Descartes acquires Finale Inventory

Earlier this week, Waterloo, Ontario-based Descartes, a provider of logistics based on-demand, software-as-a-service offerings, announced it has acquired Los Altos, California-based Finale Inventory, a cloud-based inventory management services provider, with a focus on supporting e-commerce businesses across their lifecycle.

The purchase price was $40 million, and it marks the 34th acquisition made by Descartes going back to 2016. It added that the maximum amount payable under the all-cash performance-based earn-out is $15 million, based on the combined business achieving revenue-based targets in each of the first two years post-acquisition, with any earn-out expected to be paid in fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028.

Finale’s range of services focuses on helping e-commerce merchants sync stock across multiple sales channels, integrate with marketplaces and shipping tools, and automate operational processes, subsequently reducing overselling risks and improving fulfillment efficiency, said Descartes. And the company added that bringing Finale into the fold helps to boost Descartes’ e-commerce suite, especially for sellers navigating the complexities of multi-channel inventory, while also complimenting previous investments, as well as leveraging past investments like Descartes Sellercloud.

“Finale expands the depth of our ecommerce solution suite by addressing a critical inflection point for growing ecommerce sellers,” said Mikel Richardson, General Manager of ecommerce solutions at Descartes. “As inventory complexity and risk of overselling increase, Finale provides the control and visibility merchants need to grow with confidence.”

Richardson provided LM with additional details on the acquisition in the Q&A below.

LM: What drove the need for Descartes to acquire Finale? How long had it been planned/in the works etc?

Richardson:  Finale helps high-growth e-commerce brands scale operationally. As merchants grow past $1 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), inventory complexity becomes a major constraint. Finale solves that with a powerful, yet approachable, platform built for real-time inventory accuracy and warehouse efficiency. We’ve had alignment for years with joint customers across our existing ecommerce solution portfolio. We’re thrilled to help accelerate Finale’s growth in this space.

LM: What are the main benefits of this deal for Descartes' customers?

Richardson: Finale’s strength is enabling operational excellence by automating cost of goods sold (COGS) and landed costs entries with popular accounting systems, streamlining warehouse picking, and managing multichannel inventory with confidence. For customers outgrowing more basic shipping solutions, this is a natural next-step in their growth journey. The Descartes Sellercloud solution plays a bit upmarket from Finale. With both solutions, we can now serve more of the market and meet customers where they are in their own growth journey.

LM: What does Finale bring to Descartes that was needed or missing?

Richardson: Finale brings deep inventory management and ecommerce accounting automation tailored to growing ecommerce brands. They’ve built a trusted platform that handles multichannel inventory sync, dynamic re-ordering, and barcode-based warehouse workflows, which enhance Descartes’ ecommerce solution portfolio, especially for SMBs looking to scale efficiently.

LM: What are the main competitive advantages of this deal for Descartes? 

Richardson: The acquisition strengthens our ability to serve ecommerce brands from $1M to $20M in GMV—especially those navigating the operational complexity that comes after outgrowing basic tools, but before adopting an ERP system. At this inflection point, spreadsheets break, inventory gets hard to track, and fulfillment becomes a bottleneck.  

Finale’s ease of implementation, trusted support, and SMB-friendly design give us a proven solution to help product sellers scale. It complements our broader vision of being the technology backbone for ecommerce execution.