Google LLC said today that it’s acquiring Pointy, a Dublin, Ireland-based startup that has carved out a unique niche for itself developing e-commerce hardware.

The search giant didn’t disclose how much the deal is worth in the blog post announcing the transaction. But a source told TechCrunch that Google is paying 147 million pounds, or about $163 million.

Pointy sells a matchbox-sized device (pictured) that retailers can plug into their barcode scanners to measure product inventory levels. It estimates what and how many items are in stock by analyzing customer purchases.

Pointy uses this data to automatically generate a web page that displays a store’s products, as well as information on whether they’re currently available. The startup’s pitch to businesses is that its platform allows them to make their catalogs discoverable on Google without the need to build an e-commerce site on their own. It’s a message that has resonated in the industry: Pointy claims it has more than 15,000 retail customers worldwide.

The acquisition will enable Google to make its search engine more useful for consumers. Thanks to a 2018 partnership with Pointy, Google has been showing product listings generated by the startup’s platform inside the so-called Knowledge Panels that show up in search results when a user looks up a business. As a part of Alphabet Inc., Pointy will be in a position to extend coverage to more businesses in more regions.

The deal also gives Google a new tool for driving ad sales. Pointy’s platform enables stores to automatically turn their product listings into search ads, a capability that could help Google better target small businesses by simplifying the campaign creation process.

Google said the acquisition should close in the coming weeks. The Irish Times reported that Pointy is expected to continue to “operate from its own Dublin offices and develop its product platform,” which likely means the Pointy platform will remain available as a standalone offering for the time being.

But in the long term, it would make sense if Google were to bake Pointy into its Google Merchant suite of retailer solutions. The search could also take other steps to expand adoption of Pointy’s platform among store operators. Google could lower the Pointy device’s current $899 price tag and enhance the free software version of the module that the startup offers, which companies can install on existing point-of-sale systems.

Photo: Pointy