 
 
 (719) 
 (719)
Balance, December 31, 201625,955,759
 26
 252,158
 (1,612) (163,575) 86,997
Exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units893,843
 1
 1,427
 
 
 1,428
Stock-based compensation expense
 
 11,947
 
 
 11,947
Statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(247,976) 
 (2,727) 
 
 (2,727)
Net loss
 
 
 
 (16,557) (16,557)
Foreign currency translation adjustments
 
 
 823
 
 823
Balance, December 31, 201726,601,626
 $27
 $262,805
 $(789) $(180,132) $81,911
(2) The Company recorded a reduction to accumulated deficit at January 1, 2020 as a result of its adoption of Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326).
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)

 Year Ended December 31,
 202020192018
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization6,513 6,336 6,094 
Bad debt expense525 1,147 991 
Stock-based compensation expense10,200 8,976 10,598 
Deferred income taxes(39)531 493 
Other items, net(829)118 (851)
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisition:
Accounts receivable(2,143)361 2,634 
Prepaid expenses and other assets(1,728)892 10,303 
Deferred contract costs(2,572)(3,146)(6,730)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses4,270 (2,306)(10,936)
Deferred revenue1,284 (3,383)(3,765)
Cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities34,306 13,008 1,230 
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisition, net of cash acquired(8,467)
Purchases of property and equipment(1,704)(986)(2,045)
Payment of software development costs(3,034)(2,721)(894)
Cash and cash equivalents used in investing activities(13,205)(3,707)(2,939)
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayment of finance leases and debt(1,808)(2,209)(2,241)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options3,825 974 1,106 
Payment of statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(3,294)(3,389)(2,959)
Payment of line of credit financing costs(187)
Cash and cash equivalents used in financing activities(1,464)(4,624)(4,094)
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents123 (77)(434)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents19,760 4,600 (6,237)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year51,785 47,185 53,422 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year$71,545 $51,785 $47,185 
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
Cash paid for interest$160 $215 $30 
Cash paid for income taxes, net$462 $62 $113 
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities
Accrued capital expenditures$32 $15 $68 
Finance lease obligations entered into for the purchase of fixed assets$$46 $4,217 
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Cash flows from operating activities     
Net loss$(16,557) $(8,007) $(20,951)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash and cash equivalents (used in) provided by operating activities:     
Depreciation and amortization6,578
 7,838
 8,793
Bad debt expense727
 528
 1,236
Stock-based compensation expense11,947
 13,262
 11,837
Deferred income taxes130
 (5,649) (244)
Other items, net(869) (875) (85)
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effects from acquisition:     
Accounts receivable(8,261) (1,885) (5,833)
Prepaid expenses and other assets(5,514) (2,014) (2,921)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses5,242
 3,697
 3,608
Deferred revenue3,581
 4,676
 3,101
Net cash and cash equivalents (used in) provided by operating activities(2,996) 11,571
 (1,459)
      
Cash flows from investing activities     
Purchases of property and equipment(2,790) (1,755) (4,062)
Payment of internal-use software development costs(293) (208) (190)
Acquisition, net of cash acquired(2,177) 
 
Net cash and cash equivalents used in investing activities(5,260) (1,963) (4,252)
      
Cash flows from financing activities     
Repayment of capital leases(2,840) (2,096) (1,745)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options1,428
 930
 892
Payment of contingent consideration
 (338) 
Payment of statutory tax withholding related to net-share settlement of restricted stock units(2,727) (2,394) (739)
Net cash and cash equivalents used in financing activities(4,139) (3,898) (1,592)
      
Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents397
 (764) (589)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents(11,998) 4,946
 (7,892)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year65,420
 60,474
 68,366
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year$53,422
 $65,420
 $60,474
      
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information     
Cash paid for interest$111
 $127
 $155
Cash paid for income taxes, net$196
 $115
 $170
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities     
Accrued capital expenditures$80
 $233
 $563
Capital lease obligations entered into for the purchase of fixed assets$567
 $1,771
 $2,207
Non-cash leasehold improvements$
 $
 $5,263
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS
ChannelAdvisor Corporation ("ChannelAdvisor" or the "Company") was incorporated in the state of Delaware and capitalized in June 2001. The Company began operations in July 2001. ChannelAdvisor is a provider of software-as-a-service, or SaaS, solutions and its mission is to connect and optimize the world's commerce. ChannelAdvisor's e-commerceSaaS cloud platform helps retailersbrands and branded manufacturersretailers worldwide improve their online performance by expanding sales channels, connecting with consumers around the world, optimizing their operations for peak performance and providing actionable analytics to improve competitiveness. The Company is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina and has internationalmaintains sales, service, support and research and development offices in England, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Chinavarious domestic and Spain.international locations.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-ownedwholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassification
Certain prior period amounts included in the consolidated statements of operations have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation. In 2015Depreciation and prior, depreciation and amortization expense was presented separately from cost of revenue and operating expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. Beginning with the first quarter of 2016, the Company now includes depreciation and amortization expense in cost of revenue and operating expenses in the consolidated statements of operations and separately discloses the amounts reflected in each financial statement line item in the notes to its consolidated financial statements. In addition, the Company has revised the classification of certain operating expenses to better align the income statement line items with how operations are managed. All reclassifications had no effect on the Company's reported gross profit and net loss for the year ended December 31, 2015.
The tables below summarize these reclassifications (in thousands):
 Year Ended December 31, 2015
 As Previously Reported Reclassification As Reclassified
Cost of revenue$20,848
 $4,986
 $25,834
Depreciation - Cost of revenue4,986
 (4,986) 
Sales and marketing51,941
 1,829
 53,770
Research and development16,060
 506
 16,566
General and administrative24,136
 1,472
 25,608
Depreciation and amortization3,807
 (3,807) 
Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense is included in the following line items in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 (in thousands):

202020192018
Cost of revenue$4,211 $3,942 $3,610 
Sales and marketing624 775 884 
Research and development257 353 371 
General and administrative1,421 1,266 1,229 
$6,513 $6,336 $6,094 













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 2017 2016 2015
Cost of revenue$3,955
 $4,632
 $4,986
Sales and marketing1,062
 1,136
 1,264
Research and development424
 458
 506
General and administrative1,137
 1,612
 2,037
 $6,578
 $7,838
 $8,793
Table of Contents
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
StandardDescriptionEffect on the Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
Standards that are not yetthe Company adopted effective January 1, 2020
Leases:Financial Instruments:
ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842)

Effective date: January 1, 2019
The standard requires that lessees recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms greater than twelve months in the statement of financial position. The standard also requires improved disclosures to help users of financial statements better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases.The Company has formed a project team to prepare for the adoption of the standard by its effective date. The project team has identified a preliminary population of leases and is evaluating the impact that adjustments to them under ASU 2016-02 will have to its consolidated financial statements.
Financial Instruments:
Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326)


Effective date: January 1, 2020
The standard replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current U.S. GAAP (defined below) with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses. The update is intended to provide financial statement users with more useful information about expected credit losses.The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of the standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.
Standards adopted effective January 1, 2017
Stock-Based Compensation:
ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (Topic 718)


The standard is intended to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the accounting for income taxes, forfeitures, and statutory tax withholding requirements, as well as classification in the statement of cash flows.The Company adopted the standard effective January 1, 2017. As a result of this adoption, the Company recognized $8.2 million of deferred tax assets attributable to accumulated excess tax benefits that under the previous guidance could not be recognized until the benefits were realized through a reduction in income taxes payable. This adjustment was applied using a modified retrospective method with a cumulative-effect adjustment to the accumulated deficit for the excess tax benefits not previously recognized. However, given the full valuation allowance of $8.2 million placed on the additional deferred tax assets, the recognition upon adoption had no impact on the Company's accumulated deficit as of January 1, 2017. Further, the Company has elected to continue to estimate forfeitures to determine the amount of compensation cost to be recognized in each period.
Standards adopted effective January 1, 2018
Cash Flow:

ASU 2016-18, Restricted Cash

The standard requires that entities show the changes in the total of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. Transfers between cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash should not be presented as cash flow activities on the statement of cash flows.The Company adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018.2020. The adoption did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition:

Intangibles:
Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)ASU 2018-15, Intangibles -Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40)

Effective date:
January 1, 2020

TheThis standard will replace existing revenue recognition standards and provides that an entity should recognize revenue to depictaligns the transfer of promised goods or services to customersrequirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 also requires improved disclosures to help users of financial statements better understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenuea hosting arrangement that is recognized. Entities havea service contract with the option of using either a full retrospectiverequirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or modified retrospective approach for the adoption of the standard.obtain internal-use software.
The Company formed a project team to evaluate and direct the implementation of the new revenue recognition standard and related amendments. The project team developed an implementation plan centered around specific functional areas expected to be impacted by the standard and its amendments, including accounting and reporting, information technology ("IT"), internal audit and contracts and legal, among others. As part of the adoption process, findings and progress of the implementation plan have been reported to management and to the Audit Committee on a frequent basis over the last two years.

The Company adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective transition method. The most significant impacts of the new standard upon adoption relate to the timing of revenue recognition of fixed fees for the Company’s contracts, as well as the accounting for costs to obtain contracts. Under the new standard, for managed-service contracts, revenue recognition for the managed-service subscription and implementation fees will begin on the launch date and will be recognized over time through the contract end date. The Company currently defers revenue until the completion of the implementation services, at which point the Company recognizes a cumulative catch-up adjustment equal to the revenue earned during the implementation period but previously deferred. The remaining balance of these fixed fees is recognized ratably over the remaining term of the contract. Additionally, under the new standard, the Company will defer and amortize sales commissions and a portion of other incentive compensation. The Company currently expenses these contract costs as incurred.

