The Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from movers and shakers in the payments industry. The payments industry is under continuous transformation. This series offers diverse perspectives on everything from strategy to payments technology and the industry’s future.
This interview between TSG’s Morgan Murphy and Mauricio Comi, Vice President of Commerce Product Management at GoDaddy, explores the challenges small businesses face and how GoDaddy supports them in adapting to changing payment trends. Mauricio Comi shares insights on GoDaddy’s transformation from a web hosting provider into a full-featured commerce platform, drawing from his extensive industry experience and unique perspective.
Bio: Mauricio Comi, Vice President of Commerce Product Management, oversees the GoDaddy products that empower small businesses to run and grow their brick-and-mortar and e-commerce stores. Mauricio comes from a line of small business owners and draws inspiration from his family as well as his 17+ years of experience at Fortune 500 companies to best serve the small businesses of today.
Q. Morgan M.
You’ve recently joined GoDaddy as the VP of Commerce Product Management. Tell me a little bit about what attracted you to work for GoDaddy?
A. Mauricio C.
As I was looking for my next career move, I wanted to find more than just any big opportunity. I was really looking for a role that could ideally have a significant and meaningful impact on the lives of a lot of people, and also allow me to learn from an incredible team.
My parents are small business owners, and growing up I participated in both their businesses. Coming from a family of small retail entrepreneurs, I’ve witnessed the daily challenges small businesses face up close, and how technology can make life better or worse. GoDaddy’s mission to empower entrepreneurs is a personal one, and I am incredibly excited to get to work in this space.
Q. Morgan M.
How have your experiences from all around the world helped shape your knowledge of payments? And how has your leadership philosophy evolved over the years?
A. Mauricio C.
One of the most interesting things about having lived in nine countries is that you get to experience all the ways cultures and customs vary. Payments is no exception. The way people pay in different countries can vary widely as different payment methods are used. People’s relationship to credit is also very different.
This understanding helps me approach things more wholistically, and I think it’s shaped my leadership style as well. Having small business owner parents, I grew up with a very careful, perhaps even conservative mindset. However, when I moved to Silicon Valley, I experienced the way companies tackling very big ambitious projects took a different approach. I’ve adopted a blend of the two.
As I look at the opportunity GoDaddy has ahead, I am excited we are taking a big swing at a very exciting opportunity.
Q. Morgan M.
GoDaddy has had an interesting evolution from its early days. Where is GoDaddy at today in its payments journey, and what excites you most about the future of the payments industry?
A. Mauricio C.
GoDaddy’s been around since 1997. It began as a domain and web hosting company, but has since expanded to offer website builders, digital marketing and of course commerce in 2021. We’re relatively new to the commerce and payments space; however, we’ve been able to make a big impact the last three years. We launched GoDaddy Payments, Payable Domains, a line of award-winning Point-of-Sale devices, Managed WooCommerce Stores and expanded GoDaddy Commerce offerings internationally into Canada. We’ve also joined forces with key partners like Worldpay, Microsoft Teams, Paze and more to expand GoDaddy’s commerce reach and help small businesses around the world.
Additionally, we have built some amazing products and have more on the horizon. In our Q3 Earnings, we shared GoDaddy’s Applications and Commerce (A&C) revenue grew 16% year-over-year, and the annualized recurring revenue for A&C grew 15% year-over-year, to $1.6 billion. GoDaddy is uniquely positioned to win in this space, and the work we are doing now is just the beginning.
Q. Morgan M.
Since Generative AI came on the scene, it’s sparked innovation across many industries. How is GoDaddy looking at GenAI and how do you envision it can be used in commerce?
A. Mauricio C.
I’m not being hyperbolic when I say, Generative AI is a game changer for small businesses. GoDaddy has been working hard to ensure we’re building, testing, and rolling out easy-to-use products that democratizes AI so small businesses can easily access it.
Last year, GoDaddy released free resources for entrepreneurs like GoDaddy’s AI prompt library and webinars to help educate small businesses. We also built generative AI-powered solutions, the main one being GoDaddy Airo™, an experience that takes you from idea to online in minutes. Now, when someone buys a domain from GoDaddy, it unlocks a suite of capabilities leveraging AI to bring their brand to life.
