FOBI AI Inc. (the “Company” or “FOBI“), a leader in providing real-time data analytics through artificial intelligence to drive customer activation and engagement is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into an arm’s length letter of intent (the “LOI”) with Grocery Shopping Labs Inc. (“Grocery Shopping Labs” the “Vendor”), a Virginia based technology company, pursuant to which, the Company, through a wholly owned subsidiary, proposes to acquire certain intellectual properties and assets owned by the Vendor related to the “Basket” application (“Basket”) owned and operated by the Vendor (the “Transaction”).
Acquisition of Basket IP Expected To Provide Fobi With An Unparalleled Combined Offering of Price, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Manufacturer Promotions, Shopper and Retail Insights Along With Transactional Data and Measurement
It is anticipated that synergies between Basket and the Qples by Fobi Grocery Coupon Network (GCN) and the growth in the overall network is expected to drive increased advertising revenue and higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) with coupons and promotions. Basket is already working with Tier 1 CPG brands and retailers to provide shopper insights which will help Fobi better target these brands with the complete suite of Fobi offerings, including wallet passes. Basket comes with numerous Tier 1 partners and revenue generating data monetization contracts.
Basket is a large and well-known company in the US having been featured in many high-profile news articles and acting as the trusted source of data for many reputable media outlets such as a recent article in Good Morning America as well as being named the top grocery store price comparison app of 2022 by Lifewire. Basket has a large scale in the US and brings numerous lines of revenue and synergies to Fobi.
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BASKET CONSISTS OF A LEADING SHOPPER AND PRICING APP ALONG WITH A ROBUST DATA INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR RETAILERS AND CPG MANUFACTURERS WHO ARE LOOKING TO GAIN GRANULAR UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR PRODUCT PERFORMANCE AS WELL AS TO DEVELOP THEIR OWN FIRST PARTY DATA STRATEGIES
Basket is a leader in this emerging marketplace dominating grocery price comparison with several key differentiators that provide value to consumers. Not only can consumers search for and scan the barcodes of their favorite products to create smart grocery lists, Basket can then compare prices for products across all various local stores, online e-commerce shops and delivery companies as well as compare the cost of the entire basket across all local, online e-commerce shops or delivery companies. This gives consumers higher visibility into the cost of their weekly and monthly shopping carts and enables them to ensure that they never overpay for groceries again.
The combined value of the number of users of Basket and Qples by Fobi’s Grocery Coupon Network (GCN) is expected to quickly increase Fobi’s addressable shopper audience, as well as Fobi’s ability to significantly increase the revenue from brands advertising to these audiences and to push GCN coupons and promotions to this combined new audience, along with an increased ARPU value. In addition, ownership of the “Basket” brand and domain name enables Fobi to expand and provide a vertically agnostic solution beyond just Grocery, which GCN is limited to today. Fobi is also integrated with The Coupon Bureau (TCB) for the new 8112 Digital Coupons which is also helping drive adoption outside of grocery.
Basket leverages billions of records and millions of shopper interactions to provide shopper Insights to some of the leading Tier 1 CPG brands and retailers in the industry. With third party data sources going away, CPG brands are struggling to develop their own first party data strategies to connect with and know their customers. Through the combination of Basket and Fobi’s wallet pass platforms the company expects it will provide a better overall user experience, enabling shoppers to decide whether they want to use an app or a wallet pass to interact with brands and retailers, while also enabling CPG Brands to both better understand shopper insights at an aggregate level and at an individual level utilizing the Wallet passes to easily convert unknown shoppers into known shoppers. Fobi’s AI and big data capabilities will also enable Fobi to deliver new capabilities to Brands to be able to deliver personalized promotions, helping to ensure they get the right offer to the right shopper at the right time, at the right place, all the time, which is becoming more and more important in today’s competitive marketplace.
The combination of Basket and the Qples by Fobi GCN app will also provide a significant benefit to CPG brands by enabling them to offer on pack promotions without having to update their packaging. This is expected to be a significant win enabling significant cost savings for the brands and a far superior shopping experience for their customers. Shoppers can simply scan the product bar code and see if there are any coupons available for that product from Qples by Fobi, and if there are, they can be applied automatically at checkout. The combination of Basket & the new 8112 universal digital coupons from Qples by Fobi are expected to bring significant optimization and increases in user experience that will enable instant savings on products at checkout.
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Grocery Shopping Labs CEO Neil Kataria states, “Basket has always been about taking the blindfold off shoppers to help them save money and time, and simultaneously providing shopper insights to some of the top CPG brands and retailers. Now, together with Fobi we can significantly grow our audience, delivering more value for shoppers and more value for the CPG brands we work with. I’m excited by the opportunity we have together with Fobi to transform the Grocery business with pricing visibility and shopper data, but I’m also excited about taking this transformation to other industries next.”
Fobi CEO Rob Anson states, “This acquisition is well timed for us as due to the current increased inflation that all North American households are facing, we have seen a very significant increase in interest and demand for activation programs from both top CPG manufacturers and consumers looking to save money on their purchases. As a result of this acquisition, we have now raised the bar in terms of shopper and CPG manufacturer expectations as we now possess the dynamic ability to provide shoppers with the best price in their local market along with further enhanced value by providing manufacturer offers and promotions. Furthermore, this deal immediately grows our revenue streams and immediately grows our addressable audience and the amount of shopper data that we have access to. Our combined AI & Big Data capabilities will now enable a new era of personalized marketing at scale with unprecedented data analytics, and valuable insights as to campaign performance and measurement for the retail ecosystem.”
Completion of the Transaction is subject to customary items, including satisfactory due diligence by both parties, completion of definitive agreements in respect of the Transaction and exchange the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”), if required. The Transaction is expected to be structured as an “Expedited Acquisition” under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”)TSXV. No finder’s fee is expected to be paid in connection with the Transaction, and it is not expected that any new directors of officers will be added to the board and management of Fobi or that a new Insider (as defined in TSXV policies) will be created in connection of the Transaction. The closing of the Transaction, which is subject to several conditions, is expected to be completed by late May or early June 2022.