UPDATED 12:30 EDT / JANUARY 16 2018

APPS

Instacart acquires Unata, a digital shopping platform for grocery stores

Same-day grocery delivery service Instacart announced today that it has acquired Unata, a white-label ecommerce platform for grocery retailers.

The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Bloomberg reported that the acquisition came out to $65 million, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Founded in 2009, Unata provides grocers with a digital shopping platform that allows their customers to place online orders for delivery or curbside pickup. Unata supports digital coupons and promotional sales, which can integrate with a store’s existing reward program, and retailers can see detailed analytics on consumer spending and path-to-purchase habits over time. The platform also makes it easy for customers to reorder products they have bought in the past, and it provides new recommendations based on their purchase history.

“Instacart’s mission has always been to be an independent partner to retailers and enable them to give their customers the best experiences using the best technology,” Instacart Chief Executive Apoorva Mehta said in a statement. “This acquisition allows us to take that commitment to the next level.”

Instacart plans on integrating Unata’s technology with its own, creating a “one-stop shop” for grocery retailers looking to compete with online rivals. Unata will operate as an independent subsidiary of Instacart and will retain its name and brands, and it will remain at its Toronto headquarters. Unata will also keep its current leadership, but the company will report to Instacart Chief Business Officer Nilam Ganenthiran.

“By combining the power of our teams and technologies, we can achieve this vision faster and for the first time ever offer a fully comprehensive, configurable digital solution for grocery retailers of all sizes,” said Unata CEO Chris Bryson.

The two companies likely hope that their new partnership will allow them to better compete against ecommerce juggernaut Amazon.com Inc., which has been looking to dominate online grocery shopping through services such as Amazon Fresh and PrimeNow. Amazon demonstrated the extent of its grocery ambitions last year when it shelled out $13.7 billion to acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market Inc.

Photo: Instacart

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