IBM acquires Fluid XPS to personalize consumer experience

IBM has acquired the Expert Personal Shopper (XPS) division of Fluid, an innovator in digital customer experiences, for an undisclosed amount. The XPS solution is a dialogue-based product recommendation platform that has been developed by Fluid, and applies IBM Watson to personalize the customer experience and claims to improve product discovery. According to the acquisition, the XPS solution and several key members of the XPS team will become part of IBM iX (Interactive Experience) and two key clients, The North Face and 1-800-Flowers will also join its client portfolio. With the addition of XPS, the company claims to be expanding its commerce portfolio with a proven cognitive solution. IBM iX states that it helps clients across the full lifecycle of their commerce needs from brand and marketing strategy through experience design and technology implementation at scale. With the acquisition, the XPS solution will extend Big Blue’s portfolio of SaaS offerings and services that help companies of all sizes conduct commerce and engage with their customers. Paul Papas, Global Leader, IBM iX said, “We look to incorporate the Expert Personal Shopper platform into the customer engagement and commerce solutions that we create for our retail clients. By adding XPS into digital experiences, IBM iX aims to make online discovery simpler, smarter and more personalized for consumers. In addition to retail, we believe, XPS can be leveraged and applied to the digital properties for brands across a variety of industries.” Big Blue states that there is an increased competition in the digital marketplace where customer experience is a critical differentiator for brands across any industry. Using the IBM Watson, XPS will use natural language interaction to assist shoppers across digital channels, creating a more engaging, personalized and relevant online shopping experience. This retail experience will be delivered as a service over the internet as a Software-as-a-Service and XPS will provide tailored recommendations on a business’ site, across online and mobile experiences, and can be incorporated into social channels. Kent Deverell, CEO, Fluid said, “Three years ago, Fluid, in collaboration with IBM Watson, developed the very first commercial example of conversational commerce. Since then, we’ve been hard at work developing Fluid XPS, a leading platform for intelligent, dialog driven product recommendations, and are very excited about its future as part of IBM iX.”