2020. The adoption of the standard as of January 1, 2018 will result in an adjustment to accumulated deficit of between $8.0 million and $9.0 million related to the deferral of contract costs and an adjustment to accumulated deficit of less than $1.0 million related to the timing of revenue recognition.
For the year ending December 31, 2018, the Company expectsdid not have a net benefit to operating incomematerial impact on its consolidated statement of operations of between $5.0 millionfinancial statements.
Income Taxes:
ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes 

Effective date:
January 1, 2020
This standard amends the approaches and $7.0 million relatedmethodologies in accounting for income taxes during interim periods and makes changes to deferring contract costs and a net benefit of less than $1.0 million relatedcertain income tax classifications. The new standard allows exceptions to the timinguse of revenue recognition resultingthe incremental approach for intra-period tax allocation, when there is a loss from continuing operations and income or a gain from other items, and to the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period, when a year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the year. The standard also requires franchise or similar taxes partially based on income to be reported as income tax and the effects of enacted changes in tax laws or rates to be included in the annual effective tax rate computation from the adoptiondate of enactment. Lastly, the Company would be required to evaluate when the step-up in the tax basis of goodwill is part of the standard.


business combination and when it should be considered a separate transaction. ASU 2016-08, Principal Versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross Versus Net)

2019-12 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020. 
The Company early adopted this standard clarifies implementation guidanceeffective January 1, 2020. The early adoption did not have a material impact on principal versus agent considerations in ASU 2014-09.
ASU 2016-10, Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing
The standard clarifies implementation guidance on the identification of performance obligations and the licensing implementation guidance in ASU 2014-09.
ASU 2016-12, Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients
The standard clarifies the guidance on assessing collectability, presentation of sales taxes, noncash consideration and completed contracts and contract modifications at transition.
ASU 2016-20, Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606
The standard clarifies certain narrow aspects of ASU 2014-09.its consolidated financial statements or related disclosures.
65

The Company has reviewed other new accounting pronouncements that were issued as of December 31, 20172020 and does not believe that these pronouncements are applicable to the Company, or that they will have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations.



The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, issued a final rule on November 19, 2020, adopting amendments to Regulation S-K to modernize, simplify and enhance certain disclosure requirements. The amendments reflect a principles-based, registrant-specific approach to disclosure intended to enhance the focus of financial disclosures on material information for the benefit of investors, while simplifying compliance efforts for registrants. Registrants are required to comply with the rule beginning with the first fiscal year ending on or after August 9, 2021, or the mandatory compliance date. Although registrants are not required to apply the amended rules until the mandatory compliance date, they may comply with the final amendments any time after the effective date, so long as disclosure responsive to an amended item is provided in its entirety. The Company early adopted these amendments, effective for this Annual Report.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles, ("or U.S. GAAP")GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates, including those related to the accounts receivable allowance, the useful lives of long-lived assets and other intangible assets, income taxes, and assumptions used for purposes of determining stock-based compensation, leases, including estimating lease terms and extensions, and revenue recognition, including standalone selling prices for contracts with multiple performance obligations and the expected period of benefit for deferred contract costs, among others. Estimates and assumptions are also required to value assets acquired and liabilities assumed as well as contingent consideration, where applicable, in conjunction with business combinations. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that it believes to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments maturing withinwith an original maturity of ninety days or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents are comprised of cash and money market funds. Due to the short-term nature and liquidity of these financial instruments, the carrying value of these assets approximates fair value.
Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue
The majority of the Company’s revenueRevenue is derived from subscription fees paid by customers for access to and usage of the Company’s cloud-based SaaS platform for a specified period of time, which is typically one year. A portion of the subscription fee is typically fixed and is based on a specified minimum amount of gross merchandise value ("GMV") or advertising spend thatrecognized when a customer obtains control of promised services, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to process through the Company’s platform over the contract term. The remaining portion of the subscription fee is variable and is based on a specified percentage of GMV or advertising spend processed through the Company’s platformbe entitled to receive in excess of the customer’s specified minimum amount.exchange for those services. In addition, other sources of revenue consist primarily of implementation fees, which may include fees for providing launch assistance and training. Implementation services are provided at the customer's option and are not essential to the functionality of the Company's platform, nor is the customer required to purchase these services in order to access the Company's platform. The Company also generates revenue from its solutions that allow branded manufacturers to direct potential consumers from their websites and digital marketing campaigns to authorized resellers. These contracts are generally one year in duration. The Company recognizes revenue when there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, the service has been provided to the customer, the collection of the fee is reasonably assured anddetermining the amount of the fee to be paid by the customer is fixed or determinable. The Company’s contractual arrangements include performance, termination and cancellation provisions, but do not provide for refunds. Customers do not have the contractual right to take possession of the Company’s software at any time.
The Company’s arrangements generally contain multiple elements comprised of subscription and implementation services. The Company evaluates each element in an arrangement to determine whether it represents a separate unit of accounting. An element constitutes a separate unit of accounting when the delivered item has standalone value and delivery of the undelivered element is probable and within the Company’s control. The Company’s implementation services are not sold separately from the subscription and there is no alternative use for them. As such, the Company has determined the implementation services do not have standalone value. Accordingly, subscription and implementation services are combined and recognized as a single unit of accounting.
The Company generally recognizes the fixed portion of subscription fees and implementation fees ratably over the contract term. Recognition begins when the customer has access to the Company’s platform or to its solutions for branded manufacturers and transactions can be processed, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. Some customers elect a managed-service solution and contract with the Company to manage some or all aspects of the Company’s SaaS solutions on the customer’s behalf for a specified period of time, which is typically one year. Under these managed-service arrangements, customer transactions cannot be processed through the Company’s platform until the completion of the implementation services. As such, revenue is contingent upon the Company’s completion of the implementation services and recognition commences when transactions can be processed on the Company’s platform, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been satisfied. At that time, the Company recognizes a pro-rata portion of the fees earned since the inception of the arrangement. The balance of the fees is recognized ratably over the remaining contract term.
The Company recognizes the variable portion of subscription fee revenue in the period in which the related GMV is processed, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met.

Sales taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities are excluded from revenue.
Deferred revenue represents the unearned portion of fixed subscription fees and implementation fees. Deferred amounts are generally recognized within one year. Those amounts that are expected to be recognized, in greater than one year are recorded in Other long-term liabilitiesthe Company performs the following steps: (i) identification of the contract with a customer; (ii) identification of the promised services in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Sales Commissions
Sales commissionscontract and determination of whether the promised services are expensedperformance obligations, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) determination of the transaction price; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations based on estimated selling prices; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. Refer to Note 8, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" for a detailed discussion of accounting policies related subscription agreement is executed by the customer.to revenue recognition, including deferred revenue and sales commissions.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue primarily consists of personnel and related costs, including salaries, bonuses, payroll taxes and stock-based compensation, co-location facility costs for the Company’sCompany's data centers, depreciation expense for computer equipment and amortization of capitalized software directly associated with generating revenue, credit card transaction fees and infrastructure maintenance costs. In addition, the Company allocates a portion of overhead, such as rent, additional depreciation and amortization and employee benefits costs, to cost of revenue based on headcount.
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Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company uses a three-tier fair value hierarchy to classify and disclose all assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as well as assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis, in periods subsequent to their initial measurement. The hierarchy requires the Company to use observable inputs when available, and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs when determining fair value. The three tiers are defined as follows:
Level 1. Observable inputs based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2. Inputs, other than quoted prices in active markets, that are observable either directly or indirectly; and
Level 3. Unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, which require the Company to develop its own assumptions.
The carrying amounts of certain of the Company’sCompany's financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their respective fair values due to their short-term nature.
In 2014, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary ChannelAdvisor UK Limited ("ChannelAdvisor UK"), acquired the issued and outstanding shares of E-Tale Holdings Limited ("E-Tale"), renamed ChannelAdvisor Brands UK Limited. The acquisition of E-Tale includedBlueboard, a private limited company organized under the laws of France ("BlueBoard") on July 23, 2020 includes a contingent consideration arrangement, that allowed for adjustment of payments based upon achievement of specified quarterly revenue targets through June 2017.as described in Note 4 below. Contingent consideration was measured at fair value at the acquisition date and wasis remeasured toat fair value at each reporting date until the contingency wasis resolved.
The fair value is reported within Other current liabilitiesof the contingent consideration related to the BlueBoard acquisition was estimated utilizing Black-Scholes option pricing models in which various scenarios for achievement of the financial targets and Other long-term liabilities onresulting payouts are then discounted to determine the consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2016.present value of the resulting liability. Key assumptions used in the measurement of fair value of contingent consideration include the forecasted revenue growth, revenue volatility and discount rates among other assumptions. Changes in any valuation inputs in isolation may result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement in the future. Subsequent changes in the fair value of contingent consideration have beenare recognized within general and administrative expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.
The fair value of contingent consideration related to the E-Tale acquisition was based on projected quarterly revenue targets for E-Tale through June 2017. As of December 31, 2016,2020, the fair value of the contingent consideration was $1.3 million, of which $0.6 million is recorded in "Other current liabilities" and $0.7 million is recorded in "Other long-term liabilities."
The following table presents the changes to the Company's liability for acquisition-related contingent consideration was $0.2 million. The contingent consideration arrangement concluded in June 2017.for the year ended December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
Balance as of December 31, 2019$
Acquisition1,516 
Change in fair value(186)
Balance as of December 31, 2020$1,330 
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. All of the Company’sCompany's cash and cash equivalents are held at financial institutions that management believes to be of high credit quality. The Company’sCompany's cash and cash equivalents accounts exceed federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on its cash and cash equivalents accounts to date. To manage accounts receivable risk, the Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts.credit losses.
The Company did not have any customers that individually comprised a significant concentration of its accounts receivable as of December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, or a significant concentration of its revenue for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 2015.

2018.
Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful AccountsCredit Losses
The Company extends credit to customers without requiring collateral. Accounts receivable are stated at realizable value,amortized cost, net of an allowance for doubtful accounts.credit losses. The Company utilizesrecords an allowance for credit losses at the allowance method to provide for doubtfultime that accounts receivable are initially recorded based on management’s evaluationits consideration of the collectabilitycurrent economic environment, expectations of amounts due. The Company’s estimate is based onfuture economic conditions, the Company's historical collection experience and a reviewloss-rate approach whereby impairment is calculated
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by multiplying an estimated loss rate by the current statusasset's amortized cost at the balance sheet date. The Company reassesses the allowance at each reporting date. When it becomes apparent, based on age or customer circumstances, that such amounts will not be collected, they are charged to the allowance. Payments subsequently received are credited to the credit loss expense account included within general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of accounts receivable. Historically, actual write-offs for uncollectible accounts have not significantly differed from the Company’s estimates.operations.
The following table presents the changes in the Company’sCompany's allowance for doubtful accountscredit losses during the yearsyear ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 20152020 (in thousands):
 
