How the war in Ukraine obliquely touched our business

Posted by Benjamin on 23rd Mar 2022

We have very few customers in Russia and Ukraine, so I assumed the war would not have any ties to our business at all, but tangentially the war does have an impact here, since two of our main service providers are affected.

We currently use a service called Tidio to provide chat support. Since they're based in Poland, they obviously have a keen interest in the disastrous conflagration over the borders. Tidio recently issued a press release: "Deeply saddened and alarmed by the events happening just across our eastern border, Tidio wants to support Ukraine and publicly express that we stand with the Ukrainian people."

The press release goes on to mention that "[many of our employees are Ukrainian. Some of our employee’s family members are in Ukraine, many of them actively fighting against the invasion. We cannot imagine how this must feel—the least we can do is offer professional psychological assistance to those who need it."

We also discovered that the software platform which our store is built on, Bigcommerce, has a team of software engineers in Kyiv.

Two weeks ago Bigcommerce sent out a message which mentioned the tribulations that software team is dealing with. "The BigCommerce team includes 106 extraordinarily talented, kind and valued employees based in Kyiv, Ukraine. We feel personal responsibility to do everything possible to protect, assist and defend our beloved colleagues. BigCommerce is working 24/7 to stay in touch with and support our team during this crisis. So far, the team has stayed in communication with us on a daily basis, despite the fact that most have relocated, some report as being in immediate danger and some have taken up arms to defend their country."