As Yahoo Small Business rebrands today, some people may have trouble remembering when Yahoo was the search engine of choice, preceding Google. Twenty-three years ago, Yahoo launched the Yahoo Stores platform – a predecessor to Shopify and BigCommerce.
Since then, Yahoo’s ecommerce offerings have gone through some branding and ownership changes, culminating in today’s announcements: Yahoo Small Business is officially rebranding to Verizon Small Business Essentials.
The rebranding was expected. As we reported earlier this year, Verizon sold 90% of its media unit in May with the agreement it would be branded Yahoo by its new owner. Yahoo Small Business was not included in the sale.
At the time, a Verizon spokesperson told EcommerceBytes that while there would likely be some branding changes, “the products our customers trust and the team members they work with will remain part of Verizon. Our team remains committed to providing our customers with innovative solutions that drive their businesses forward.”
Verizon announced it is offering discounts for new customers to celebrate the rebrand valid through March 31,2022, including the following:
- Localworks annual plans: New customers can enjoy 10% off a new plan with the coupon code LOCALworks10.
- Web Design plans: New customers will receive up to $250 off a web design plan by using the coupon code DIFMDEAL.
- Domain Registration: New customers can take advantage of 21% off business email accounts, including 5 email addresses and a domain registration.
For anyone interested, you can find the Stores offerings on this page of the Verizon website (click Stores) where plans range from a $33.95/month Starter store (“everything you need to launch your first ecommerce store”) to a $254.95/month Professional store (“provides the lowest overhead for larger businesses”). A midrange “Standard” plan that “helps optimize your business revenue with lower transaction fees & APIs connectivity” costs $84.95/month.
“We’re excited to mark a new chapter for our brand, which has proudly supported entrepreneurs and small businesses online for more than two decades,” said Chris Wayne, Managing Director at Verizon Small Business Essentials said in today’s announcement. “While our name is changing, our mission and commitment to our customers is not. We are more focused than ever on helping small businesses succeed, especially as we all continue to navigate the dynamic business landscape today.”
Horrible transition as they did not migrate account name/password combo for hosted websites…. 2 hours on hold to finally get into our hosted website and retrieve orders… glad I used “forward a copy” of emails or would never had even known our Mail and website backbone were no longer accessible.