E-commerce services firm Ecometry merged with planning and merchandising software company GERS Retail Systems to form Escalate Retail.
Ecometry, Del Ray Beach, FL, joined forces with GERS, San Diego, to offer a better host of products and strengthen its backend service. San Francisco private equity firm Golden Gate Capital funded the transaction.
“Retailers were telling us that they wanted a choice of applications that range from monolithic systems to smaller functions,” said Brian Dean, vice president of marketing and strategy at Ecometry.
“Now we can provide services from end-to-end that can be deployed slowly as retailers desire,” he said.
Escalate Retail will maintain two corporate headquarters – Del Ray Beach and San Diego – but will integrate both firms customers into its network.
Ecometry brings 350 existing clients from the direct marketing and retail environment, combining with 300 retail clients from GERS to form 650 clients for Escalate Retail.
Hot Topic is a client of both firms that is typical of the customer base with a large bricks-and-mortar business and a significant direct business as well.
Mr. Dean said that the merger is seen as a growth merger rather than a cost reduction alliance, with no job losses. The new firm may even expand in the future, he said.
The name Ecometry will no longer exist and the names of products like
Ecometry Commerce Suite, Blue Martini and Nextor will change in the future.
“Our skills overlap, so now we will have an improved ability to have the right people in the right place at the right time with the right service,” Mr. Dean said.
