JiWire Buys NearbyNow To Enhance Location-Based Advertising Services

Friends Shopping

Some consolidation in the mobile advertising space, and another deal that points to the increasing value of getting real-time information tailored to your actual location: location-based mobile advertising company JiWire has acquired NearbyNow, which creates shopping apps for brands, retailers and magazines. Financial terms were not disclosed.

NearbyNow’s apps, which it has developed for companies such as Nike, Levi’s, Estee Lauder, Hearst, Macy’s and Nordstrom, provide real-time information on stock availability and the ability to purchase items featured in apps. NearbyNow claims that it has click-though rates of over 20 percent and conversion-to-purchase average rates of 5.8 percent.

Meanwhile, JiWire delivers location-aware advertising via WiFi hotspots and cellular networks to wireless devices, and says its client base consists of Fortune 500 companies.

Location-based advertising, and the ability to tie commercial transactions more closely in with a person’s current location, is a growing area right now, with companies like Yelp, Groupon and Shopkick all approaching this space from different angles.

As part of the acquisition, Scott Dunlap, the founder of NearbyNow, becomes the vice president of mobile business development at JiWire, say the companies in a release.

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