Walmart Labs Buys Data Analytics And Predictive Intelligence Startup Inkiru

Walmart, via its Silicon Valley innovation lab @WalmartLabs, has made another acquisition today, continuing its shopping spree. The company is announcing that predictive intelligence startup Inkiru will be joining Walmart Labs to accelerate the retail giant’s analytics capabilities. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Inkiru’s platform is an active learning system that combines predictive intelligence, data abalytics and a decision engine to influence and determine customer interactions. Benefits to using Inkiru include being able to reduce fraud, improve customer segmentation and targeting, and more.

In a post announcing the acquisition, Walmart Labs writes that Inkiru’s predictive analytics platform will add data analysis capabilities, including site personalization, search, fraud prevention and marketing. From the post: “Walmart’s data scientists will now be able to work with big data directly and create impact faster than ever before.”

Walmart Labs is known for being acquisitive when it comes to snapping up early-stage startups to test new ideas in e-commerce. Some of these startups eventually get folded into the company’s e-commerce site and other online operations. In May, Walmart Labs purchased cloud computing newcomer OneOps and the software development shop Tasty Labs, which was founded by Delicious founder Joshua Schachter. In the past, it has acquired startups like Kosmix, OneRiot, Grabble, Small Society and others.

It looks like we can expect Walmart.com to improve personalization, which isn’t too surprising. Data analytics and personalization are certainly two areas where retailers are doubling down as a way to both add to the customer experience and draw more conversions online.