Groupon just announced that it has acquired Swarm Mobile, a startup that helps businesses connect with and track their customers while in stores.
This continues Groupon’s pattern of expanding its offerings for local businesses beyond daily deals. Earlier this year, for example, it launched individual business pages and announced an iPad-based point-of-sale service.
Meanwhile, Swarm (not to be confused with Foursquare’s similarly-named app) uses in-store WiFi, Bluetooth, and infrared technology to track user behavior and deliver targeted promotions on smartphones.
I first wrote about the company in 2012, after it raised a $1 million seed round from rapper Nas, Honest Company co-founder Brian Lee, VICE co-founder Gavin McInnes, sneaker retailer FlightClub, and ad agency executives Saxon and Sebastian Eldridge. Swarm later raised a $3.5 million Series A led by Icon Ventures.
In the acquisition blog post, Groupon exec Dan Roarty wrote:
At Groupon, the Swarm team will put those assets to work enhancing our Local Commerce Platform and Merchant Operating System.
The more merchants understand about consumer shopping habits, the more customers benefit through specialized offers, tailored notifications and the opportunity to provide real-time feedback. We’re excited to have Swarm join us in our mission to connect local commerce.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Two other companies offering analytics tools to retailers, namely Brickstream and Nomi, also joined forces through an acquisition just a couple of weeks ago.