Dive Brief:

• Business solutions and marketing company Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) has acquired tech startup RangeMe, according to Project NOSH. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• RangeMe, which originated in Australia before its 2015 U.S. entry, provides software used by food retailers such as Target, Whole Foods, Sam's Club and more to help streamline and scale new CPG product discovery. The company has raised millions of dollars through several funding rounds in recent years.
• “Our mission has always been to help both sets of customers [retailers and CPG manufacturers] make their buying process and work flows more efficient and more effective, ECRM CEO Greg Farrar told Project NOSH. “The addition of RangeMe is going to enable us to do that in a more comprehensive way, a more granular way and really provide a lot more value.”

Dive Insight:

Buying RangeMe appears to be a very savvy investment for ECRM. The deal expands ECRM’s existing suite of solutions and increases the firm’s value proposition by offering a new and innovative technology-based platform for retailers and suppliers to connect and initiate business collaboration.

Linking brands with retail buyers is at the core of ECRM’s business. Historically, this has been done offline by arranging in-person meetings at a series of industry events hosted by ECRM. Now, by acquiring software-as-a-solution company RangeMe, ECRM gains a cost-effective means of bringing buyers and sellers together virtually via an online platform. With the backing of a private company, RangeMe will be able to quickly scale up. The company currently counts Ahold USA and Southeastern Grocers among its retail partners.

The deal also broadens ECRM’s supplier reach beyond traditional CPG brands, most of which have been stymied by stagnating growth in recent years. RangeMe focuses on the specialty foods market, mostly comprising small, niche operators — including local manufacturers and new food startups — representing quite a coup for ECRM.

Consequently, the move is viewed as a win-win-win. ECRM and RangeMe benefit in terms of future growth potential, and stores gain easy and increased access to a host of specialty niche products and brands. But the ultimate winner may very well be the shopper, who should see a better assortment of increasingly tailored product mixes on store shelves.