Kibo Announces 20% Discount on Technology and Services for All Certified Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses (MWBEs)

• Immediate company-wide discount applies to full services and technologies for MWBEs across U.S.
• Kibo to kick off an MWBE certification initiative to help more businesses receive resources they need and deserve

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kibo, the leader in cloud commerce, today announced that it will offer an immediate 20% discount on all products and services to certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) in the US that the company is doing business with for the first time. Kibo is making this announcement as part of a larger, long-term strategy to support diversity across the ecommerce industry and in our global communities. Women-owned businesses account for 39% of all privately held firms, while minority-owned businesses make up 15% of the nation’s total, together accounting for more than $2 trillion in revenue. Despite this, MWBEs are often underfunded and lack the same support network as other businesses.

“Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises are part of the backbone of the American retail and restaurant industries, and have suffered disproportionately due to racism, sexism and, unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Euwart Anderson, Chief People Officer at Kibo. “Kibo has instituted a company-wide discount in order to make our unified ecommerce technology and related services more affordable to our colleagues who need it most.”

The Brookings Institute has found that MWBEs, which are concentrated in the retail and restaurant sectors, have been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 outbreak. What’s more, many MWBEs are not officially certified, which means that they are missing out on support at the local, state and national level. With this announcement, Kibo is partnering with a third-party to educate minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses on the benefits of becoming MWBE certified and the related market advantages. Certification allows MWBEs to be registered to receive a portion of municipal contracts, receive more training, and become eligible for certain loans and other business support.

In their local community, Kibo also partners with minority-owned small businesses to give back based on current events, needs, and employee-driven causes. For example, Kibo partnered with a minority-owned restaurant, Smokey John’s BBQ and Home Cooking, in Dallas to feed approximately 100 staff members at UT Southwest Hospital’s ER and ICU wards because they were working 16- and 24-hour shifts without time for a proper meal.

“Supporting diversity and inclusion is a pillar of our company strategy, and this is the first of many initiatives Kibo is taking on in order to level the playing field for MWBEs,” said David Post, CEO at Kibo. “We’ve always been dedicated to supporting our communities and all of our customers with the resources they need to succeed, and this initiative is no different.”

About Kibo

Kibo helps clients deliver on the promise of modern retail. Kibo’s Personalized Commerce Cloud is a unified, headless platform that combines AI-driven personalization from industry leaders Certona and Monetate, omnichannel commerce, and distributed order management. Global clients like Office Depot, Taco Bell and Patagonia rely on Kibo to optimize across the web, mobile, search, in-store and across each and every fulfillment touchpoint for a truly end-to-end personalized commerce experience. Retailers can easily manage supply chain logistics, ecommerce and marketing personalization through one system, centralizing strategy, increasing agility and gaining valuable customer insights that maximizes return on investment.