SES Imagotag plans to acquire French start-up In-the-Memory, founded by former Emnos directors Maxime Brunet and Alexis Mau. Both companies recently signed a letter of intent. At the beginning of last year, SES Imagotag had already bought the Irish start-up MarketHub – also a retail analytics specialist. With these moves, SES Imagotag is sharpening its expertise in data management and analytics of in-store data.
In-the-Memory has built a customer base of leading retail and consumer goods companies by developing a data management and decision-making platform. In-the-Memory’s solutions process and analyse large amounts of data coming from various sources.
At the beginning of last year, SES Imagotag had already acquired the Irish start-up MarketHub, whose team around founder Roy Horgan is responsible for the further development of a Data Centre of Excellence from its traditional headquarters in Cork. With the current acquisition of In-the-Memory, SES Imagotag could further expand its expertise in data management and retail analytics. All solutions are to be seamlessly integrated into SES Imagotag’s AI-based real-time analytics platform Vusion.
Centralised view of real-time shelf data
SES Imagotag’s connected cameras and sensors provide a significant amount of in-store data. Electronic shelf labels are also part of a connected store and linked to the Vusion platform solution. The goal of the current acquisition of In-the-Memory is to assemble a complete set of tools that retailers as well as consumer goods manufacturers can use to centrally view and manage their data across all channels. This requires specialised solutions that process and analyse the data automatically and turn it into usable insights.
SES Imagotag recently unveiled plans to combine IoT and data expertise for retailers under the Vusion platform. The acquisition of MarketHub and the planned acquisition of In-the-Memory are part of this strategy. The investment in more comprehensive store data solutions should be an important tool for SES Imagotag in the fight against aggressive price competition.
“The future of retail is in data. It enables retailers to both improve operational performance and strengthen collaboration with manufacturers,” comments Thierry Gadou, Chairman and CEO of SES Imagotag. Alexis Mau, President of In-the-Memory adds: “Together, we will develop more store data solutions. This will provide retailers and their partners with more robust tools to support their operational and strategic decision making.”
