NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - August 02, 2016) - Infor, a leading provider of beautiful business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Starmount, a modern store systems provider serving large and mid-market retailers. Starmount provides point-of-sale, mobile shopping assistant, and store inventory management products along with a data-rich commerce hub to engage shoppers, streamline operations, and support consistent cross-channel customer interactions. The acquisition will enable Infor to accelerate delivery of Infor CloudSuite Retail, a new, modern suite of enterprise applications delivered in the cloud and designed for today's retailing landscape.
As retailers struggle to force outdated software to meet the new demands of the industry, Infor has been building CloudSuite Retail to address these issues by providing modern, cloud-based software services. After forming its Infor Retail business unit during the summer of 2015, Infor announced a collaboration with Whole Foods Market to build a modern merchandising system, and subsequently the acquisitions of GT Nexus for supply chain network, Predictix for demand management, and now Starmount for store systems.
Infor is investing heavily in products that help retailers achieve converged commerce, the next step after omni-channel in which retailers use a single selling system for all consumer interactions. Not only does converged commerce improve the customer experience with accurate and timely information across all touchpoints, but it's also cheaper to operate, avoiding many of the costly integrations necessary with traditional omni-channel approaches.
Austin, TX.-based Starmount experienced 41 percent year-over-year growth in 2015 and counts among its customers Abercrombie & Fitch, Burlington Coat Factory, Perry Ellis, and Urban Outfitters.
Infor initially announced its intent to acquire Starmount at Inforum, its annual user conference held July 10-13 in New York City, where Infor is based, in front of 7,000 attendees. Comments on the news at that time include:
Wade Gerten, VP of Customer Experience & Digital at Infor:
"The market is littered with antiquated software built 20 or 30 years ago that just can't provide what modern retailers need. They want alternatives, built in the cloud, with native support for mobile. This acquisition will help Infor bring such solutions to market faster."
Corey Tollefson, SVP and GM of Infor Retail:
"Since announcing our intention for Infor CloudSuite Retail last fall, our phones have been ringing off the hook with retailers hungry for the software to help them overcome the serious disruption the industry is facing. For Infor it is all about accelerating delivery of the solutions our customers crave, be that through building software as we are with Whole Foods Market, partnering with industry leaders, or buying leading-edge technology like Predictix and Starmount."
Jeff Roster, VP of Retail Strategy at IHL Group, a leading global research and advisory firm for the retail and hospitality industries:
"Retail is at a point of fundamental transformation. Driven by the duel pressures of innovative competitors and millennial consumers, retailers have to recreate themselves and their offerings. The key battleground will be transforming the in-store experience. This acquisition fills in a hole in the Infor retail strategy and should be well received by their client base."
Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
About Infor
Infor builds beautiful business applications with last mile functionality and scientific insights for select industries delivered as a cloud service. With 14,000 employees and customers in more than 200 countries and territories, Infor automates critical processes for industries including healthcare, manufacturing, fashion, wholesale distribution, hospitality, retail, and public sector. Infor software helps eliminate the need for costly customization through embedded deep industry domain expertise. Headquartered in New York City, Infor is also home to one of the largest creative agencies in Manhattan, Hook & Loop, focused on delivering a user experience that is fun and engaging. Infor deploys its cloud applications primarily on the Amazon Web Services cloud and open source platforms. To learn more about Infor, please visit www.infor.com.
Infor customers include:
- 18 of the top 20 aerospace companies
- 8 of the top 10 high tech companies
- 10 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies
- 22 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks
- 20 of the 20 largest U.S. cities
- 20 of the top 20 automotive suppliers
- 19 of the top 20 industrial distributors
- 18 of the top 20 global retailers
- 4 of the top 5 brewers
- 19 of the top 20 global banks
- 10 of the 10 largest global hotel brands
- 6 of the top 10 global luxury brands
This announcement reflects the direction Infor may take with regard to the specific product(s) described herein, all of which is subject to change by Infor in its sole discretion, with or without notice to you. This announcement is not a commitment to you in any way and you should not rely on this document or any of its content in making any decision. Infor is not committing to develop or deliver any specified enhancement, upgrade, product or functionality, even if such is described in this announcement and even if such description is accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should," "will," and/or similar expressions. Many factors can affect Infor's product development plans and the nature, content and timing of future product releases, all of which remain in the sole discretion of Infor. This announcement, in whole or in part, may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Infor or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Infor expressly disclaims any liability with respect to this announcement.
For more information:
Dan Barnhardt
Infor
646-336-1731
Dan.Barnhardt@infor.com
