TABS Analytics today announced that it acquired Decision Insight, a Kansas City, Mo.-based global shopper marketing research and analytics firm with expertise in both brick-and-mortar and online shopping environments. Decision Insight is a pioneer in virtual shopping research, providing shopper insights and retail strategies about shopper behaviors and motivations for manufacturers, retailers and restaurants.

TABS will enhance its current service offerings with the integration of the Decision Insight SimuShop® virtual shopping platform, providing research across food and beverage, pet needs, household goods, durables, toys and gaming, pharmaceutical, alcoholic beverage and restaurant categories to deliver even greater insights. Decision Insight brings more than 35 years of trusted expertise across multiple retail channels, including eCommerce, grocery, mass, club, drug, dollar, electronics, convenience stores, hypermarkets, auto, casual dining, quick service restaurants and other specialty stores.

“Decision Insight is a leading innovator in virtual store research. They have a visually compelling platform that provides retailers and manufacturers with quick answers on arrangement, assortment, pricing, merchandising and packaging,” said Kurt Jetta, TABS executive chairman and founder. “What is most compelling to TABS, however, are the rigorous steps Decision Insight takes to ensure that its results are statistically robust and reliable. Decision Insight’s analytical approach and culture will be a good fit with our company.”

“We are very excited about the tremendous possibilities of combining the power of TABS’s data analytics with our virtual shopping platform to enhance the ‘what if’ scenarios for our clients in brick-and-mortar and eCommerce,” said Decision Insight President and CEO Cathy Allin, who will remain president and join the TABS Board of Directors. “Looking at any industry today, we must better understand the shopper and continue to support the innovation, design and marketing efforts of our clients, including social learning and sustainability.”

In addition to growing organically, TABS has been actively pursuing strategic transactions, which include the acquisitions of Pivotstream, Hybrid Intelligence and now Decision Insight. These acquisitions have enabled TABS to add incremental content, intellectual property, new customers and channels of business to its portfolio. The acquisition increases TABS’s employee and revenue base by almost 50%. The company now has more than 60 employees and over 135 corporate clients.

Marlin & Associates acted as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor and BakerHostetler acted as legal advisor to TABS for this transaction.

About Decision Insight 
Decision Insight, based in Kansas City, Mo., is a leading shopper insights and retail strategy firm that uncovers shopper behaviors and motivations. Utilizing ShopperIQ® and Digital.IQ™, proprietary virtual platforms for brick & mortar and eCommerce, they deliver effective strategies that win at retail. Twenty years of partnering with leading CPG companies have groomed the team at DI to actively anticipate emerging needs to deliver in-store solutions that lead to activation, triggering higher shopper satisfaction and increased sales. Their Test & Learn research is forward-looking and based on shopper behavior. DI’s approach is Shopper Centric and Retail Forward. For more information about Decision Insight, please visit http://www.decisioninsight.com or email info(at)decisioninsight(dot)com.

About TABS Analytics 
Operating since 1998, TABS Analytics, based in Shelton, Conn., is a technology-enabled analytics firm-whose mission is to simplify and improve the way analytics are conducted in the consumer products industry. TABS offers cloud-based software analytics and applications solutions, including TABS Insight®, TABS Insight Connect™ (formerly Pivotstream®), Hybrid® and TABS Total Insights™, for CPG manufacturers that integrate, harmonize, and analyze sales and marketing data. Additional services include TABS CatMan Advantage™, an outsourced category management solution, TABS WorldView™, a global business intelligence tool, and TABS Promo Insights™, a cloud-based software and consulting service that helps companies measure, plan and optimize trade spending. For more information about TABS, please visit http://www.tabsanalytics.com to contact us directly.