WINSTON-SALEM – If you’ve ever redeemed a coupon, filed a prescription, or returned a product, that transaction and data have been touched by Winston Salem-based data analytics company Inmar, which has made a strategic partnership with the nation’s largest grocer, Kroger, including the acquisition of one of Kroger’s digital assets, You Technology.
Inmar
The purpose is to drive innovation in digital offer management, the companies said in a jointly issued press release. The deal also includes a long-term services agreement between the companies with Inmar providing the continued delivery of its digital offer management services to Kroger.
The acquisition of San Francisco-based YouTech by Inmar allows the company to combine the YouTech technology, a cloud-based digital offer platform that enables shoppers to redeem digital coupons at Kroger and other retailers in the United States, and Inmar’s expertise in managing open platforms to improve accessibility and expand coupon and rebate distribution for consumer packaged goods.
“By joining together with Inmar, YouTech will have the opportunity to expand both its retailer relationships outside of Kroger and its portfolio of capabilities,” said Yael Cosset, chief digital officer for The Kroger Company.
Changing the business of coupon redemption
Inmar began as Carolina Coupon Clearing in 1980 by John Whitaker, the son of an RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company executive as a business for clearing coupons for retailers. At the time, the industry measured redemption based on the weight of coupons by the pound, and Whitaker and his team decided there must be a better way, so they set out to develop and apply technology to the practice of coupon settlement.
In acquiring YouTech–which The Kroger Company acquired in 2014–the company continues a long history of making acquisitions to enhance their business offerings.
“The acquisition of YouTech will also broaden our distribution network and enhance Inmar’s capabilities as a trusted, independent intermediary, allowing us to better serve the evolving needs of both CPGs and all of our retail partners,” said David Mounts, chairman and CEO of Inmar.
In 1996, the company acquired National Distribution Services and rebuilt itself to offer complete reverse logistics outsourcing software. The company acquired a web design firm in 1999, and Vista Research, a provider of remote systems management services in 2000. In 2005, the company acquired VSI Targeting, whose technology allowed marketers to optimize coupon promotion offers, USF Processors, a provider of reverse logistics solutions in healthcare and consumer goods, and the consumer products division of the former Universal Solutions International, Inc.
The company’s continued growth in the decade was fueled by an infusion of capital through a partnership with private equity firm New Mountain Capital in 2007, and brought all of their businesses under the Inmar name in 2009 along with a rebrand.
Inmar acquired the winner of Amazon’s AWS Start-Up Challenge, M-Dot Network, in 2011, and the company’s proprietary technology was quickly integrated into Inmar’s digital solutions to leverage in-store infrastructure to redeem paperless coupons at checkout in real time. The following year, the company acquired vueLogic, along with a cross-channel predictive analytics platform and a cloud-based analytics-driven CRM.
The company completed a dozen additional acquisitions, including buying one of Canada’s largest coupon and rebate processors and a retail marketing firm that specialized in serving independent grocers, between 2014 and today.
Inmar’s latest acquisition won’t process until the first quarter of 2019, as the strategic partnership and the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, the companies said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled for YouTech to join Inmar, enhancing our already exceptional ability to help retailers drive loyalty and growth through better digital content,” said Mounts.
