Lowe’s acquires Boomerang’s retail analytics platform

New York Stock Exchange-listed home improvement company Lowe’s Companies Inc. has acquired the retail analytics platform of Boomerang Commerce for bolstering its technological capabilities.

The technology platform will be integrated into Lowe’s core retail business to facilitate strategic and data-driven pricing, a company statement said. Merchandise assortment decisions will be better implemented by harnessing this technology, the statement added.

Boomerang’s platform processes product and pricing datasets to convert them into actionable outcomes. The acquisition is designed to assist in modernizing and digitizing Lowe’s approach to pricing, the statement said.

“One of the key components of our transformation here at Lowe’s is to modernize our technology. Pricing and assortment planning have been identified as strategic areas in need of modernization,” said Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s chief information officer. “When we find the right assets to buy and advance our strategy, we will pursue that,” she added.

Lowe’s acquisition includes both the proprietary technology and tools for Boomerang’s retail analytics platform. However, it excludes customer contracts and related data. As part of the deal, some associates from the retail analytics team in Bengaluru and the US will join Lowe’s.

CommerceIQ, the data-driven merchandising decisions vertical founded by Guru Hariharan, will operate as a standalone business with Hariharan as CEO.

Founded in 1946, Lowe’s is based in North Carolina and operates in the US and Canada. It serves over 18 million customers, as per a company statement.

Boomerang is an analytics firm founded in 2012 by Hariharan. The San Francisco-based retail analytics provider recently raised its Series B round of funding led by Shasta Ventures.

In 2013, Boomerang opened its first office in India at Bengaluru. Bala Kuppuswamy, an IIT Madras alumnus, now serves as General Manager (Retail) at Boomerang.

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