Customer Data Platform Industry Accelerated During Pandemic: CDP Institute Report

Customer Data Platform (CDP) vendors grew at a record pace during the first half of 2021, according to the CDP Institute’s latest Industry Update report.  The semi-annual report found that a brief slowdown at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic was replaced by accelerated growth, increased funding, and strategic acquisitions as companies invested in CDPs to support pandemic-inspired transformation projects.

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CDP vendors listed in previous reports added 6% more employees and 11% more venture funding during the first half of 2021, compared with 1% employment growth and 3% funding growth in the second half of 2020.

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In addition, a near-record twenty new CDP vendors were added to the report.   These were split about evenly between CDP start-ups and established businesses that added a CDP capability to existing products.

Industry growth is also reflected by a record eight CDP acquisitions and mergers during the period.  Most buyers were customer engagement software vendors seeking a CDP to connect siloed components of multi-channel suites.

Growth was especially strong in the Asia Pacific region, whose share of industry vendors grew from 13% one year ago to 17%, share of employment grew from 10% to 14%, and share of funding grew from just 6% to 25%.  Europe-based companies fell from 39% to 38% of vendors, from 32% to 28% of employment, and from 14% to 12% of funding over the same period.

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The report estimates CDP Industry revenue for 2021 at $1.6 billion.  This figure represents revenues for all CDP product sales worldwide, including CDP components within other systems such as marketing suites, message delivery systems, and ecommerce platforms.  It does not include related services or in-house customer data system development.

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