Retale acquires shopping list app Out of Milk

Retale, a technology company that develops mobile-first shopping experiences, today announced the acquisition of Out of Milk, the biggest shopping list app on Android in North America.

Out of Milk has had more than 10 million downloads, and it fits with Retale’s core mission of providing mobile products and services that meet shoppers’ needs at every stage of the customer journey.

Available on Android and iOS, Out of Milk simplifies the shopping experience, letting users create, manage, and share shopping lists. With the Out of Milk mobile app, users can quickly build and manage detailed shopping lists — adding or deleting items while keeping track of price, quantity, coupons, and more.

Products can be added by typing, scanning barcodes, or voice recognition. Out of Milk also makes it easy to share lists with family and friends on mobile, desktop, and email; shopping lists are instantly synced as changes are made across devices and platforms, eliminating any confusion.

“Out of Milk is the top-ranked shopping list app on Android in the US and Canada,” said Christian Gaiser, CEO and founder of Retale, in a statement. “It has tremendous scale in mobile shopping and addresses a key piece of the in-store customer journey as we, at Retale, strive to be the ultimate mobile shopping companion. By adding it to our business, we are able to meet the needs of shoppers at a different stage of the purchase funnel and nearly double our user base in the U.S.”

In addition to its size, Out of Milk’s user base consists of highly engaged in-market shoppers. To date, they have built more than 25 million shopping lists since the service launched in 2011. The app’s usability — driven by its simple, intuitive interface and easy list-sharing capabilities — has driven its success among shoppers.

“To deliver value to our users, as well as retail, agency, and brand partners, it is critical to target every stage of the customer journey — from product and deal discovery at the top of the funnel to further down, when creating shopping lists in advance of a store visit,” said Gaiser. “Out of Milk reinforces that focus and broadens the mobile capabilities we bring to market. We are committed to expanding our portfolio to continue to meet the needs of shoppers, either organically or with strategic acquisitions.”

Founded in October 2013, Retale wants to be a go-to shopping resource for today’s mobile shopper. Reinventing the way shoppers consume information from stores and brands, Retale enables 25 million active users worldwide to discover and receive great savings through ads and coupons, as well as getting up-to-date store information through Retale’s mobile app and website.

All information is location-based, making it possible for shoppers to find the best offers on products at the most convenient location for them. Currently using Retale’s platform are 5,200 of the world’s top retailers and brands, with 1.4 million store locations globally — including JCPenney, Big Lots, Target, and Macy’s.

This is an important step in Retale’s overall strategy. Out of Milk delivers on Retale’s core mission — to connect shoppers to their favorite stores.

With Out of Milk, Retale gains the biggest shopping list app on Android in North America, with an impressive 4.6 overall rating in the Google Play Store across 200,000 reviews. Further, Out of Milk’s user base consists of highly engaged in-market shoppers, who have built more than 25 million shopping lists with the service since it launched in 2011.

“By adding Out of Milk to Retale’s business, we are able to meet the needs of shoppers at a different stage of the purchase funnel — we call it the ‘planning stage’ — and nearly double Retale’s user base in the US. Taken together, this provides an attractive value proposition for our retail, brand and agency partners,” the company said.

Out of Milk now becomes part of Retale, who will take the business to the next level. The two platforms — Out of Milk and Retale — are complementary, Gaiser said. For example, Retale can extend the relevant, location-based offers from Retale to Out of Milk, serving targeted content based on what people have in their shopping lists, as well as where they are.