Balance at
Beginning
of Period
 
Additions
Charged To
Expense/
Against
Revenue
 Deductions 
Balance at
End of
Period
Allowance for doubtful accounts:       
Year ended December 31, 2017$594
 727
 (712) $609
Year ended December 31, 2016$785
 528
 (719) $594
Year ended December 31, 2015$673
 1,236
 (1,124) $785
Balance, 
beginning
of period
Provision for credit losses (1)
Write-offs, net of recoveriesBalance,
end of
period
Allowance for credit losses:
Year ended December 31, 2020$733 525 (841)$417 
Other Receivables
Under certain customer arrangements, the Company collects and remits monthly activity-based fees incurred on specific channels on the customers’ behalf. The Company records the amounts due from customers(1) Includes adjustment recorded at January 1, 2020 as a result of these arrangements as other receivables.
Other receivablesthe Company's adoption of $10.6 million and $7.6 million are included in Prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326).
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Expenditures for major additions and improvements are capitalized. Depreciation and amortization is provided over the estimated useful lives of the related assets using the straight-line method.
The estimated useful lives for significant property and equipment categories are generally as follows:
Purchased software, including internal-usecapitalized software development costs3 years
Computer hardware3 years
Furniture and office equipment3 to 5 years
Leasehold improvementsLesser of remaining lease term or useful life
Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.
Software Development Costs
The Company capitalizes certain internal-use software development costs, consisting primarily of direct labor associated with creating the internally developed software and third-party consulting fees associated with implementing software purchased for internal use. Software development projects generally include three stages: the preliminary project stage (in which all costs are expensed as incurred), the application development stage (in which certain costs are capitalized) and the post-implementation/operation stage (in which all costs are expensed as incurred). The costs incurred during the application development stage primarily include the costs of designing the application, coding and testing of the system. Capitalized costs are amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the software once it is ready for its intended use.
Capitalized software development costs related to creating internally developed software and implementing software purchased for internal use are included in property and equipment in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company capitalized software development costs of $3.1 million and $3.0 million during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization expense related to capitalized internally developed software was $1.8 million, $0.8 million and $0.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and is included in cost of revenue or general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations, depending upon the nature of the software development project. The net book value of capitalized internally developed software was $4.2 million and $2.9 million at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Identifiable Intangible Assets
The Company acquired intangible assets in connection with its business acquisitions. These assets were recorded at their estimated fair values at the acquisition date and are being amortized over their respective estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. The estimated useful lives and amortization methodology used in computing amortization are as follows:
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Estimated Useful LivesAmortization Methodology
Customer relationships7 yearsStraight-line
Acquired technology7 yearsStraight-line
Trade names3 yearsStraight-line
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company reviews long-lived assets and definite-lived intangible assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of the long-lived asset is

measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of the asset or asset group to future undiscounted net cash flows expected to be generated by the asset or asset group. If such assets are not recoverable, the impairment to be recognized, if any, is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the estimated fair value of the assets or asset group. Assets held for sale are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value, less costs to sell. As of December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, management does not0t believe any long-lived assets are impaired and has not identified any assets as being held for sale.
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the aggregate of the fair value of consideration transferred in a business combination over the fair value of assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed. The Company recorded goodwill in connection with its business acquisitions. SeeRefer to Note 34 below for information regarding goodwill recorded in connection with the acquisition of HubLogix.BlueBoard. Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual impairment test, as described below.
The Company has determined that it has a single, entity-wide reporting unit. The Company first assessed qualitative factors to determine whether it was more likely than not that the fair value of its single reporting unit was less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test under ASU No. 2011-08, Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment. If the qualitative factors had indicated that it was more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit was less than its carrying amount, the Company would have tested goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level using a two-step approach. The first step is to compare the fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit. If the fair value of the reporting unit is greater than the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit, the assigned goodwill is not considered impaired. If the fair value is less than the reporting unit’sunit's carrying value, step two is performed to measure the amount of the impairment, if any. In the second step, the fair value of goodwill is determined by deducting the fair value of the reporting unit’sunit's identifiable assets and liabilities from the fair value of the reporting unit as a whole, as if the reporting unit had just been acquired and the fair value was being initially allocated. If the carrying value of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value, an impairment charge would be recorded in the period the determination is made.
During the fourth quarter of 2016, theThe Company voluntarily changed the date ofperforms its annual goodwill impairment testing from December 31, the last dayanalysis as of the fiscal year, to October 1, the first day of the fourth quarter. This change provides the Company with additional time to complete its annual goodwill impairment testing in advance of its year-end reporting and results in better alignment with the Company’s strategic planning and forecasting process. The voluntary change in accounting principle related to the annual testing date will not delay, accelerate or avoid an impairment charge. This change is not being applied retrospectively, as it would require application of significant estimates and assumptions with the use of hindsight. Accordingly, the change will be applied prospectively.
As a result of the Company’sCompany's annual impairment testsanalysis as of October 1, 20172020 and 2016,2019, goodwill was not considered impaired and, as such, no0 impairment charges were recorded.
Advertising Costs
The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. The amount expensed during the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 was $5.3$3.5 million, $4.1$4.2 million and $4.3$5.7 million, respectively.
Income Taxes
Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method of accounting. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, as well as for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the results of operations in the period that includes the enactment date. The measurement of a deferred tax asset is reduced, if necessary, by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax asset will not be realized.
The Company applies the accounting guidance for uncertainties in income taxes, which prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for recording uncertain tax positions taken, or expected to be taken, in a tax return in the financial statements. Additionally, the guidance also prescribes the treatment for the derecognition, classification, accounting in
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interim periods and disclosure requirements for uncertain tax positions. The Company accrues for the estimated amount of taxes for uncertain tax positions if it is more likely than not that the Company would be required to pay such additional taxes.

An uncertain tax position will be recognized if it is more likely than not to be sustained. TheAs of December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a nominal amount of accrued interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax positions. As of December 31, 2019, the Company did not0t have any accrued interest or penalties associated with unrecognized tax positionspositions. The Company's policy for recording interest and penalties is to record them as a component of December 31, 2017 and 2016.provision for income taxes.
Foreign Currency Translation
The functional currency of the Company’sCompany's non-U.S. operations is the local currency. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at exchange rates prevailing at the balance sheet dates. Non-monetary assets and liabilities are translated at the historical rates in effect when the assets were acquired or obligations incurred. Revenue and expenses are translated into U.S. dollars using the average rates of exchange prevailing during the period. Translation gains or losses are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders’stockholders' equity. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are recognized as other income (expense) income..
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company accounts for stock-based compensation awards, which include stock options, andtime-based restricted stock units, ("RSUs"),or RSUs, and performance-based vesting restricted stock units, or PSUs, based on the fair value of the award as of the grant date. The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense using the accelerated attribution method, net of estimated forfeitures, in which compensation cost for each vesting tranche in an award is recognized ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for that tranche.
The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model for estimating the fair value of stock options. The use of the option valuation model requires the input of the Company's stock price, as well as highly subjective assumptions, including the expected life of the option and the expected stock price volatility, which is estimated based on peer companies.the historical volatility of the Company's stock. Additionally, the recognition of expense requires the estimation of the number of awards that will ultimately vest and the number of awards that will ultimately be forfeited. The fair value of the Company's common stock, for purposes of determining the grant date fair value of option, RSU and RSUPSU awards, has been determined by using the closing market price per share of common stock as quoted on the New York Stock Exchange on the date of grant.
Basic and Diluted LossIncome (Loss) per Common Share
Diluted lossBasic net income (loss) per share is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the same as basic lossweighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Diluted net income (loss) per share foris calculated giving effect to all periods presented because the effects of potentially dilutive items were anti-dilutive givenshares of common stock, including stock options, RSUs and PSUs. The dilutive effect of outstanding awards is reflected in diluted earnings per share by application of the Company’s net loss.treasury stock method.
3. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property and equipment consisted of the following as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
20202019
Purchased software, including capitalized software development costs$17,303 $13,965 
Computer hardware9,541 8,975 
Furniture and office equipment2,388 2,369 
Leasehold improvements7,368 7,244 
Construction in process48 46 
36,648 32,599 
Less: accumulated depreciation(27,941)(23,002)
Property and equipment, net$8,707 $9,597 
Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 was $5.7 million, $5.7 million and $5.5 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company disposed of purchased software, including capitalized software development costs, computer hardware, furniture and office equipment with a cost of $0.8 million and
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accumulated depreciation of $0.8 million. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company disposed of purchased software, including capitalized software development costs, computer hardware, furniture and office equipment and leasehold improvements with a cost of $10.0 million and accumulated depreciation of $9.6 million resulting in a $0.4 million loss in the consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 related to these disposals. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company disposed of computer hardware, furniture and office equipment and leasehold improvements with a cost of $4.9 million and accumulated depreciation of $4.9 million. As a result of an amendment to the Company's corporate headquarters lease agreement during the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company disposed of leasehold improvements with a cost of $0.8 million and accumulated depreciation of $0.3 million and recorded a $0.5 million reduction to its lease incentive obligation.
4. BUSINESS COMBINATION, GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
HubLogixBusiness Combination
On May 26, 2017,July 23, 2020, the Company entered into ana Share Purchase Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger"Purchase Agreement") pursuant to which the Companyit acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of HubLogix Commerce Corp.Blueboard, a private limited company organized under the laws of France ("HubLogix"BlueBoard") (renamed ChannelAdvisor Fulfillment, Inc.),. BlueBoard is headquartered in Paris, France and is a fulfillment and logistics platform that automates order management by connecting online storefrontsleader in e-commerce analytics. The acquisition of BlueBoard adds analytic capabilities, including actionable insights into how products are performing across thousands of retailer websites and marketplaces, to distribution and fulfillment centers. The Company acquired HubLogix to further enhance its fulfillment network offering and capabilities.the Company's existing cloud-based e-commerce solutions.
Under the MergerPurchase Agreement, the Company paid an aggregateto the shareholders of BlueBoard a cash purchase price of $2.3$9.0 million, for HubLogix, all of which was paid in cash, which amount wasis subject to adjustment as set forth in the MergerPurchase Agreement. TheA portion of the purchase price includes $0.4 million that has been placed into escrow to secure the indemnification obligations of HubLogix stockholdersBlueBoard's shareholders until November 26, 2018.July 22, 2021. In addition to the purchase price paid at the closing, the Company may be obligated to pay up to $3.0 million to the BlueBoard shareholders upon the achievement of specified annual revenue targets through July 2023, as set forth in the Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations, or ASC 805, this contingent consideration is deemed to be part of the purchase price and is recorded as a liability based on the estimated fair value of the consideration the Company expects to pay as of the acquisition date. As of December 31, 2020, $1.3 million of contingent consideration was recorded as a liability on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet.
The acquisition has been accounted for under the acquisition method of accounting in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 805, Business Combinations ("ASC 805").805. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the Company allocated the purchase price to the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated acquisition-date fair value.values. The difference between the acquisition-date fair valuevalues of the consideration andidentifiable intangible assets were determined based on income approaches utilizing forecasted earnings assumptions. The excess of the estimated fair value ofpurchase price over the net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. Goodwill
Based on management's provisional assessment of the acquisition-date fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, the aggregate purchase price of $10.5 million, which is comprised of $9.0 million of cash and $1.5 million for contingent consideration noted above, has been allocated to the Company's assets and liabilities on a preliminary basis as follows: $7.5 million to goodwill, $3.7 million to identifiable intangible assets, including acquired technology of $3.3 million and customer relationships of $0.4 million, $0.6 million to long-term deferred tax liabilities and $0.1 million to working capital as a net current liability. The purchase price allocation in conjunction with the acquisition of BlueBoard is subject to change as additional information becomes available. Any adjustments will be made as soon as practicable, but not later than one year from the acquisition date.
The goodwill arising from the acquisition of BlueBoard represents the future economic benefits expected to arise from other intangible assets acquired that do not qualify for separate recognition, including acquired workforce, as well as expected future synergies.
Based on management's assessment of the acquisition-date fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, the purchase price of $2.3 million was allocated to the Company’s assets and liabilities as follows: $1.9 million to goodwill, $0.5 million to identifiable intangible assets and $0.1 million to working capital as a net current liability.

