Quick Query: Miva Merchant EVP Rick Wilson

Miva Merchant is a pioneering shopping cart. First launched in 1995, it rose and then fell with the dot-com boom and bust. Findwhat.com, a publicly traded company, purchased Miva Merchant in 2004. Findwhat.com subsequently renamed itself Miva, only to sell the Miva Merchant shopping cart division to private investors in August 2007. One of these investors, Rick Wilson, is a former Miva Merchant executive who rejoined the company. We asked him about the new Miva Merchant.

Practical Ecommerce: What’s going on with Miva Merchant?

Rick Wilson

Rick Wilson: We’re very much in a growth mode and are fully committed to ensuring Miva Merchant is the best-in-class ecommerce product.

PEC: There are more than 300 shopping cart choices. Why should a business choose Miva Merchant?

Wilson: Because no other shopping cart in our space has the flexibility, scalability, or proven track record that comes with Miva Merchant. We have customers just starting in ecommerce, all the way to multi-million dollar sites. We offer an enterprise-class framework wrapped in a point-and-click infrastructure that allows users to jump into our product regardless of where their business is now and have the confidence that our architecture can grow with their needs.

PEC: How much does a license cost when purchased directly from Miva Merchant?

Wilson: $995.

PEC: Many hosts offer Miva Merchant for free. Why should a business purchase a license when it’s free elsewhere?

Wilson: The benefit of buying Miva Merchant from us really applies to companies that want the software on their own private servers. When you buy Miva Merchant from us, we’ll install it for free and include a year of unlimited technical support directly from our in-house support experts.

PEC: Does Miva Merchant provide free support to merchants who obtain its software from a hosting company?

Wilson: Yes, we provide 30 days of free support to customers who come through our hosts.

Recommended

20 Years in Ecommerce for Miva’s CEO

January 19, 2022

PEC: Tell us about the new Miva Merchant: How many employees, who are the principals, and where are you located?

Wilson: We’re located in San Diego and currently have 22 employees, and expect to grow significantly this year. The principals are Russell Carroll, our new CEO, Mark Johnson, vice president of development, David Roquemore, vice president of technology, and I, executive vice president.

PEC: What is your history with Miva?

Wilson: I started with the company in 1999 as director of sales. I became vice president of sales and business development in 2002 and stayed on through our sale to FindWhat.com (now Miva) and then left the company in August 2005. I’m now the executive vice president and work in all aspects of the day-to-day operations.

PEC: How many businesses actively use Miva Merchant?

Wilson: Roughly 40,000.