Anaplan has announced the acquisition of Syrup Tech (Syrup), an AI-native start-up specialising in the supply chain. This transaction represents an important milestone for the retail sector, providing retailers and international companies with new capabilities to anticipate demand, optimise inventory and improve margins in an increasingly complex economic environment.
A strategic alliance to transform retail planning
Syrup Tech has developed a forecasting engine based on proprietary neural networks, capable of analysing ultra-granular data: sales histories, product images, external signals such as weather, influencer trends and consumer sentiment on social media. These algorithms generate highly accurate forecasts and dynamic recommendations covering the entire commercial planning cycle.
By joining Anaplan, Syrup brings its retail expertise and complements Anaplan’s strength in scenario planning. The integration aims to offer retailers a single platform, combining predictive accuracy, execution flexibility and decision-making speed.
Tangible results already observed
The performance figures announced by Syrup are significant:
+5 to 10% improvement in margins,
+10% sell-through rate,
–20 to –30% in inventory-related costs,
That is more than $20 million in annual savings for every billion in revenue, on average.
These results have already been validated by retailers such as Faherty and Reformation, which are among Syrup’s customers.
Leaders convinced of the complementarity
For Charlie Gottdiener, CEO of Anaplan, this acquisition reflects a clear vision:
“When it comes to artificial intelligence, real impact matters more than hype. Syrup is already generating measurable value for leading omnichannel brands, helping them make smarter, more detailed decisions. Together, we will redefine planning in retail.”
For his part, James Theuerkauf, CEO of Syrup, highlights the urgency for the sector:
“Retailers are facing a perfect storm: supply chain shocks, rising costs and constantly changing consumer preferences. We designed Syrup to overcome the limitations of traditional methods. Integration with Anaplan will accelerate our vision and deploy it at scale.”
Lastly, Alex Faherty, CEO of Faherty Brand and a customer of both solutions, welcomes this alliance:
“This is exactly what the future of AI-driven retail planning looks like: smarter inventories, faster decisions and optimised outcomes for businesses and their customers alike.”
A direct impact on the future of retail
With more than 300 of the largest retailers and numerous luxury brands already using its solutions, Anaplan aims to become the global benchmark for AI-integrated planning. Syrup’s contribution will notably enable it to:
improve forecast accuracy,
optimise pricing and promotions,
automate processes to improve efficiency,
strengthen resilience in the face of supply chain disruptions.
source: anaplan.com
