GSI Commerce Inc. announced its Marketing Services division has acquired FetchBack Inc., a Tempe, Arizona-based provider of retargeting solutions for more than 500 advertisers.
FetchBack's scalable technology delivers targeted messages to online visitors after they have left a Web site, enabling clients of all sizes to recapture lost prospects, and offers an industry-leading analytics platform that provides clients with unparalleled insight into their online campaigns. This acquisition expands the breadth of GSI's marketing services capabilities with an advanced solution that complements its existing offerings, and expands its reach into new vertical markets.
FetchBack has one of the largest client bases in the industry thanks to its 95 percent monthly retention rate. Clients include True Religion, Pingg, Abacus 24-7, Grand Canyon University, and Aqua Superstore. Key components of FetchBack's retargeting technology include:
* Multi-Network, DSP, Exchange Reach: With FetchBack's distribution channel, clients can reach the majority of prior site visitors, far exceeding the traditional reach of single-network solutions. Visitors are retargeted using online activity data collected during prior visits to an advertiser's site, such as categories and products viewed, abandoned shopping cart items, and keywords and product selection.
* FIDO: FetchBack's proprietary retargeting platform selects attributes (from collected visitor data) that will have the most appeal to the highest value potential customers and then generates appropriate advertisements on multiple ad networks.
* Advanced Retargeting Analytics: FetchBack's advanced analytics system dynamically collects customer data and tracks 87 metrics, enabling granular visibility and deep campaign analysis and optimization. Current metrics include audience, response, conversion and ROI.
* Dynamic Ads Backed by Recommendation Engine Technology: FetchBack's recommendation engine drives dynamic and instantaneous generation of ads that are highly relevant to site visitors, increasing the likelihood they will return to the client's site and convert.
“Retargeting is far more effective than traditional display advertising, and FetchBack's retargeting technology outpaces others in the market,” said Chris Saridakis, chief executive officer of GSI's Marketing Services division. “We believe FetchBack can deliver dramatic, measurable results for our clients looking to reconnect with customers through targeted and relevant messages that drive conversions effortlessly. Their technology is well aligned with our strategy to expand GSI's marketing services capabilities. We look forward to making retargeting an integral, highly effective component of our clients' marketing programs.”
“We've expanded our client base and market reach tremendously in a few short years and we've reached a point where this acquisition makes perfect sense,” said Chad Little, founder and CEO of FetchBack. “It positions us for continued growth while enabling us to focus on further enhancements to our technology. Our clients will benefit from access to GSI's expertise across a broad set of marketing services, and GSI clients will be able to incorporate our solutions to improve the ROI of their online campaigns.”
FetchBack will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of GSI's Global Marketing Services division, which also includes sister companies TrueAction, Silverlign, GSI Media and e-Dialog. All of the business units within the reorganized division now report directly to Saridakis. Little will continue to lead FetchBack's operations and will be a key contributor to developing innovative targeting products for GSI's Marketing Services division.
“This move unites all of the business units operating under GSI's Global Marketing Services division with a common and focused goal of providing unparalleled customer service as well as the most comprehensive, industry-leading solutions available to solve today's—and tomorrow's—online marketing challenges,” explained Saridakis.
Nick Pahade, president of TrueAction, has resigned and will be leaving the company to pursue other interests.
Gridley & Company, a New York City-based boutique investment bank, provided GSI with advisory services on the deal. Petsky Prunier provided FetchBack with advisory services on the deal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