The goodwill of $1.9 million arising from the acquisition of HubLogix consists largely of the acquired workforce, the expected company-specific synergies and the opportunity to expand the Company’s product offerings to customers. The goodwill recognized is not deductible for income tax purposes.
The Company incurred transaction costs in connection with the acquisition of $0.3$0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which are included in Generalgeneral and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2017.operations.
Comparative pro forma financial information for this acquisition has not been presented because the acquisition is not material to the Company’sCompany's consolidated results of operations.

4. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property and equipment consisted
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Table of the following as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 (in thousands):
 2017 2016
Purchased software, including internal-use software$14,813
 $13,821
Computer hardware12,129
 11,608
Furniture and office equipment2,583
 2,767
Leasehold improvements7,819
 7,642
Construction in process221
 149

37,565
 35,987
Less: accumulated depreciation(26,688) (22,735)
Property and equipment, net$10,877
 $13,252
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $6.0 million, $7.3 million and $7.9 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company recorded $0.7 million of accelerated depreciation expense as a result of relocating the Company's corporate headquarters to a new facility.
5. GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
The following table shows the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the year ended December 31, 20172020 (in thousands):
Balance as of December 31, 2016$21,632
Goodwill attributable to the HubLogix acquisition1,854
Balance as of December 31, 2017$23,486
Balance as of December 31, 2019$23,486 
Goodwill attributable to the BlueBoard acquisition7,504 
Balance as of December 31, 2020$30,990 
There were no0 changes to the Company's goodwill during the year ended December 31, 2016.2019.
Intangible assets consisted of the following as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
 December 31, 2020
 Gross Carrying
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net Carrying
Amount
Weighted Average
Useful Life (in  years)
Customer relationships$2,603 $(1,940)$663 7.0
Acquired technology5,367 (1,875)3,492 7.0
Total$7,970 $(3,815)$4,155 7.0
 December 31, 2017
 
Gross Carrying
Amount
 
Accumulated
Amortization
 
Net Carrying
Amount
 
Weighted Average
Useful Life (in  years)
Customer relationships$2,230

$(961)
$1,269
 7.0
Acquired technology2,030

(796)
1,234
 7.0
Total$4,260

$(1,757)
$2,503
 7.0

December 31, 2016 December 31, 2019
Gross Carrying
Amount
 
Accumulated
Amortization
 
Net Carrying
Amount
 
Weighted Average
Useful Life (in  years)
Gross Carrying
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net Carrying
Amount
Weighted Average
Useful Life (in  years)
Customer relationships$2,100
 $(650) $1,450
 7.0Customer relationships$2,230 $(1,598)$632 7.0
Acquired technology1,700
 (526) 1,174
 7.0Acquired technology2,030 (1,377)653 7.0
Trade names130
 (94) 36
 3.0
Total$3,930
 $(1,270) $2,660
 6.9Total$4,260 $(2,975)$1,285 7.0
Amortization expense was $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $0.6 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162019 and 2015 was $0.6 million, $0.6 million and $0.9 million, respectively.2018. As of December 31, 2017,2020, expected amortization expense over the remaining intangible asset lives is as follows (in thousands):
Year Ending December 31,
2021$1,048 
2022596 
2023596 
2024557 
2025530 
Thereafter828 
Total$4,155 
Year Ending December 31, 
2018$609
2019609
2020609
2021518
202265
Thereafter93
Total$2,503
6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES5. LEASES
Operating and CapitalFinance Lease Commitments
The Company leases office facilities and certain equipment under non-cancelable operating and capitalfinance leases. FutureThe Company determines if an arrangement is a lease and whether its classification is operating or finance at inception. Leases with an initial term of twelve months or less that are not expected to be renewed are not recorded on the balance sheet. For such leases, lease expense for minimum lease payments on capital leases and future payments on operating leases with remaining terms in excess of one year are as follows (in thousands):
 Operating Leases Capital Leases
Year Ending December 31,   
2018$5,893
 $1,027
20194,779
 652
20205,037
 
20214,773
 
20224,033
 
Thereafter996
 
Total minimum lease payments$25,511
 1,679
Less: imputed interest  (45)
Less: current portion  (993)
Capital lease obligations, net of current portion  $641
The gross book value of fixed assets under capital leases as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $8.2 million and $7.6 million, respectively. The net book value of fixed assets under capital leases as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $1.4 million and $3.5 million, respectively. Capital lease obligations are included in Other current liabilities and Long-term capital leases, net of current portion in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The amortization of fixed assets under capital leases is included in depreciation expense within Cost of revenue and operating expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
Future minimum lease payments due under the non-cancelable operating lease arrangements contain fixed rent increases over the term of the lease. Rent expense on these operating leases is recognized over the term of the lease on a straight-line basis. The excess of rent expensebasis over future minimumthe lease payments due has been reported in Other current liabilities and

