Movista Inc., provider of the leading advanced, mobile-first retail execution and workforce management platform, announced today the acquisition of Natural Insight, a retail technology provider and its largest competitor. The milestone move, backed by New York-based private equity firm Level Equity, brings together two of the largest domain leaders in retail execution technology to greatly consolidate the marketplace.
The continued rise of e-commerce giants has placed brick-and-mortar retailers under tremendous pressure to provide superior in-store experiences in order to remain competitive. This includes ensuring that shelves are fully stocked and displays are uniform across multiple locations. As retailers navigate a market experiencing seismic shifts that many market watchers say threaten the very existence of the brick-and-mortar experience, the costs tied to underperformance are steep.
In fact, IHL recently estimated that out-of-stock items resulted in $144B in lost revenue for U.S. retailers and brands in 2018 alone. To help retailers, brands and service providers perfect their in-store execution, Movista and Natural Insight together bring to market innovative and intuitive solutions that address new and evolving challenges presented by retail’s changing landscape.
“In today’s rapidly evolving retail environment, customer experience is critical. Physical stores have to look great, and products have to be where expected,” said Stan Zylowski, co-founder and CEO of Movista. “Stefan and his team at Natural Insight share our passion for value delivery and customer-focused innovation. Our technologies ensure the shopper finds what they want, when they want, where they want. Together, we will lead the way to a more mobile, agile and collaborative retail environment that delivers tangible, measurable returns for our customers.”
For more than ten years, both Movista and Natural Insight have provided tech-forward solutions to retailers, manufacturers and service companies with field teams seeking to drive operational efficiency and stabilize sales. As two industry powerhouses, Movista and Natural Insight have facilitated the successful completion of more than 63 million work assignments around the world by more than 100,000 workers combined.
“Natural Insight has been proudly supporting the retail ecosystem for more than 10 years,” said Stefan Midford, president and CEO of Natural Insight and newly appointed chief customer officer at Movista. “As we look to our next phase of growth, joining forces with Movista will ensure our customers around the world have the tools they need to stay ahead of a constantly evolving retail landscape. I’m excited for what the future holds and tackling retail’s biggest challenges together.”
Movista and Natural Insight will continue to support customers and maintain their respective platforms. As part of the transaction, Movista will also own a majority stake of Natural Insight’s Capango brand. Powered by Natural Insight, Capango is a mobile retail job matching platform that connects job seekers with rewarding opportunities without resumes. Capango will play a pivotal role as Movista seeks to address the rise of the “gig” economy and the need for on demand labor.
About Movista
Founded in 2010, Movista Inc. is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides the industry’s leading mobile-first retail execution and workforce management platform, ONE by Movista. The enterprise platform replaces or integrates a multitude of disparate systems into one user-friendly, mobile interface. Behind the simple end-user experience are robust features that encompass scheduling, tasking, project management, file sharing, training, ordering, returns, routing, time keeping, expenses, mileage and much more. Movista serves all stakeholders in the retail ecosystem including brands, retailers and service providers. To learn more about Movista, visit https://movista.com/ and follow on Twitter @MovistaOne.
About Natural Insight
Founded in 2009, Natural Insight provides a cloud-based advanced retail execution and workforce management platform for consumer brands, retailers and merchandising and marketing agencies. With Natural Insight, all players across the retail ecosystem are empowered to improve in-store experience, grow sales, increase ROI of distributed workforce and capture and report on field data to power continuous improvement. Natural Insight is headquartered in Sterling, Va., with multiple international offices. To learn more about Natural Insight visit, https://www.naturalinsight.com/ and follow on Twitter, @naturalinsight.