RELEX Solutions has acquired Formulate, a Swedish promotion planning, and analytics company, building upon its position as a trusted provider of unified retail planning solutions.
The acquisition is a step in RELEX’s commitment to offering a best-in-class unified platform with a robust promotion planning solution for retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies across the globe.
Andreas Willgert, Co-Founder and CEO of Formulate said, “now, more than ever, retailers and brands need adequate promotion planning software to optimise their efficiencies and profits as misinterpreting sales data can be costly. That’s why we’re excited to partner with RELEX and accelerate our growth and reach a wider customer base. Formulate will be fully integrated into the unified RELEX Living Retail Platform, which will allow us to bring this great technology to more retailers across the globe, helping retailers and brands achieve marked results in their promotion planning.”
Efficient promotional planning is a factor to consider for retailers but is also notoriously difficult to manage, time-consuming, and mistakes can be costly. Lack of quality forecasting and scenario testing damages retailers’ overall business and logistics strategy, leading to a loss of 30-40 per cent of promotional sales and 15-30 per cent of promotion profits.
With this acquisition, retailers will benefit from improved planning and optimization capabilities for each stage of the promotion process with the help of proprietary AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics in an easily accessible and understandable way. Founded in 2016, Formulate offers AI-based analytics for evaluating, predicting, and planning retail promotions. The company’s customers have reported a 15 per cent profit improvement on promoted items, 75 per cent time saved per person per week on promo analysis and forecasting, and 20 per cent sales uplift on promoted items.
The acquisition will strengthen the RELEX supply chain and retail platform and allow the Formulate software to reach a larger global network of customers.
Mikko Kärkkäinen, RELEX’s Group CEO added, “RELEX and Formulate offer valuable services that are already very aligned, and between both companies, we have a great deal in common, including many of the same customers. This acquisition will strengthen our product portfolio in an area where our business is experiencing high customer demand. Their cutting-edge, innovative promotion planning solution and highly skilled promotional experts will be a great cultural fit for RELEX and a perfect addition to our suite of solutions. We are excited to help bring this technology to the global retail market and improve our customers’ experience.”