Other long-term liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, deferred rent related to theseterm. Certain operating leases totaled $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively.
The Company's lease agreement for its current corporate headquarters commenced in October 2015 and has a term of seven years. The Company may electinclude options to renew, the lease term for two additional five-year periods,with renewal terms extending up to 10 years, subject to certain conditions and notice obligations set forth in the lease agreement. Minimum annual rentalagreements. The exercise of lease renewal options is at the Company's discretion.
Operating lease right of use, or ROU, assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company's obligation to make lease payments were $3.2 millionarising from the firstlease. Operating lease year,ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are scheduled to increase in each subsequentrecognized based on the present value of the future minimum lease year by 2.75%.payments over the
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lease term at commencement date. As of January 2017,the Company's leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company began payinguses its proportionate shareincremental borrowing rate based on the Company's best estimate of the landlord's operating expenses forcollateralized borrowing rate over a similar term at the building, as specified incommencement date of the lease agreement, subjectin determining the present value of future payments. The operating lease ROU assets also include any lease payments made and lease incentives and initial direct costs incurred. The lease terms may include options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain limitations.
In December 2015,that the Company exercised its right to terminatewill exercise that option.
The following table summarizes the Company's lease for its previous corporate headquarters effectiveassets and liabilities as of October 1, 2016. In conjunction withDecember 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
December 31, 2020December 31, 2019
Assets
Operating lease right of use assets$8,141 $11,128 
Finance lease assets, included in Property and equipment, net (1)
495 1,917 
Total leased assets$8,636 $13,045 
Liabilities
Current
    Operating lease liabilities, included in Other current liabilities$4,716 $4,177 
    Finance lease liabilities, included in Other current liabilities15 1,418 
Long-term
    Long-term operating leases, net of current portion5,394 9,767 
    Finance leases, net of current portion$$27 
Total lease liabilities$10,133 $15,389 
(1) Finance leases are presented net of accumulated amortization of $5.8 million and $4.4 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
The following table summarizes the exercisecomponents of its early termination right, the Company paid approximately $1.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Total rentlease expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020 and 2015 was $4.3 million, $3.92019 (in thousands):
20202019
Operating lease cost, included in General and administrative expense (1)
$4,093 $4,808 
Finance lease cost:
    Amortization of leased assets, included in General and administrative expense1,421 2,041 
    Interest on lease liabilities, included in Other income (expense), net35 140 
Less: sublease income, reducing rent expense in General and administrative expense (2)
(167)(168)
Net lease cost$5,382 $6,821 
(1) Excludes short-term lease costs of $0.2 million and $3.1$0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Litigation(2) The Company subleases space to a third party for which it anticipates receiving $0.2 million in annual rental payments during the term of the sublease agreement, which is through August 2022.
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The following table summarizes other information related to leases for the years ended December 31, 2020 and Other Contingencies2019 (in thousands):
20202019
Supplemental cash flows information
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
    Operating cash outflows from operating leases$4,501 $4,852 
    Operating cash outflows from finance leases105 216 
    Financing cash outflows from finance leases1,422 2,209 
Weighted-average remaining lease term (years)
    Operating leases2.223.20
    Finance leases0.411.37
Weighted-average discount rate
    Operating leases5.48 %5.50 %
    Finance leases7.12 %7.28 %
The following table summarizes maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
Operating LeasesFinance Leases
2021$5,130 $15 
20224,360 
20231,236 
Total lease payments$10,726 $23 
Less: imputed interest(616)
Present value of lease liabilities$10,110 $23 
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had no material operating or finance leases that had not yet commenced.
6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
From time to time, the Company is subject to litigation and claims arising in the ordinary course of business. It is not currently party to any material legal proceedings and it is not aware of any pending or threatened legal proceeding against the Company that it believes could have a material adverse effect on its business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition.
During the first quarter of 2017,
7. LINE OF CREDIT
On August 5, 2020, the Company completed its analysisestablished a $25.0 million revolving credit facility with regarda commercial lender that is available for use until August 5, 2023. Proceeds from borrowings under the credit facility may be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. Up to potential unpaid sales tax obligations. Based$10.0 million of the facility is available for letters of credit. Additionally, the Company may request increases to the facility, subject to the consent of the lender, provided that the aggregate amount of such increases during the term do not exceed $10.0 million. Amounts borrowed under the facility will bear interest equal to either a base rate plus 2.25% per annum or LIBOR plus 3.25% per annum. The Company will pay a fee on all outstanding letters of credit at a rate of 3.25% per annum. In addition, the Company will pay a quarterly fee at a rate of 0.50% per annum on the resultsundrawn portion of this analysis,the facility. As collateral for extension of credit under the facility, the Company madegranted security interests in substantially all of its assets and those of one of its subsidiaries. The agreement for the decisioncredit facility contains customary representations and warranties and subjects the Company to enter into voluntary disclosure agreements ("VDAs")affirmative and negative covenants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not drawn on, or issued any letters of credit under, the credit facility.
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8. REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS
Revenue Recognition
The Company derives the majority of its revenue from subscription fees paid for access to and usage of its SaaS solutions for a specified contract term. A customer typically pays a recurring subscription fee based on a specified minimum amount of gross merchandise value (GMV) or advertising spend that the customer expects to process through the Company's platform. Subscription fees may also include implementation fees such as launch assistance and training fees. The remaining portion of a customer's fee is variable and is based on a specified percentage of GMV or advertising spend processed through the Company's platform in excess of the customer's specified minimum GMV or advertising spend amount. In most cases, the specified percentage of excess GMV or advertising spend on which the variable fee is based is fixed and does not vary depending on the amount of the excess. Subscription fees are billed in advance of the subscription term and are due in accordance with certain jurisdictions to reduce the Company’s potential sales tax liability. VDAscontract terms, which generally provide for payment within 30 days. Variable fees are subject to the same payment terms, although they are generally billed at the end of the period in which they are incurred. The Company also generates revenue from its solutions that allow brands to direct potential consumers from their websites and digital marketing campaigns to authorized resellers. The majority of the Company's contracts have a maximum look-back period, a waiver of penalties and, at times, interest as well as payment arrangements.one year term. The Company's estimated aggregate VDA liabilitycontractual arrangements include performance, termination and cancellation provisions, but do not provide for refunds. Customers do not have the contractual right to take possession of $2.5 million was recordedthe Company's software at any time. Sales taxes collected from customers and remitted to government authorities are excluded from revenue.
Customers may subscribe to the Company's SaaS solutions on a self-service or managed-service basis. Self-service subscriptions allow the customer to manage their own activity on the platform. Launch services are also available, although they are not required for the customer to access the platform. Revenue from self-service subscriptions, including subscription fees and fees associated with any elected launch services, is recognized ratably over the subscription term, which is typically one year, beginning on the date the customer has access to the platform. Managed-service subscriptions offer the customer an outsourced, managed platform experience. Implementation services are included with managed-service subscriptions and are necessary to launch on the platform. Revenue from managed-service subscriptions, including subscription fees and fees associated with implementation services, is recognized ratably over the subscription term, which is typically one year, beginning once implementation services are complete.
As noted above, customers incur variable fees when the GMV or the advertising spend processed through the platform exceeds the GMV or advertising spend included in their subscriptions. In general, revenue from variable fees is recognized in the period in which the related GMV or advertising spend is processed through the platform.
Disaggregation of Revenue
The Company's customers are categorized as follows:
Retailers. The Company generally categorizes a customer as a one-time chargeretailer if it primarily focuses on selling third-party products.
Brands. The Company generally categorizes a customer as a brand if it primarily focuses on selling its own proprietary products.
Other. Other is primarily comprised of strategic partnerships.
The following table summarizes revenue disaggregation by customer type for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):
202020192018
Retailers87,704 84,316 89,992 
Brands47,999 38,470 32,628 
Other9,369 7,173 8,598 
$145,072 $129,959 $131,218 
Contracts with Multiple Performance Obligations
Customers may elect to purchase a subscription to multiple modules, multiple modules with multiple service levels, or, for certain of the Company's solutions, multiple brands or geographies. The Company evaluates such contracts to determine whether the services to be provided are distinct and accordingly should be accounted for as separate performance obligations. If
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the Company determines that a contract has multiple performance obligations, the transaction price, which is the total price of the contract, is allocated to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price method. The Company estimates standalone selling price based on observable prices in General and administrative expensepast transactions for which the product offering subject to the performance obligation has been sold separately. As the performance obligations are satisfied, revenue is recognized as discussed above.
Transaction Price Allocated to Future Performance Obligations
As the Company typically enters into contracts with customers for a twelve-month subscription term, a substantial majority of its performance obligations that have not yet been satisfied as of December 31, 2020 are part of a contract that has an original expected duration of one year or less. For contracts with an original expected duration of greater than one year, the aggregate transaction price allocated to the unsatisfied performance obligations was $30.6 million as of December 31, 2020, of which $19.0 million is expected to be recognized as revenue over the next twelve months.
Deferred Revenue
Deferred revenue generally represents the unearned portion of subscription fees. Deferred revenue is recorded when fees are invoiced in advance of performance. Deferred amounts are generally recognized within one year. Deferred revenue is included in the accompanying consolidated statementsbalance sheets under "Total current liabilities," net of operationsany long-term portion that is included in "Other long-term liabilities." The following table summarizes deferred revenue activity for the year ended December 31, 2017. This amount represents2020 (in thousands):
Balance, beginning of periodNet additionsRevenue recognized from deferred revenueBalance, end of period
Deferred revenue$21,459 109,045 (107,203)$23,301 
Of the Company's estimate$145.1 million of its potential unpaidrevenue recognized in the year ended December 31, 2020, $20.0 million was included in deferred revenue at January 1, 2020.
Costs to Obtain Contracts
The Company capitalizes sales tax liability throughcommissions and a portion of other incentive compensation costs that are directly related to obtaining customer contracts and that would not have been incurred if the anticipated look-back periods including interest, where applicable,contract had not been obtained. These costs are included in all jurisdictionsthe accompanying consolidated balance sheets and are classified as "Prepaid expenses and other current assets," net of any long-term portion that is included in "Deferred contract costs, net of current portion." As of December 31, 2020, $7.3 million was included in "Prepaid expenses and other current assets." Deferred contract costs are amortized to sales and marketing expense over the expected period of benefit, which the Company has entered into VDAs. Ifdetermined to be 5 years based on the VDAs do not resolve all potential unpaid sales tax obligations, then it is possible thatestimated customer relationship period. The following table summarizes deferred contract cost activity for the actual aggregate unpaid sales tax liability may be higher or lower than the Company's estimate.
Throughyear ended December 31, 2017,2020 (in thousands):
Balance, beginning of periodAdditions
Amortized costs (1)
Balance, end of period
Deferred contract costs$18,414 8,963 (6,044)$21,333 
(1) Includes contract costs amortized to sales and marketing expense during the Company has paid approximately $1.5 million under terms ofperiod and the VDA agreements that it has completed with certain jurisdictions. During the third quarter of 2017, one jurisdiction rejected the Company's VDA application and will conduct a sales tax audit. The Company believes the scope of the audit will be limited and similar in principle to the VDA program offered by that jurisdiction; as a result, the Company has determined not to revise its estimate of its potential unpaid sales tax liability. The completion date of the sales tax audit has not been determined.impact from foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
7.9. INCOME TAXES
The components of lossincome (loss) before income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 were as follows (in thousands):
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2017 2016 2015202020192018
Domestic$(11,089) $(10,761) $(21,146)Domestic$18,176 $1,994 $(10,552)
Foreign(5,184) (2,904) 10
Foreign1,092 2,177 3,565 
Total loss before income taxes$(16,273) $(13,665) $(21,136)
Total income (loss) before income taxesTotal income (loss) before income taxes$19,268 $4,171 $(6,987)
The provision for income tax expense (benefit) included the following for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 (in thousands):

202020192018
Current:
Federal$(10)$(10)$(20)
State460 
Foreign32 168 141 
Total482 158 121 
Deferred:
Federal(211)
State(18)12 
Foreign(42)549 692 
Total(39)531 493 
Total tax expense$443 $689 $614 

2017
2016
2015
Current:     
Federal$(39) $
 $
State
 (19) (101)
Foreign193
 10
 160
Total154
 (9) 59
Deferred:     
Federal(73) 43
 37
State15
 6
 15
Foreign188
 (5,698) (296)
Total130
 (5,649) (244)
Total tax expense (benefit)$284
 $(5,658) $(185)
Additionally, the Company recorded $(0.1) million of foreign deferred income tax benefit and $0.1 million of foreign current income tax expense in other comprehensive income for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. There was no impact on other comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2018.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("Tax Act"), which went into effect on December 22, 2017, significantly revises the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended ("IRC"). The Tax Act contains, among other things, significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, limitation of the tax deductionCompany accounts for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, one time taxation of offshore earnings at reduced rates regardless of whether they are repatriated, elimination of U.S. tax on foreign earnings (subject to certain important exceptions), immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits. The Tax Act is complex and it will take time to assess the implications thoroughly. The Company is currently evaluating the Tax Act with its professional advisors and has included the effects of the following changes enacted in the Tax Act in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
The Company reduced its expected U.S. federal corporate income tax rate used to measure its deferred tax assets and liabilities to 21% from 34%, which had been used as of December 31, 2016. This resulted in a reduction of the Company’s net deferred tax assets of $16.6 million, which was offset by a corresponding reduction in the valuation allowance of $16.7 million that is recorded against its U.S. deferred tax assets, net of certain deferred tax liabilities.
The Company incorporated the newly enacted rules relating to IRC Section 162(m), which provide for a limitation on the annual deduction of excessive executive compensation. The new rules have an impact on the deferred tax asset recorded on stock-based compensation at the end of 2017. This resulted in a de minimis reduction in the end of year deferred tax asset on stock compensation, which was completely offset by a reduction in the valuation allowance.
Other provisions of the law might have a significant impact on the Company, such as the new rules covering net operating loss carryforwards, the repeal of the alternative minimum tax, the new requirement to capitalize research and experimentation expenses, and the creation of the base erosion anti-abuse tax, the global intangible low taxed income inclusion and the foreign derived intangible income deduction. However, the Company has determined that these changes will have no material impact on its financial results as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017. a period cost.
The Company is analyzing the other changes enacted in the Tax Act and has made a preliminary determination that they should not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements based on current operations. However, new developments such as changes in the Company’s operations or the issuancecomponents of additional guidance from the Internal Revenue Service could result in changes to the Company’s initial determination. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the newly enacted federal tax law.
On December 22, 2017, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") was issued to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act. In accordance with SAB 118, we have determined that the $16.6 million reduction to the Company's net deferred tax assets to account for the decrease in the U.S. federal tax rate and the de minimis reduction in the end of year deferred tax asset to account for the changes to IRC Section 162(m) were provisional amounts and a reasonable estimate at December 31, 2017. Additional work is necessary for a more detailed analysis of the impacts of the Tax Act. Any subsequent adjustment to these amounts will be recorded to current tax expense in the quarter of 2018 when the analysis is complete.

