RichRelevance has bought online merchandising platform provider Avail for an undisclosed sum, in a deal announced this week.
RichRelevance, the San Francisco-based provider of dynamic personalisation, says the move to buy Swedish Avail gives it a global presence and makes it the market leader in personalisation for retail.
“The combination of RichRelevance and Avail brings tremendous value to our clients in the EU and around the world,” said David Selinger, chief executive of RichRelevance (pictured). “Global retail is undergoing a sea change and there has never been a more exciting or interesting time to be in the retail sector. Tremendous shifts in consumer behavior have put pressure on retailers to adopt new high-impact strategies driven by technology, data and measurement. This acquisition rounds out our ability to support the complete topography of our retail partners’ needs in the EU and across the globe.”
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Online merchants like the idea of being able to recommend products to shoppers based on their profiles and previous purchase history, and two vendors that provide such tools are getting together. RichRelevance acquired Swedish online merchandising platform Avail, which brings 82 new clients to its portfolio and extends its reach deeper into Europe and adds new geographic coverage in Australia and India.
RichRelevance powers personalized shopping experiences for retail brands including Walmart, Sears, Target, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, and Avail’s retail clients include Argos, La Redoute and Halens.
UK stores must adapt to the rise and rise of digital shopping, or face becoming obsolete. That’s the conclusion that British Land, owner of 29m sq ft of retail space, has come to in recent months. Today we bring you the full story including how it plans, as a major investor in retail property, to counter that threat of obsolescence.
Timely, then, that we also report on TUI Travel’s plans for its Thomson holiday company as it looks to transform its own high street presence for that digital future. Elsewhere in today’s Internet Retailing newsletter, we report on InPost’s plans to roll out a 2,000-strong locker bank network around the UK this year, on RichRelevance’s acquisition of Avail, and on Barclaycard’s use of personalisation to deliver ‘bespoke’ offers to UK shoppers. We also report on judgment day in the Internet Retailing Awards.
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That means that customers of many popular international online retailers may soon begin noticing increased relevance in offered recommendations and more tailored virtual storefronts based on their shopping preferences and habits.
RichRelevance helps retailers increase sales and customer engagement by recommending the most relevant products to customers. It delivers over one billion product recommendations daily and the company boasts a client base that includes Walmart, Sears, and Target.
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RichRelevance has acquired Avail, Europe’s largest provider of online merchandising platforms. This acquisition creates the undisputed global market leader in personalization for retail, bringing 82 new clients and expanding our geographic footprint deeper in EU, and into Australia and India.
To hear a few words from CEO David Selinger and Avail CEO Pontus Kristiansson on the acquisition, please view the video here:
View the press release here.
Acquisition brings 82 new clients to RichRelevance roster and extends geographic footprint deeper in EU, and into Australia
San Francisco, CA – May 13, 2013 – RichRelevance, the leading provider of dynamic personalization for the world’s largest retailers and brands, today announced that it has acquired Avail, Europe’s largest provider of online merchandising platforms. Based in Sweden, Avail serves more than 80 retail clients, including cornerstone brands Argos, La Redoute and Halens. The acquisition combines the Avail and RichRelevance client roster to create the undisputed global market leader in personalization for retail – and unifies the companies’ expertise to create the strongest partner to the retail community at a regional and international scale.
Through this acquisition, RichRelevance gains an immediate presence in new countries, including Australia and India. The combined company ranks #1 for personalization in both the Internet Retailer 500 and Internet Retailer EU250, now with customers in 29 countries worldwide.
“The combination of RichRelevance and Avail brings tremendous value to our clients in the EU and around the world,” said David Selinger, CEO of RichRelevance. “Global retail is undergoing a sea change, and there has never been a more exciting or interesting time to be in the retail sector. Tremendous shifts in consumer behavior have put pressure on retailers to adopt new high-impact strategies driven by technology, data and measurement. This acquisition rounds out our ability to support the complete topography of our retail partners’ needs in the EU and across the globe.”
As a combined company, RichRelevance creates significant client value through unmatched expertise and understanding of the retail, personalization and big data markets—at the scale of global commerce. RichRelevance will retain key Avail executives and talent who have been instrumental in driving forward the conversation and capabilities in data-driven merchandising over the past decade as part of its ongoing growth strategy. Avail’s CEO Pontus Kristiansson will continue to guide strategy and oversee day-to-day operations. RichRelevance—which was recently named a “Best Place to Work” in the Bay Area—will also maintain team members in engineering, client services and finance/operations roles to complement the existing RichRelevance EU team.
The addition of Avail’s significant EU retail expertise, together with RichRelevance’s industry-leading cloud-based personalization platform, ensures that clients can continue to take full advantage of the cutting edge in personalized retail experiences. “The Avail and RichRelevance management teams share a vision of creating new value for retailers through our union,” said Kristiansson. “Personalization is the path forward, and our clients look to us to lead the way to the most effective strategies for their diverse customers. Now, by joining up with RichRelevance, we can continue to evolve this absolutely essential space more efficiently and effectively.”
“Pontus and the entire Avail team are highly respected in the EU technology community as the leading experts in retail data-driven merchandising,” said Selinger. “As we continue to evolve our company to meet the needs of true global commerce, their perspective and insights will be invaluable for our business and our clients.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and Scope Capital and Headwaters MB have acted as financial advisors to Avail prior to and during this transaction. “We see tremendous potential in the combination of the companies and look forward to contributing to this journey as shareholders of RichRelevance,” said Andreas Ossmark, Partner at Scope Capital.
About RichRelevance
RichRelevance delivers over one billion product recommendations daily, powering the personalized shopping experiences for consumers shopping the world’s largest and most innovative retail brands like Walmart, Sears, Target, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis. Founded and led by the e-commerce expert who helped pioneer personalization at Amazon.com, RichRelevance helps retailers increase sales and customer engagement by recommending the most relevant products to consumers regardless of the channel they are shopping. RichRelevance has delivered more than 8 billion in attributable sales for its retail clients to date, and is accelerating these results with the introduction of a new form of digital advertising called Shopping Media which allows manufacturers to engage consumers where it matters most—in the digital aisles on the largest retail sites in world. RichRelevance is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, London, Malmo, Munich and Paris. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.com.