Quotient Acquires Elevaate to Boost Sponsored Search for CPGs

Quotient Technology, Mountain View, California, announced it has acquired U.K.-based Elevaate, which has an in-market technology platform that drives e-commerce sales through sponsored search and product ads on retailers’ e-commerce properties and elsewhere on the web.

The acquisition enables Quotient to help its retailer partners boost e-commerce media and sales at a time when shoppers are initiating more of their trips directly on retailer websites.

Elevaate’s technology platform matches brand product ads with relevant contextual placements mapped throughout the e-commerce purchase process. Proprietary algorithms, flexible bidding models and rich analytics allow brands to optimize their programs to drive sales performance.

Elevaate’s technology will be fully integrated into Quotient’s media platform to take advantage of the same shopper data, ad tech, and analytics that fuel all of its data-driven media solutions.

“This is a great enhancement to our media solutions for retailer partners and our consumer packaged goods (CPG) clients,” Quotient president and CEO Mir Aamir said in a media release. “Brands are eager to get prominent placements on the digital shelf, and shoppers have come to expect and engage with featured products and sponsored results when they search for a product. Quotient is already the exclusive digital media partner for retailers that represent combined annual grocery sales of about $150 billion, and this e-commerce media capability is a great addition to our retail performance media platform.”

As product search increasingly shifts away from core search engines towards retailer sites, brands are looking for effective ways to market their products within this new paradigm. This new capability in Quotient’s media solutions enables CPG brands to shift their search budgets to a higher performing medium directly tied to product sales. Additionally, grocery retailers, which are investing heavily to grow their e-commerce businesses, can benefit greatly from integrated media capabilities related to search results and sponsored products.

“Search and sponsored product media is a natural and critical addition to our Albertsons Performance Media platform powered by Quotient Technology,” said Narayan Iyengar, senior vice president, digital and e-commerce, for Albertsons Cos. “With e-commerce a significant strategic focus for Albertsons, the addition of this capability by Quotient will enable us to offer brands another great way to drive online sales.”

Quotient’s media platform already offers performance media solutions for brands, reaching a shopper audience of over 100 million, based on shopper transaction data used for targeting and measurement. As the exclusive digital media partner for several of its Retailer iQ partners, Quotient manages all CPG digital media, including creative, ad delivery on retailer properties and across the web and social, as well as media analytics.

Elevaate, which was founded in 2014, works with major U.K. retailers and known brands, including Morrisons, Office Depot, Kellogg, Mars, Pepsico, Mondelez International, and Kimberly-Clark. Quotient, with offices in London and Paris, already has a strong European presence through its Shopmium platform and app.