Shopmatic Pte. Ltd has acquired a controlling stake in Octopus, a retail point-of-sale device provider, reported a top company executive. Anurag Avula, Chief Executive Officer of Shopmatic said in a statement that the company has attained a 50.1% stake in the Singapore-based company.

For the record, Octopus provides omni-channel sales, cloud-based retail management software, and customer engagement solutions to small and medium sized businesses. The services mostly focus on physical stores, ranging from small boutiques to major retail chains. The e-commerce enabler helps SMEs and independent sellers to trade products online by building a digital store and providing logistics solutions and payment gateway among others, reported sources close to the company.

Through the merger, Shopmatic plans on offering Point-of-Sale services to its current customers across a range of verticals including food and beverage, retail, and other e-commerce-based sectors present in the Asia-Pacific region, cited sources familiar with the development.

Avula further stated that both the companies will continue functioning individually, even though Octopus’ products will be integrated into Shopmatic’s platform. 

Sources claim India’s retail segment is increasingly heading in the direction of an omnichannel business model. In the last two years, new-age e-commerce businesses, encompassing prominent brands like Myntra, Nykaa, and Lenskart have reportedly augmented the brick-and-mortar presence nationwide. 

Conventional offline retail chains, like Puma, Max, US Polo, and Fossil, are merging with logistics and e-commerce service providers in order to develop their online presence. Avula also mentioned that the merger deal with Octopus will aid Shopmatic’s foray into this market.

Additionally, the merger will also help both companies venture into newer markets and take advantage of each other’s regional strengths, cited market experts.

Shopmatic is present in West Asia, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore with more than 50,000 customers. Most of its Indian customers belong to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. On the other hand, Octopus has operations in Taiwan, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and the United States, reported sources.