According to A&O, total acquisition value for technology deals around the world surpassed $1tn for the first time in 2022. This is largely due to the fact that, as enterprise retail brands become more omnichannel and innovative, they want to use centralized platforms. In turn, this means that retail tech companies need to unite to empower enterprise brand and bank service offerings.
After all, why use multiple disparate systems to manage staff, customers, and in-store versus online experiences when you can use a centralized platform to find a single source of truth?
Keep reading to learn about the top retail tech acquisitions and what this means for the future of retail.
Table of Contents
- Exponea by Bloomreach
- Deliver by Shopify
- Qudini by Verint
- IPSOS Retail Performance by RetailNext
- Reflexis Systems by Zebra Technologies
- Conversocial by Verint
- Red Hat by IBM
Top 8 retail tech acquisitions
Here are our top eight retail technology acquisitions:
1. Exponea by Bloomreach
Two years ago, Bloomreach made the exciting announcement that they would be acquiring Exponea, a leading marketing automation provider.
Bloomreach specializes in product data, while Exponea specializes in customer data. We’re very much looking forward to what Bloomreach does next.
What’s more, you can also integrate Qudini by Verint with Bloomreach’s platforms to continually enrich your CRM database and recognize existing customers entering your store in Qudini’s platform.
2. Deliverr by Shopify
Shopify, the popular commerce platform helping small businesses to create online stores, acquired Deliverr last year. Logistics system Deliverr helps small business owners to speed up delivery and stay competitive with larger brands offering same or next-day delivery.
The move helps Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) to empower independent businesses across the globe by simplifying supply chain management.
Crucially, Deliverr has empowered Shopify to release a new service. Shopify’s Shop Promise enables business owners to offer next-day and two-day delivery.
3. Qudini by Verint
Last month, on January 13th 2023, Verint made the very exciting announcement that they were expanding their Customer Engagement Platform by acquiring Qudini.
Combining Verint and Qudini’s experience management capabilities, we’re now able to help our clients with an even wider variety of use cases.
As Qudini founder Imogen Wethered shared in a special announcement last month, “Together with Verint, Qudini’s Retail Choreography suite will enable more brands to offer better customer experiences that drive sales, loyalty and productivity through appointment scheduling, managing walk-ins, event booking and managing their store associates’ time, tasks and communications in a single platform.”
We can’t wait to empower our clients by leveraging Verint’s exciting software suite, which includes Engagement Orchestration, Experience Management and Forecasting and Scheduling.
While on the subject, let’s take a look at another successful Verint acquisition.
Read the official press release here
Qudini, the leading provider of Retail Choreography Software solutions, was recently acquired by Verint, the go-to customer engagement provider.
4. IPSOS Retail Performance by RetailNext
In November 2022, RetailNext, a data analytics provider for businesses also revealed that they had acquired IPSOS Retail Performance.
Retail Performance is a people counting software that analyzes customer flow across retail stores. The acquisition will help Retail Next to expand their retail intelligence capabilities in the future.
5. Reflexis Systems by Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies acquired Reflexis Systems in 2020. Reflexis Systems is an execution and communications solution provider specializing in industries such as food service and hospitality.
Meanwhile, Zebra Technologies is a workforce management provider helping manufacturing, transporting, logistics, healthcare, public sector and other industries.
With the addition of Reflexis Systems’, Zebra Technologies is hoping to expand their customer base and develop their capabilities.
6. Conversocial by Verint
Verint is quickly becoming the world’s most comprehensive XM platform by joining forces with market-leading retail tech companies. In addition to their Qudini acquisition, Verint also acquired Conversocial, a conversational AI tool in 2021.
Touching on the acquisition, Dan Miller, lead analyst at Opus Research, said, ““For more than a decade, Conversocial helped brands add social networks and messaging platforms to their marketing and customer support channels. Verint’s clients will now benefit from the combined companies’ demonstrated ability to offer AI-infused self-service and assisted service to digital-first customers.”
Fast-forward to the present day and Verint Messaging has become the leading tool brands rely on to create fully automated and personalized conversations.
Read the official press release here
7. Go Instore by Emplifi
UK-based live streaming platform Go Instore was acquired by Emplifi in 2021. Emplifi is a Customer Engagement platform with software solutions including Social Media Analytics and Influencer Marketing.
The acquisition has strengthened Emplifi’s position as a formidable platform for social and live commerce. B2C brands using Emplifi can engage customers via one-to-one and one-to-many video streams thanks to Go Instore’s capabilities.
Did you know that Qudini by Verint and Go Instore are partners? Check out our Go Instore integration for more details.
8. Red Hat by IBM
Lastly, but by no means least, IBM made one of the biggest software acquisitions of recent years. IBM acquired open-source solutions provider Red Hat for a staggering $34 bn in 2018.
Together, IBM and Red Hat are driving next-generation multicloud platform innovation to ensure businesses can deploy on-premise applications securely.
Conclusion
We’re in the middle of a retail revolution that starts with rising customer expectations. The modern consumer wants retailers and banks to become more omnichannel and innovative.
In turn, retailers and banks are finding ways to expand their service offering by investing in digital tools. Previously, brands relied on a carousel full of different tech companies. Yet they’re now looking to consolidate their systems to optimize costs and find a single source of truth.
The greatest retail tech companies are realizing that they’re stronger united than apart. We’re thrilled to see so many SaaS providers joining forces to push boundaries.
