Pathee

Pathee Inc. operates at the intersection of retail technology and digital marketing, providing solutions designed to bridge the gap between online consumers and physical stores. The company was originally founded as tritrue, Inc. in January 2012 by Shinsuke Terada. The firm officially changed its name to Pathee Inc. in February 2018 to align the corporate identity with its flagship service.

The founder, Shinsuke Terada, holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Engineering and previously worked as a researcher at Hitachi, focusing on areas like smart grids. His motivation to start Pathee stemmed from a personal frustration with the difficulty of finding specific products in local retail stores, a stark contrast to the sophisticated search capabilities available for restaurants. This led him to develop a technology-based service that could provide a more seamless shopping experience for consumers while supporting the digitalization of the retail sector.

Pathee's business model is twofold, combining a B2C media platform with a B2B SaaS offering. The initial B2C service is "Pathee," a location-based information website and app that allows users to search for products and services within their vicinity, effectively acting as a discovery tool for local shopping. The app gained significant traction, being selected as one of Apple's "Best 10 Apps of the Year" in 2016.

The company's primary revenue driver is its B2B digital marketing support platform, "STORECAST" (formerly Pathee Partner). This SaaS tool is targeted at retail chain stores and helps them manage their online presence across various digital channels, most notably Google Maps. STORECAST semi-automates the process of updating store information, promotional campaigns, and even product availability, which is a considerable challenge for multi-location businesses. The platform enables clients to enhance their local search visibility, analyze foot traffic attribution from online activities, and ultimately drive in-store sales. By simplifying digital marketing operations, STORECAST allows retailers to improve customer engagement without a significant increase in workload for store staff. The company has become a subsidiary of mov Co., Ltd. as of January 2025, following a stock transfer from Kakaku.com, Inc.

Keywords: RetailTech, MarTech, Digital Marketing, Local Search, OMO (Online Merges with Offline), SaaS, Location-based Services, In-store Promotion, Customer Engagement Platform, Google Maps Optimization, MEO, Retail Analytics, Digital Transformation for Retail, Store Information Management, Customer Footfall, E-commerce Integration, B2B SaaS, Shinsuke Terada, STORECAST, tritrue, mov Co. Ltd.