Applied Data Corporation Acquires Pinpoint Software

Applied Data Corporation (ADC) has entered into an agreement to acquire Pinpoint Software, Inc., a provider of software solutions driving operational efficiencies and execution for grocers, including the expiration date management platform Date Check Pro. The acquisition is a strategic addition to the ADC portfolio, which includes the fresh item management platform FreshIQ and the fulfillment orchestration platform ShopperKit, and will result in a solution that not only reduces food waste and delivers higher sales, but ultimately goes beyond sustainability to a more regenerative approach for retailers, says the company.

Food waste—and its impact on the health of the planet and the bottom line—remains a top concern for the majority of retailers. With this in mind, both ADC and Pinpoint share a combined vision to arm retailers with the tools needed to minimize food waste and drive sustainability results through a combination of quantification, analysis and action.

“ADC’s trajectory as a total store operations platform continues to expand to meet the needs of retailers in today’s evolving market,” said Shamus Hines, CEO of ADC, in a statement. “Pinpoint helps retailers proactively track inventory expiration dates across the store and work together with shoppers to minimize food waste.

“As a company, we’re committed to enhancing all store operations for food retailers,” Hines continued. “With elevated consumer interest in sustainability, retailers are faced with the challenge to reduce food waste while also driving sales, and that is where both ADC and Pinpoint come into play.”

With its SaaS platform of total store retail solutions, ADC offers retailers an omnichannel approach to total store operations. FreshIQ allows retailers to effectively plan, prepare, analyze and deliver the fresh food items shoppers want, while the ShopperKit platform enables in-store order fulfillment for retailers to receive, prioritize and process orders from their online counterparts, allowing grocers to offer in-store pickup or delivery services to their online customers, says the Tampa, Fla.-based company.

ADC’s products are deployed globally in more than 120 grocery and convenience store chains, in more than 20,000 locations. The company’s SaaS platform retail solutions also includes fulfillment orchestration, recipe management, made to order, label printing, inventory and waste management, food traceability, production planning, ordering and temperature monitoring. With the addition of Pinpoint’s Date Check Pro, ADC will be able to offer additional reductions in shrink from expired products, while also increasing customer satisfaction, says the company.

“At Pinpoint, we’ve always believed in driving efficiency and ensuring the freshest shopping experience possible for customers,” said Andrew Hoeft, founder and CEO of Pinpoint. “ADC started in fresh and has a strong belief in helping retailers reduce waste. Combined with our shared emphasis on user adoption with solutions that are easy to use and learn, joining forces with ADC was a perfect marriage. By blending our teams’ knowledge and solutions, we will continue to push the limits of retail operations technology.”

WGB spoke with Hoeft earlier this year to discuss how Pinpoint’s Date Check Pro helps retailers like the West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley’s to avoid past-date food accumulating on store shelves and adding to food waste.

“Date Check Pro stems from my days spot checking dates at Festival Foods. I was never satisfied with the reactive nature of the work—hunting for the expired items by combing through section after section and filling up carts with already past-date food,” Hoeft told WGB in April. “The drive to find a more predictable way to prevent customers from finding those items before myself or my team did and saving the store money, was something I stirred over daily.”

Today, the Madison, Wis.-based Pinpoint has helped over a thousand supermarket, retail and convenience store locations around the world eliminate their losses from dated and expired products, providing better products and experiences for their shoppers, says the company.

The companies say work will begin on an integration between the platforms in the coming weeks, and the ADC website will be enhanced to show the full scope of the combined company.