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effect of temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company elected to early adopt ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (Topic 740), to present balance sheet classification of deferred income taxes as noncurrent. This adoption was applied prospectively and, therefore, prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted.
The components of the Company’s net deferred tax asset (liability) as of December 31, 20172020 and 20162019 were as follows (in thousands):
 2017 2016
Deferred tax assets:   
Domestic tax loss carryforwards$28,403
 $32,539
Foreign tax loss carryforwards6,849
 5,455
Stock-based compensation3,750
 4,864
Tax credits2,231
 1,624
Lease incentive obligation1,119
 1,978
Other assets2,232
 2,248
Valuation allowance(38,054) (41,926)
Total deferred tax assets6,530
 6,782
Deferred tax liabilities:   
Fixed assets645
 1,328
Intangible assets604
 566
Total deferred tax liabilities1,249
 1,894
Net deferred tax asset$5,281
 $4,888
The Company adopted ASU 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (Topic 718) effective January 1, 2017. As a result of this adoption, the Company recognized $8.2 million of deferred tax assets attributable to accumulated excess tax benefits that under the previous guidance could not be recognized until the benefits were realized through a reduction in income taxes payable. This adjustment was applied using a modified retrospective method with a cumulative-effect adjustment to the accumulated deficit for the excess tax benefits not previously recognized. However, given the full valuation allowance of $8.2 million placed on the additional deferred tax assets, the recognition upon adoption had no impact on the Company's accumulated deficit as of January 1, 2017. Further, the Company has elected to continue to estimate forfeitures to determine the amount of compensation cost to be recognized in each period.
20202019
Deferred tax assets:
Domestic tax loss carryforwards$27,651 $31,974 
Foreign tax loss carryforwards7,596 6,098 
Stock-based compensation3,092 3,129 
Tax credits4,345 3,860 
Operating lease liability2,277 3,121 
Other assets3,010 2,062 
Valuation allowance(35,393)(38,603)
Total deferred tax assets12,578 11,641 
Deferred tax liabilities:
Fixed assets1,000 821 
Intangible assets1,395 491 
Capitalized contract costs5,242 4,468 
Right of use assets1,840 2,478 
Other liabilities21 21 
Total deferred tax liabilities9,498 8,279 
Net deferred tax asset$3,080 $3,362 
At December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, the Company had federal net operating loss, ("NOL")or NOL, carryforwards of $114.2$110.3 million and $109.5$128.7 million, respectively, which expire beginning in 2022.2026. At December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, the Company had state
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NOL carryforwards of $136.2$136.5 million and $128.3$151.1 million, respectively, which expire beginning in 2018.2021. At December 31, 20172020 and 2016,2019, the Company had U.S. federal income tax credit carryforwards of $3.0$5.9 million and $2.1$5.1 million, respectively, which expire beginning in 2034. The utilization of the NOL and tax credit carryforwards may be subject to limitation under the rules regarding a change in stock ownership as determined bydefined under the Internal Revenue Code and state and foreign tax laws. Prior toDuring the utilization of these tax attributes, the Company will assess any limitations, particularly related to NOL carryforwards from its acquired entities. For each of the periodsyear ended December 31, 20172020, the Company assessed the limitations on its U.S. federal and 2016,state NOL carryforwards and determined that the Company is not prohibited from utilizing its NOL carryforwards, with the exception of $0.9 million and $0.2 million related to U.S. federal and state NOL carryforwards, respectively, from an acquired entity. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company also had foreign NOL carryforwards for use against future tax in those jurisdictions of $35.2$36.6 million and $27.3$32.3 million, respectively. The majority of the Company's foreign NOLs can be carried forward indefinitely.
A valuation allowance has been recognized to offset deferred tax assets, primarily attributable to NOL carryforwards that the Company has determined are not more likely than not to be realized. In 2016, the Company released $5.3 million of the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets in several of its foreign jurisdictions based on the result of the Company's evaluation of the likelihood of potential tax benefits related to the foreign entities’ most recent three years of operating results and projections of future profitability, which primarily resulted from a change in the Company’s global transfer pricing methodology. There was awere net decrease in valuation allowance of $3.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2017, which was comprised of a net decrease of $12.6 million that was allocable to current operations (includes the reductiondecreases in the valuation allowance of $16.7$3.2 million noted above resulting fromand $0.4 million during the Tax Act), an increase of $8.2 million from the adoption of ASU 2016-09years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, that waswere allocable to accumulated deficit and an increase of $0.5 million that was allocable to goodwill as part of the HubLogix acquisition.operations. The Company does not generally consider deferred tax liabilities on indefinite-lived assets as a

source of future taxable income available to be able to realize deferred tax assets. However, the Company considers the deferred tax liability associated with an indefinite-lived intangible asset as a source of future taxable income available to be able to realize the deferred tax asset recorded for the U.S. federal alternative minimum tax credit,NOL carryforwards generated in years ended after December 31, 2017, which can be carried forward indefinitely. Since both the deferred tax liability and the deferred tax asset have indefinite lives, they offset each other to arrive at the net deferred tax liability.asset, which is offset by a valuation allowance.
UndistributedGenerally, undistributed earnings of the Company’sCompany's foreign subsidiaries are indefinitely reinvested offshore and, accordingly, no0 provision for U.S. federal, state or stateforeign income taxes has been provided thereon. In the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company determined that the undistributed earnings of its foreign subsidiary located in China are no longer permanently reinvested. Accordingly, the Company recorded a deferred tax liability for this temporary difference. The amount of the deferred tax liability is nominal. The cumulative amount of undistributed earnings of the Company’sCompany's non-U.S. subsidiaries for the years ended December 31, 20172020 and 20162019 was nominal.$0.5 million and 0minal, respectively. The determination of the deferred tax liability, which requires complex analysis of international tax situations related to repatriation, is not practicable at this time. The Company is presently investing in international operations located in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. The Company is funding the working capital needs of its foreign operations through its U.S. operations. In the future, the Company will utilize any foreign undistributed earnings, as well as continued funding from its U.S. operations, to support its continued investment in foreign growth.
A reconciliation of the difference between the effective income tax rate and the statutory federal income tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 is as follows:
2017 2016 2015202020192018
U.S. statutory federal rate34.0 % 34.0 % 34.0 %U.S. statutory federal rate21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
Increase (decrease) resulting from:     Increase (decrease) resulting from:
State taxes, net of federal benefit2.5
 3.2
 4.3
State taxes, net of federal benefit3.9 3.7 7.8 
Change in U.S. federal statutory rate(102.2) 
 
Nondeductible expenses(10.5) (1.6) (14.0)
Nondeductible expenses and excludable incomeNondeductible expenses and excludable income(0.4)1.6 (3.7)
Effect of foreign tax rate differential(5.3) (3.8) (0.1)Effect of foreign tax rate differential(0.2)2.3 (0.5)
Uncertain tax position(1.6) (0.8) (1.5)
Uncertain tax positionsUncertain tax positions1.8 4.9 (3.3)
Research and development credit5.6
 4.1
 3.7
Research and development credit(4.8)(24.8)15.1 
Change in valuation allowance77.1
 11.2
 (20.3)Change in valuation allowance(17.0)(12.0)(36.4)
Expiration of NOL carryforwardsExpiration of NOL carryforwards0.7 4.0 (1.0)
Stock-based compensationStock-based compensation(0.9)6.4 (9.8)
Change in statutory tax ratesChange in statutory tax rates(2.3)4.0 0.6 
Other(1.3) (4.9) (5.2)Other0.5 5.4 1.4 
Effective tax rate(1.7)% 41.4 % 0.9 %Effective tax rate2.3 %16.5 %(8.8)%
The Company's effective tax rates for the years ended December 31, 20172020, 2019 and 20152018 are lower than the U.S. federal statutory rate of 34%21% primarily due to operating losses which are subject to a valuation allowance. The Company cannot recognize the tax benefit of operating loss carryforwards generated in certain jurisdictions due to uncertainties relating to future taxable income in those jurisdictions in terms of both its timing and its sufficiency, which would enable the Company to realize the benefits of those carryforwards. ForThe primary reason for the year ended December 31, 2016,variances in the effective tax rate is higher than the U.S. federal statutory rate of 34% primarily due to the $5.3 million release of theimpacts from uncertain tax positions, research and development credits, change in valuation allowance, on deferred tax assets in severalexpiration of its foreign jurisdictions. In 2017, due to the releaseNOL carryforwards and stock-based
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Table of the valuation allowance at the end of 2016, the Company recognizes tax expense in most of these foreign jurisdictions. In addition, during 2017 the Company no longer had sufficient deferred tax liabilities in one of its foreign subsidiaries necessary to realize the tax benefit of all of its deferred tax assets for that same foreign subsidiary. The Company recorded a valuation allowance against the deferred tax assets of that foreign subsidiary, net of deferred tax liabilities. As a result, the Company is not currently permitted to recognize the tax benefit of that subsidiary’s losses. The remeasurement of the Company’s U.S. net deferred tax assets to reflect the newly enacted U.S. statutory tax rate of 21% resulted in tax expense of $16.6 million, which was offset by a corresponding reduction to the valuation allowance of $16.7 million. The net result from the change in the U.S. federal statutory tax rate was a tax benefit of $0.1 million. The nondeductible expenses during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 primarily related to stock-based Contents
compensation expense associated with nondeductible stock awards. Nondeductible stock award expense and share-based compensation shortfalls had a larger impact on the December 31, 2015 tax rate than they did on the tax rate for the years ended December 31, 20172020, 2019 and 2016.2018 is the variance in income and loss before income taxes between the three years. The decrease and increase in the effective tax rate impact from change in valuation allowance in the effect of foreign tax rate differential foryear ended December 31, 2020, as compared to the years ended December 31, 20172019 and 2016 compared2018, respectively, is also partially attributable to the utilization of U.S. federal and state NOLs in the year ended December 31, 2015, was primarily due2020, which are offset by a valuation allowance. The decrease and increase in the impact on the tax rate from stock-based compensation in the year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, is also partially attributable to an increase in stock-based compensation windfalls and deductions from disqualifying dispositions of incentive stock options in the percentage of the Company's worldwide book losses recorded outside the U.S. during these periods.year ended December 31, 2020. The Company's foreign jurisdictions comprise a mix of income and loss making entities. In 2017the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2016,2018, foreign lossesincome exceeded foreign income.losses.
The Company accounts for uncertain tax provisions in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 740-10, Income Taxes ("ASC 740-10"). This guidance provides a comprehensive model for the recognition, measurement and disclosure in financial statements of uncertain income tax positions that a company has taken or expects to take on a tax return.

