Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) has acquired Turnstyle Analytics, a Wi-Fi marketing company based in based in Toronto, Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, Yelp paid approximately $20 million in cash to purchase all of Turnstyle’s outstanding capital stock.
Turnstyle is a location-based marketing and analytics platform that provides Wi-Fi as a digital marketing tool to retain and reward customers.
The service, which currently supports nearly 3,500 business locations worldwide, allows consumers to tap into free guest Wi-Fi while helping businesses re-engage those customers in the future via email. It enables businesses to build highly-targeted customer contact lists by giving them powerful analytics that provides insight into visit frequency and duration.
Combining this offline data with Yelp’s extensive online and mobile search data will deliver a comprehensive intent-based marketing resource to local businesses, Yelp said in a statement.
“The addition of Turnstyle strengthens Yelp’s position as a leading customer acquisition platform for local businesses, expanding its offering to include simple, effective tools for customer retention and loyalty,” Yelp said in a statement.
“Since our founding, Turnstyle has focused on building the best Wi-Fi marketing service to help businesses,” Turnstyle Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Devon Wright said. “This is an exciting opportunity to expand and leverage Yelp’s resources and capabilities; together we’ll be able to help even more local businesses improve their customer retention, driving more repeat business.
Yelp
Yelp connects people with local businesses through its online platform. Based in San Francisco, the company has a market cap of $2.6 billion.
Yelp allows consumers to share their everyday local business experiences with other consumers by posting reviews on its websites. The company also offers businesses free and paid services so they can engage with consumers.
Shares of Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) closed up 0.74% on Tuesday. Year-to-date, the stock is down nearly 14%. During the last 12 months, the stock has surged more than 68%.
