• by Larissa Faw , March 5, 2018

Digital marketing agency Bell Media is expanding its offering with the acquition of Carted, an online shopping and digital marketing provider for grocers. Terms weren’t disclosed. 

Carted offers a digital-brochure-like website with such features as weekly ads, integrations with a coupon platform and allows for the displaying of recipes and enables customers to build online shopping lists. The platform also offers an online grocery shopping website, where customers can shop and pay online.

In addition, Carted offers a variety of digital marketing tactics including social media, email marketing, and advanced geo-fence targeting.

This deal enables Bell Media to expand its reach and digital marketing expertise in an entirely new industry vertical, says the agency’s CEO Scott Bell. "The grocery industry was an area we had been considering, and so this just turned out to be a fit for us at this time," he says. The independent grocery industry is 21,000 strong, and "we feel that now is the perfect time to bring this offering to these grocery stores who are desperately wanting to stay competitive" with larger chain grocers, he says. "Consumer buyer habits are rapidly changing, and we look forward to helping independent grocers embrace the change through our technology."

Bell Media plans to operate Carted as an independent brand, while supporting all of its services with the agency's infrastructure. With this influx of resources, the agency now plans to expand Carted's team, says Bell.