The following table shows the changes in unrecognized tax benefits in accordance with ASC 740-10 for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 (in thousands):
2017 2016 2015202020192018
Balance as of January 1,$766
 $681
 $782
Balance as of January 1,$1,601 $1,408 $1,282 
Increases related to current tax positions199
 146
 345
Increases related to current tax positions281 183 217 
Increases related to prior year tax positions317
 
 79
Increases related to prior year tax positions150 20 12 
Decreases related to prior year tax positions
 (42) (411)Decreases related to prior year tax positions(109)(10)(103)
Decreases related to the expirations of statutes of limitations
 (19) (114)
Balance as of December 31,$1,282
 $766
 $681
Balance as of December 31,$1,923 $1,601 $1,408 
Although the ultimate timing of the resolution and/or closure of audits is highly uncertain, the Company believes it is reasonably possible that a de minimis amount of unrecognized tax benefits could reverse in the next twelve months. If the total unrecognized tax benefit was recognized, there would be a de minimis impact on the effective tax rate. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company had no accrued interest or penalties related to the tax contingencies. The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties is to record them as a component of provision for income taxes.
The Company has analyzed its filing positions in all significant federal, state and foreign jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns, as well as open tax years in these jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal and state and local tax examinations by tax authorities for yearstax periods 2016 and prior, to 2013, although carryforward attributes that were generated prior to 20132017 may still be adjusted upon examination by the Internal Revenue Service if they either have been or will be used in a future period. The Company is no longer subject to examination in foreign tax jurisdictions for tax periods 20132015 and prior. NoNaN income tax returns are currently under examination by taxing authorities.
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10. EQUITY INCENTIVE PLANS AND STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION
In May 2013, the Company’sCompany's board of directors adopted, and the Company’sCompany's stockholders approved, the 2013 Equity Incentive Plan, (the "2013 Plan"),or the 2013 Plan, pursuant to which the Company initially reserved 1,250,000 shares of its common stock for issuance to its employees, directors and non-employee third parties. The 2013 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options to employees, and for the grant of nonqualified stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, stock appreciation rights, performance stock awards and other forms of stock compensation to the Company’sCompany's employees, directors, and non-employee third parties. The number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2013 Plan will automatically increase on January 1 each year, for a period of ten years, from January 1, 2014 through January 1, 2023, by 5% of the total number of shares of the Company’sCompany's common stock outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year, or a lesser number of shares as may be determined by the Company’sCompany's board of directors. Accordingly, on January 1, 20182021 the number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2013 Plan increased by 1,330,0811,451,021 shares. As of December 31, 2017, 1,085,0912020, 3,443,894 shares remained available for future grant under the 2013 Plan. As a result of the adoption of the 2013 Plan, no further grants may be made under the former 2001 Stock Plan, although outstandingPlan.
In February 2020, the Company's Compensation Committee implemented changes to the equity compensation program for the Company's executive officers. Beginning in 2020, 50% of each executive's equity awards underwere granted in the 2001 Stock Plan continueform of performance-based vesting restricted stock units, or PSUs, that are eligible for vesting only if the Company achieves pre-defined targets set by the Compensation Committee for the Company's combined year-over-year revenue growth and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, margin over a multi-year measurement period (a two-year measurement period for fiscal 2020 grants), subject to the executive's continued service with the Company. For any PSUs to vest, revenue growth must be positive over the performance period. Vesting of these PSU awards is based on a sliding scale of actual performance against the pre-defined goals. The sliding scale ranges from 0 vesting and forfeiture of the awards if the Company does not achieve the performance threshold, to an award of up to 150% of the target number of awards if the pre-defined maximum performance is achieved. As soon as reasonably practicable after the completion of the performance period, the Compensation Committee will determine the level of attainment of the performance goal and if the performance threshold is achieved, on the second anniversary of the grant date, subject to the executive's continued service as of that date, 50% of the earned PSU awards will vest and, on the third anniversary of the grant date, the remaining 50% of earned PSU awards will vest, subject to the executive's continued service as of that date. The Committee may make adjustments to the manner in accordancewhich the achievement is determined as it deems equitable and appropriate to exclude the effect of unusual, non-recurring or infrequent matters, transactions or events affecting the Company or its consolidated financial statements; changes in accounting principles, practices or policies or in tax laws or other laws or requirements; or other similar events, matters or changed circumstances. Each adjustment, if any, shall be made solely for the purpose of maintaining the intended economics of the award in light of changed circumstances to prevent the dilution or enlargement of the executive's rights with their terms until exercised, forfeited or expired.respect to the PSUs. The fair value of the PSU awards is determined using the Company's stock price on the grant date. These awards are equity classified and will be expensed over the requisite service period based on the extent to which achievement of the performance metrics is probable.
Stock-based compensation expense is included in the following line items in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 (in thousands):
2017 2016 2015202020192018
Cost of revenue$807
 $1,259
 $992
Cost of revenue$972 $995 $911 
Sales and marketing3,971
 4,775
 4,421
Sales and marketing2,792 2,385 3,144 
Research and development2,260
 1,962
 1,689
Research and development2,168 1,898 2,152 
General and administrative4,909
 5,266
 4,735
General and administrative4,268 3,698 4,391 
$11,947
 $13,262
 $11,837
$10,200 $8,976 $10,598 
Stock Option Awards

The Company values stock options using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires the input of subjective assumptions, including the risk-free interest rate, expected life, expected stock price volatility and dividend yield. The risk-free interest rate assumption is based upon observed interest rates for constant maturity U.S. Treasury securities consistent with the expected term of the Company’sCompany's employee stock options. The expected life represents the period of time the stock options are expected to be outstanding and is based on the "simplified method." Under the "simplified method," the expected life of an option is presumed to be the mid-point between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term. The Company used the "simplified
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"simplified method" due to the lack of sufficient historical exercise data to provide a reasonable basis upon which to otherwise estimate the expected life of the stock options. Expected volatility is estimated based on the historical volatility of the Company's stock. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2017, expected volatility was estimated based on volatilities of publicly traded stock for comparable companies over the estimated expected life of the stock options. The Company assumed no dividend yield because dividends are not expected to be paid in the near future, which is consistent with the Company’sCompany's history of not paying dividends.
The following table summarizes the assumptions used for estimating the fair value of stock options granted for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162019 and 2015:2018:
20192018
Risk-free interest rate1.8% - 2.5%2.7% - 2.9%
Expected term (years)6.256.25
Expected volatility37% - 41%43%
Dividend yield0%0%
 2017 2016 2015
Risk-free interest rate1.4% - 2.1% 0.8% - 1.8% 0.9% - 1.7%
Expected term (years)6.25 6.25 6.25
Expected volatility45% - 51% 46% - 50% 45% - 47%
Dividend yield0% 0% 0%
There were no stock options granted during the year ended December 31, 2020.
The following is a summary of the option activity for the year ended December 31, 2017:
2020:
Number of
Options
Weighted Average
Exercise Price
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
Number of
Options
 
Weighted Average
Exercise Price
 
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term
 
Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
  (in years)(in thousands)
    (in years) (in thousands)
Outstanding balance at December 31, 20161,686,095
 $9.78
  
Outstanding balance at December 31, 2019Outstanding balance at December 31, 20192,196,766 $10.47 
Granted674,245
 10.26
  Granted
Exercised(172,690) 8.29
  Exercised(440,174)8.69 
Forfeited(59,590) 11.90
  Forfeited(5,355)11.60 
Expired(19,668) 23.60
  Expired(47,992)12.38 
Outstanding balance at December 31, 20172,108,392
 $9.87
 7.26 $1,685
Exercisable at December 31, 2017940,485
 $9.02
 5.49 $1,662
Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 20171,924,479
 $9.80
 7.13 $1,682
Outstanding balance at December 31, 2020Outstanding balance at December 31, 20201,703,245 $10.87 5.69$9,160 
Exercisable at December 31, 2020Exercisable at December 31, 20201,189,509 $10.38 4.80$7,122 
Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2020Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 20201,594,971 $10.80 5.55$8,727 
The weighted average grant date fair value for the Company's stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016,2019 and 20152018 was $4.17, $4.73$4.51 and $4.29$5.98 per share, respectively.
The total fair value of stock options vested during the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 was $1.2$1.5 million, $1.1$1.8 million and $1.2$1.5 million, respectively.
The total compensation cost related to nonvested stock options not yet recognized as of December 31, 20172020 was $2.1$0.6 million and will be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 1.91.3 years.
The aggregate intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016,2020, 2019, and 20152018 was $0.5$2.3 million, $2.1$0.2 million and $1.2$0.6 million, respectively.

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Table of Contents
Restricted Stock Units and Performance Stock Units
The following table summarizes the RSU and PSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2017:
2020:
Number of RSUsWeighted Average Grant-Date Fair ValueNumber of PSUsWeighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Number of RSUs Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested RSUs as of December 31, 20162,151,658
 $12.54
Unvested as of December 31, 2019Unvested as of December 31, 20192,086,646 $10.93 $
Granted1,378,259
 10.37
Granted958,055 11.32 142,317 9.27 
Vested(721,495) 13.43
Vested(743,730)11.21 
Forfeited(327,385) 12.08
Forfeited(240,143)10.36 
Unvested RSUs as of December 31, 20172,481,037
 $11.14
Unvested as of December 31, 2020Unvested as of December 31, 20202,060,828 $11.08 142,317 $9.27 
The total unrecognized compensation cost related to the unvested RSUs and PSUs as of December 31, 20172020 was $9.3$9.0 million and $1.1 million, respectively, and will be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 1.8 years and 1.7 years.years, respectively.
9.11. NET LOSSINCOME (LOSS) PER SHARE
The following securitiestable summarizes the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands, except share and per share data):
202020192018
Basic:
Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic28,616,401 27,886,278 27,138,274 
Basic net income (loss) per share$0.66 $0.12 $(0.28)
Diluted:
Net income (loss)$18,825 $3,482 $(7,601)
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic28,616,401 27,886,278 27,138,274 
Dilutive effect of:
     Stock options383,607 167,208 
     Unvested RSUs1,035,253 763,491 
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding30,035,261 28,816,977 27,138,274 
Diluted net income (loss) per share$0.63 $0.12 $(0.28)
For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company incurred a net loss and, therefore, the effect of the Company's outstanding stock options and unvested RSUs were not included in the calculation of diluted net loss per share as the effect would be anti-dilutive.
The following equity instruments have been excluded from the calculation of weighted average common shares outstandingdiluted net income (loss) per share because the effect is anti-dilutive for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 2015:2018:
202020192018
Stock options437,927 1,626,757 2,208,141 
RSUs60,674 278,937 2,216,430 
82
 2017 2016 2015
Stock options2,108,392
 1,686,095
 1,470,293
RSUs2,481,037
 2,151,658
 1,949,702

