Fusion5 acquires Kiwi e-commerce consultancy Pocket Square

Trans-Tasman tech consultancy Fusion5 has picked up e-commerce specialist Pocket Square, a premier Shopify partner with 15 experts spread across its outlets in Auckland, Nelson and Sydney.

Pocket Square was established by Lance O’Grady and Ryan Fredericks in Auckland in 2013 with a focus on providing digital sales and CX solutions to clients in the fashion and retail sectors, shortly after becoming the country’s first Shopify Plus partner.

Fusion5’s purchase of the company continues a run of acquisitions made over the past two years, including four since its late 2023 majority sale to private equity firm BGH Capital, which just offloaded CyberCX to Accenture for a reported $1 billion-plus.

“On top of our purchase of Sydney-based Microsoft partner Optimum.consulting last year, the addition of Pocket Square to the Fusion5 family means our customers have ready access to a wealth of expertise in the retail and e-commerce sectors, no matter their technology environment,” commented Fusion5’s Australia chief executive Sven Martin.

Pocket Square provides a wide range of e-commerce services geared around strategy, analysis & consulting, UX and UI design, and tech development and integration, with Bendon Lingerie, UBCO Bikes, the Salvation Army, and Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand featuring among the company’s more than 40 engagements to date – a figure it will look to build on with the backing of Fusion5.

“This is a huge milestone for our team and our clients,” O’Grady said as to the now expanded breadth of Pocket Square’s offering. “By combining our Shopify expertise with Fusion5’s total transformation capability across AI, integration, managed services, security, and a host of top tier business applications, we’ll be able to support our clients in more ways than ever before.”

Fusion5 recently underwent a brand revamp to reflect what the 2002-founded firm said was its transition from a business applications company to a ‘full-service transformation partner’ following the integration of its previous acquisitions. The addition of the Pocket Square team pushes the firm’s headcount toward the 900-mark, covering nine locations across Australia and New Zealand.

Further commenting on its latest acquisition and ever-growing demand for digital commerce expertise, NZ CEO Kristy Brown added: “The ability to do business online is now a must-have, not a nice-to-have. By bringing Pocket Square into the fold, we can support our customers regardless of their underlying financial applications with a powerful, right-sized solution.”