Google dives deeper into retail with latest acquisition

Google is acquiring an Irish retail startup whose mission is “to make things better for local retailers.”

The search giant said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Pointy, whose software and hardware is designed help local retailers who don’t already have an extensive Web storefront detailing in-store inventory get their products listed online. 

“With Pointy, merchants simply plug a small box into their barcode scanner or install the Pointy app on their point of sale system, which surfaces the products that they sell directly into the “See what’s in store” section of their business profile on Google Search,” explained Peter Chane, senior director, local SMB products, Google. 

Pointy was co-founded by Mark Cummins and Charles Bibby. Cummins’ first company was the visual search startup Plink, which ranked as Google’s first-ever U.K. acquisition.   

In a release, the Pointy co-founders said that by joining forces with Google, “we will be able to help people discover local stores and products on a much larger scale.”

“We think this is the right way to accomplish what we set out to do – to bring the world’s retailers online and give them the tools they need to thrive,” they said.