Table of Contents
12. RESTRUCTURING
10.In the third quarter of 2019, the Company implemented a plan to reduce its expenses and align its operations with evolving business needs, or the 2019 Actions. As part of this strategic initiative, the Company reduced its global workforce by approximately 10% and discontinued its physical operations in China. As a result of the implementation of the 2019 Actions, the Company paid and recognized severance and related costs of $1.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2019. These costs are included in the following line items in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):
Cost of revenue$238 
Sales and marketing369 
Research and development142 
General and administrative560 
Other (expense) income, net120 
$1,429 
13. SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise for which discrete financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker, ("CODM")or CODM, for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance. The Company’sCompany's CODM reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance. As such, the Company’sCompany's operations constitute a single operating segment and one1 reportable segment.
Substantially all assets were held in the United States during the years ended December 31, 20172020 and 2016.2019. The following table summarizestables summarize revenue by geography and by product for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 20152018 (in thousands):
202020192018
2017 2016 2015
Revenue by geography: 
Revenue by geography (1):
Revenue by geography (1):
Domestic$95,722
 $88,668
 $76,446
Domestic$108,556 $97,111 $100,442 
International26,813
 24,532
 24,139
International36,516 32,848 30,776 
Total$122,535
 $113,200
 $100,585
Total$145,072 $129,959 $131,218 
     
Revenue by product:     Revenue by product:
Marketplaces$93,449
 $86,312
 $74,210
Marketplaces$107,425 $95,757 $96,321 
Digital marketing18,076
 19,367
 20,182
Digital marketing21,424 19,683 18,919 
Other11,010
 7,521
 6,193
Other16,223 14,519 15,978 
Total$122,535
 $113,200
 $100,585
Total$145,072 $129,959 $131,218 
(1) Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation. These reclassifications had no impact on the reported total revenue for the period.
The Company's revenue from externalinternational customers based in the United Kingdom totaled approximately $11.7$12.5 million, $12.7$13.0 million and $13.6$12.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162020, 2019 and 2015,2018, respectively. No other single foreign country represented more than 10% of the Company's revenue for any of the periods indicated.
11.14. RETIREMENT PLANS
The Company provides retirement plans whereby participants may elect to contribute a portion of their annual compensation to the plans, after complying with certain requirements and subject to certain limitations. The Company

contributed an aggregate of $1.5 million, $1.0 million and $0.8$1.9 million to the plans for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $1.7 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162019 and 2015, respectively.2018.
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12. SELECTED QUARTERLY INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
 Three Months Ended,
 March 31,
2017
 June 30,
2017
 September 30,
2017
 December 31,
2017
 (in thousands, except per share amounts)
Revenue$28,329
 $30,004
 $30,097
 $34,105
Gross profit21,487
 23,484
 23,548
 28,066
Loss from operations(8,053) (3,968) (4,121) (436)
Net loss(8,056) (3,985) (4,055) (461)
Net loss per share:       
Basic and diluted$(0.31) $(0.15) $(0.15) $(0.02)


 Three Months Ended,
 March 31,
2016
 June 30,
2016
 September 30,
2016
 December 31,
2016
 (in thousands, except per share amounts)
Revenue$26,347
 $27,098
 $27,992
 $31,763
Gross profit19,434
 20,235
 21,181
 24,730
(Loss) income from operations(4,639) (6,740) (2,680) 222
Net (loss) income(4,563) (6,727) (2,552) 5,835
Net (loss) income per share:       
Basic(0.18) (0.26) (0.10) 0.23
Diluted(0.18) (0.26) (0.10) 0.21
ITEM 9.CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision of and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer, who is our principal executive officer, and our chief financial officer, who is our principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2017,2020, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report. The term "disclosure controls and procedures," as set forth in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the rules and forms promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the "SEC").or the SEC. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company's management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives, and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures

as of December 31, 2017,2020, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) and 15d-15(d) of the Exchange Act that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 20172020 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and Attestation Report of theIndependent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our evaluation under this framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2017.2020.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation reportThe effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 has been audited by our independent registered public accounting firm, due to a transition period established by the rulesas stated in their attestation report, which is included in Part II, Item 8. of the SEC.this Annual Report.
ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION
Not applicable.
PART III
We will file a definitive Proxy Statement for our 20182021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, (the "2018or the 2021 Proxy Statement")Statement, with the SEC, pursuant to Regulation 14A, not later than 120 days after the end of our fiscal year. Accordingly, certain information required by Part III has been omitted under General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K. Only those sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement that specifically address the items set forth herein are incorporated by reference.


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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by Item 10 is hereby incorporated by reference to the sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement under the captions "Information Regarding the Board of Directors and Corporate Governance," "Election of Directors," and "Executive Officers" and "Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance.Officers."
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by Item 11 is hereby incorporated by reference to the sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement under the captions "Executive Compensation" and "Director Compensation."
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The information required by Item 12 is hereby incorporated by reference to the sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement under the captions "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management" and "Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans."
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

The information required by Item 13 is hereby incorporated by reference to the sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement under the captions "Transactions with Related Persons" and "Independence of the Board of Directors."
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by Item 14 is hereby incorporated by reference to the sections of the 20182021 Proxy Statement under the caption "Ratification of Selection of Independent Auditors."
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number
Description of Document
Exhibit
Number3.1
Description of Document
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 29, 2013).
Amended and Restated Bylaws (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 29, 2013).
Specimen stock certificate evidencing shares of Common Stock (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to Amendment No. 2 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 9, 2013).
Description of Certain of Registrant's Securities (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12, 2020).
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2001 Stock Plan, as amended (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 11, 2013).
Form of Incentive Stock Option Agreement under 2001 Stock Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 11, 2013).
2013 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.6 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-188988), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 31, 2013).
Form of Stock Option Grant Notice and Stock Option Agreement under 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.15 to Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2013).
Form of Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice and Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement under 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.17 to Amendment No. 1 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26, 2013).
Form of Indemnification Agreement with non-employee directors (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.19 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-187865), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 11, 2013).
Amended and Restated Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of December 17, 2014, by and between the Registrant and David J. Spitz (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.17 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2015).
Schedule of Compensation for Non-Employee Directors, adopted effective as of February 22, 2017January 21, 2020 (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.110.8 to the Registrant’s QuarterlyRegistrant's Annual Report on Form 10-Q10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 4, 2017)February 12, 2020).

Office lease,Lease, dated as of August 15, 2014, by and between the Registrant and SVT Perimeter Four, LP.Raleigh 1 LP (as successor in interest to Duke Realty Limited Partnership) (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 6, 2014).
Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of December 17, 2014, by and between the Registrant and Diana S. Allen (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.24 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2015).
First Amendment to Office Lease, dated as of December 10, 2015, by and between the Registrant and SVT Perimeter Four, LP.Raleigh 1 LP (as successor in interest to Duke Realty Limited Partnership) (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.22 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Annual Report on Form Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the SEC on February 25, 2016).
Second Amendment to Office Lease, dated as of August 25, 2017, by and between the Registrant and Raleigh 1 LP (as successor in interest to Duke Realty Limited Partnership) (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.13 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the SEC on February 13, 2018).
Third Amendment to Office Lease, dated as of April 5, 2018, by and between the Registrant and Raleigh 1 LP (as successor in interest to Duke Realty Limited Partnership). (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 9, 2018).
Amendment to Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of December 31, 2018, by and between the Registrant and David J. Spitz. (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.15 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2019).
Amendment to Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of December 31, 2018, by and between the Registrant and Diana S. Allen. (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.17 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2019).
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Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of November 5, 2015, by and between the Registrant and Richard Cornetta, as amended on December 31, 2018 (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 7, 2019).
Amended and Restated Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of August 31, 2015,8, 2019, by and between the Registrant and Mark E. CookElizabeth Segovia (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 7, 2019).
Second Amendment to Executive Severance and Change in Control Letter Agreement, dated as of November 11, 2019, by and between the Registrant and David J. Spitz (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.18 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12, 2020).
Form of Performance Stock Unit Grant Notice and Performance Stock Unit Agreement under 2013 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’sRegistrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 7, 2020).
Credit Agreement, dated as of August 5, 2020, by and between the Registrant, as Borrower, and HSBC Bank USA, N.A., as Lender (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-35940), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5, 2015)2020).
Second Amendment to Office Lease, dated as of August 25, 2017, by and between the Registrant and SVT Perimeter Four, LP. (as successor in interest to Duke Realty Limited Partnership).
Subsidiaries of the RegistrantRegistrant.
Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm.
Power of Attorney (contained on signature page hereto).
Certification of Principal Executive Officer under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Certification of Principal Financial Officer under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Certifications of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer under Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
101.INS101.INS*Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File as its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document
101.SCH101.SCH*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL101.CAL*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF101.DEF*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB101.LAB*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE101.PRE*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
 _____________________________
^104*Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
 _____________________________
^These certifications are being furnished solely to accompany this Annual Report pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, and are not being filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the registrant, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.
+Indicates management contract or compensatory plan.
*Filed herewith.
(b) Financial Statement Schedules


All schedules are omitted as information required is inapplicable or the information is presented in the consolidated financial statements and the related notes.

87

ITEM 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
None.







88

SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION
CHANNELADVISOR CORPORATION
By:
By:/s/ David J. Spitz
February 13, 201811, 2021
David J. Spitz
Chief Executive Officer
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Mark E. CookRichard F. Cornetta and Diana S. Allen, jointly and severally, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Annual Report on Form 10-K of ChannelAdvisor Corporation, and any or all amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done in and about the premises hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or his, her or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
SignatureTitleDate
SignatureTitleDate
/s/ David J. Spitz
Chief Executive Officer and Director
(Principal Executive Officer)
February 13, 201811, 2021
David J. Spitz
/s/ Mark E. CookRichard F. Cornetta
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial Officer)
February 13, 2018
Mark E. Cook
/s/ Richard F. Cornetta
Vice President of FinanceOfficer and Chief Accounting Officer
(Principal Accounting Officer)
February 13, 201811, 2021
Richard F. Cornetta
/s/ Timothy J. BuckleyDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Timothy J. Buckley
/s/ Joseph L. CowanDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Joseph L. Cowan
/s/ Janet R. CowellDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Janet R. Cowell
/s/ Marshall A. HeinbergDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Marshall A. Heinberg
/s/ Marc E. HuffmanDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Marc E. Huffman
/s/ Timothy V. WilliamsDirectorFebruary 11, 2021
Timothy V. Williams
/s/ M. Scot WingoDirectorFebruary 13, 201811, 2021
M. Scot Wingo
/s/ Timothy J. BuckleyDirectorFebruary 13, 2018
Timothy J. Buckley
/s/ Joseph L. CowanDirectorFebruary 13, 2018
Joseph L. Cowan
/s/ Janet R. CowellDirectorFebruary 13, 2018
Janet R. Cowell
/s/ Marc E. HuffmanDirectorFebruary 13, 2018
Marc E. Huffman
/s/ Timothy V. WilliamsDirectorFebruary 13, 2018
Timothy V. Williams

8089