Publicis Groupe acquires e-commerce software firm Profitero for $210m
French holding company Publicis Groupe has announced the acquisition of Profitero, a software as a service (SaaS) company catering to brand e-commerce efforts, in a deal worth €200m ($210m).
Publicis has acquired an Irish e-commerce software company / The Drum
According to Publicis chief exec Arthur Sadoun, the purchase further hones the group’s capabilities in brand e-commerce, a major growth area for advertising holding companies in recent years. He said: “By adding Profitero to our existing assets, we are now uniquely positioned across the four key pillars our clients need to connect, to capture an unfair share of the exponential growth in online sales.”
The software company is based in Dublin and employs around 300 people. It offers e-commerce analytics software that helps brands optimize user experience, e-commerce content and track product availability.
Sadoun added: “With us, our clients will seamlessly understand people, how they shop better than anyone else, thanks to Epsilon; optimize their online product catalogue thanks to Profitero; maximize their online spend with retailers thanks to CitrusAd and the scale of Publicis Media. And they will be able to deliver unique, creative, customer experiences, through platforms backed by Publicis Sapient’s engineering expertise.”
Profitero will retain its corporate brand and will be led by chief executive Bryan Wiener and president Sarah Hofstetter. Wiener said of the setup: “This is the best of both worlds as we retain our entrepreneurial spirit as a product-led organization while benefiting from the Publicis Groupe's diverse capabilities and scale. This brings immediate value to our clients and employees with increased product and technology investment, infusion of new media and content activation capabilities and tapping into the Groupe’s global talent to fuel our continued growth.”
It's not the first software acquisition Publicis has made this year; back in January, the group bought Romanian firm Tremend to boost its digital transformation credentials.
The acquisition of Profitero will bring Publicis closer to the practical end of e-commerce – tracking stock levels and making certain sales are actually fulfilled, for example – rather than just helping clients match up their marketing activities. Rival WPP made a similar move with its recent launch of Everymile.