Global Blue Acquires Majority Stake in Shipup, Expands Post-Purchase Tech

Switzerland-based retail technology and payments company Global Blue has acquired a majority stake in post-purchase technology provider Shipup.

This investment adds to Global Blue’s mission of building an ecosystem of post-purchase technologies for retailers, and follows its acquisitions of eCommerce returns provider ZigZag Global and digital receipt technology provider Yocuda, Global Blue said Tuesday (Oct. 4) in a press release.

“With more than half (56%) of shoppers currently disappointed by the eCommerce post-purchase experience, Shipup’s technology represents a powerful solution to a major challenge for our retail partners,” Global Blue Senior Vice President Strategy and Chief Product Officer Tomas Mostany said in the release. “We are pleased to welcome Shipup into the Global Blue network and to offer our clients even more solutions that enable them to capture the growth of the thriving eCommerce market.”

Shipup is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider that enables retailers to create automated messages for their customers, including live delivery notifications, delivery estimates and satisfaction surveys, according to the release.

The company’s technology also gives retailers real-time alerts, tracking data and a dashboard on which they can monitor the performance of carriers, the release stated.

Shipup was founded in 2016, targets mid-market brands and larger international clients, and now has 370 clients, per the release.

Global Blue’s acquisition of Shipup is expected to close by the end of October.

“Global Blue is one of the world’s leading retail service providers, and through our partnership, we will be able to scale our technology services to many more world’s leading brands quickly,” Shipup CEO Romain Ogiela said in the release. “We also look forward to joining Global Blue’s RetailTech network, which puts us in a unique position to collaborate with some of the best innovators in the industry.”

The acquisition comes five months after Global Blue secured a $225 million strategic growth equity investment to continue its pursuit of add-on acquisitions in omnichannel retail tech.

Read more: Switzerland-Based Global Blue Backed With $225M to Pursue Acquisitions

Global Blue CEO Jacques Stern said May 6 in a press release: “This investment will enable Global Blue to take full advantage of the anticipated robust travel recovery while continuing to pursue our external and internal growth plans in payment and retail tech.”

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