We think commerce has an opportunity to tap into GenAI to help small businesses that don’t even have an online store—and we’ve developed some unique use cases in beta currently. For instance, a café owner can use their GoDaddy Smart Terminal POS to take a picture of their menu board. Then GoDaddy Airo will create and digitize their catalog in minutes. A clothing boutique owner can use voice commands on their Smart Terminal to update inventory, get a recap of sales for the week and more. These changes made by GoDaddy Airo will also sync with a business’ online store for a seamless commerce experience. Made even more efficient thanks to GenAI being integrated with commerce.
We’re seeing online stores built with GoDaddy Airo generate up to 43% more sales than those that did not use GenAI.1 Our AI tools are saving business owners a significant amount of time by automating time-consuming tasks and also helping them grow sales in the process. It really is game changing.
Q. Morgan M.
What are the top small business challenges today and how does GoDaddy support merchants in overcoming these challenges?
A. Mauricio C.
When it comes to commerce, a big challenge small businesses face right now is meeting growing demands for convenience from younger consumers in particular. For example, according to a recent GoDaddy survey more than 4 in 10 Gen Z consumers said they have not shopped with a business because it didn’t offer Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS). These are things that larger companies can easily incorporate, yet for a small business it can feel daunting if you don’t know where to start.
This is where I think GoDaddy really shines. We design our products to streamline the day-to-day operations of a small business and always look for ways to incorporate new features that help small businesses attract and retain customers.
Take the GoDaddy Smart Terminal. Because it’s fully integrated with our online stores, small businesses can easily track curbside or in-store pick-up orders that their customers place online and manage everything from one dashboard. The business can offer BOPIS to attract Gen Z and Millennial consumers, and their inventory and sales will automatically update behind the scenes to save them quite a bit of time.
Plus, if a small business needs it, we have expert guides available 24/7 for added assistance.
Q. Morgan M.
With the rise of contactless and mobile payment methods, how do you see the intersection of physical and digital payments evolving in the coming years, and what type of opportunities may present themselves to GoDaddy in this new unified commerce landscape?
A. Mauricio C.
The way payments are evolving is very exciting, especially when you look at it through the lens of small businesses.
Take a plumber for instance. Just ten years ago, they would likely have to rely on checks to be paid for large jobs. They would need to take that check to the bank in hopes that it clears. Now, thanks to the digitization of in-person payments, they can accept Tap payments through the GoDaddy Mobile App. Then see that payment accepted instantly. Plus, our recent survey found 63% of people never use personal checks. So they could be expanding their potential pool of customers by offering digital payments.
We know that businesses using digital payment solutions see it impact their bottom line—businesses that use GoDaddy Payments for their online store seeing more than a 10% increase in sales due to offering Apple Pay or Google Pay.2
These figures demonstrate the importance of digital payments and leave a lot of space for GoDaddy to further innovate and ultimately help small businesses integrate their online and offline payments.
Q. Morgan M.
How does GoDaddy work with banks to stay competitive and relevant in a world where the way things are bought and sold is evolving?
A. Mauricio C.
The world of payments has evolved drastically from a core, standalone utility to a capability that is integrated into advanced software. GoDaddy has incorporated the latest payments capabilities into our offerings, enabling entrepreneurs to run their business more efficiently, from selling online via websites, social media or marketplaces to catalogue creations and inventory management across all those platforms.
One of the unique aspects of GoDaddy is that we also partner with banks. So together we can serve even more small businesses. Banks can take advantage of GoDaddy’s capabilities and continue to offer their small business customers the latest innovative payments products (including modern POS hardware, software and ecommerce) quickly. Our partnerships with Worldpay, Elavon and Nexi are great examples of this.
Q. Morgan M.
On the other hand, what significant challenges exist for GoDaddy over the coming years? What keeps you up at night?
A. Mauricio C.
Over the past 27 years, GoDaddy has been anticipating and solving for the biggest challenges facing small businesses. Today, the landscape of doing business is changing rapidly, but I also believe there’s never been a better time to start a small business.
GoDaddy’s challenge is to continue to innovate to provide the tools and guidance that help small businesses thrive. GenAI has opened endless doors for us to explore, so that’s where I find my thoughts go at the end of the day. I can’t share details on what’s coming next from GoDaddy, but I can say it’s exciting.
- Comparison is based on the median results of GoDaddy Websites + Marketing sites created with an online store using GoDaddy Airo™ versus those that did not after purchasing a domain between January 1, 2024, and April 30, 2024, with at least 1 transaction. ↩︎
- Based on sales by existing GoDaddy online store merchants with Apple Pay or Google Pay on GoDaddy Payments. ↩︎