ServiceNow to Acquire G2K to Add IoT Technology to Platform

ServiceNow plans to acquire G2K to add new capabilities to its solutions for brick-and-mortar businesses.

The transaction will add G2K’s Internet of Things (IoT) technology to ServiceNow’s Now Platform, providing organizations in retail and other industries with real-time data across storefronts and other physical spaces, the companies said in a Friday (May 12) press release.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the third quarter, according to the release.

“Retail is just the beginning,” Karel van der Poel, senior vice president and general manager at ServiceNow, said in the release. “This acquisition allows ServiceNow to create even greater simplicity and efficiency for our customers’ growing needs across any industry, from manufacturing and supply chain to transportation and entertainment.”

G2K’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology translates the data gained from stores, employees and customers into insights and helps businesses plan inventory based on demand, improve on-site customer experiences, address in-store maintenance or mechanical issues and increase employee productivity, according to the release.

When these physical capabilities are integrated into ServiceNow’s Now Platform, they will boost the platform’s ability to provide enterprise-grade retail workflows, the release said.

“Many retailers are turning to a range of AI point solutions to help reshape retail experiences for employees and customers alike, but this results in fractured operations across the enterprise,” G2K Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder Omar El Gohary said in the release. “Together, G2K and ServiceNow will realize a connected vision for our customers and help transform the world of work for retail and beyond — and we couldn’t be more excited about it.”

As PYMNTS reported in December, next-generation tools like connected IoT profiles and RFID tracking are powering operational enhancements like mobile dashboards, automated order picking and intelligent inventory management systems.

These solutions allow for greater agility and flexibility in order fulfillment, optimize stockout management and provide retailers with tools to remove friction from the shopping experience by eliminating back-end bottlenecks.

In industrial applications, the real-time data provided by IoT helps operations managers or AI identify issues, fix them and experiment with solutions to make things work more smoothly next time.