eBay has acquired local shopping startup Milo in a strategic move to infiltrate the increasingly significant local commerce market.
Milo is a local shopping search engine where consumers can look for products in stock at stores in their area. For retailers, Milo is a platform for driving online shoppers to offline stores. Before piquing eBay's local shopping interests, the startup raised roughly $5 million and attracted the attention of notable investors including Keith Rabois and Ron Conway's SV Angel.
"Local commerce companies like Milo are blurring the lines between in-store and online shopping,” says Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global products, eBay Marketplaces. “By making accurate, real-time, local store inventory and pricing available to online and mobile shoppers, we see a huge opportunity for local retailers, small businesses and eBay sellers to reach more buyers, and for consumers to make more informed buying decisions.”
The news was first reported earlier this morning by Business Insider, which claimed the startup was acquired by eBay for $75 million in cash. The acquisition was later confirmed by Milo, although its official press materials do not disclose the sale amount.
With a potential Google-Groupon acquisition on the horizon, and news that Amazon may invest in LivingSocial, eBay's purchase comes at time when local commerce is more important and competitive than ever.