Ecommerce Product Releases: September 15, 2016

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-September from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shopping domains, digital coupons, graphics and ad tools, tracking solutions, marketing platforms, and drone delivery.

Got an ecommerce product release? Email releases@practicalecommerce.com.

Ecommerce Product Releases

Website addresses ending with .shop go on sale. The .shop domain will go on sale to the public on Sept. 26. In addition, .shopping will go on sale Sept. 28. Currently, domain brokers are taking pre-registration orders to enter when the domains go live.

Alphabet and Chipotle bring burrito delivery drones to campus. Project Wing, a unit of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., is testing drone delivery of burritos to college campus students. The test will last a few weeks. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Virginia Tech have agreed to participate.

Bidsquare raises seed funding to expand marketplace. Bidsquare, a curated auction and ecommerce platform where collectors bid and buy on the fine art and antiques from trusted auction houses and dealers, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from angel investor Stephen Smith. Bidsquare brings the art and auction market online, making high-end fine art and design accessible to anyone.

Google tests a new way for shoppers to discover products. Google has rolled out a new apparel and home decor experience for its retail advertisers called Shop The Look. When shopping online, if you search for “cocktail attire,” you could see an image of a popular fashion blogger wearing a black cocktail dress, heels, and sunglasses. You can shop those exact (or visually similar) products featured in the image by tapping through and exploring the relevant products shown in the form of Shopping ads. Retailers interested in showing products within the Shop The Look experience should create a Shopping campaign and optimize bids to show on mobile.

ShippingEasy launches inventory management solution. ShippingEasy, a provider of cloud-based solutions for ecommerce sellers, has launched an inventory management solution designed to solve back office challenges for online sellers — auto-update stock levels in real time, create low stock alerts, add and manage full supplier list, and more. ShippingEasy is making its inventory management solution available for free until January 2017.

Vectr launches out of beta. After two years of development, Vectr has launched out of beta. Vectr is a free collaborative vector graphics editor that aims to help everyone create vector graphic designs easily and intuitively. Next, the Vectr team is planning to implement a marketplace for sharing of peer-to-peer designs, and develop a premium offering with advanced graphic design features.

Vectr.

Buying on Facebook Messenger. In it latest update, Facebook has launched a new way for businesses to sell products and services in Messenger. Payments can now be integrated into messages, making it easy for customers to shop and purchase without leaving the app. Messages with payments utilize industry-leading controls. The financial information is protected with bank-level encryption.

Facebook Offers. Facebook has redesigned Facebook Offers. Now people can save offers to an Offers tab and get reminders when offers are about to expire. Businesses can now create two types of Offers — online and in-store — and they can share in an Offers ad or in a page post. For in-store, businesses can choose to enable a barcode or QR code to scan at checkout. Advertisers decide how long their Offers run, who sees them, where they redeem them, and more.

Datatel launches IVR Payments Express for businesses of all sizes. Datatel Communications Inc., which creates Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, introduced its IVR Payments Express, enabling companies of any size to securely collect payments over the telephone 24/7 without exposing sensitive credit card information to live agents. The Express version has all the security features of Datatel IVR Payments Pro; however it’s been designed to accommodate the needs and budget of merchants handling smaller volumes of telephone payment transactions. Contact on pricing.

SteelHouse launches Creative Suite to reinvent the way digital ads are created. Advertising software company SteelHouse has announced its new Creative Suite, which includes an ad builder and creative library to build ads for professionals at any skill level. The Creative Suite is fully integrated with Getty Images and YouTube. Users can easily export and run creative on major ad networks including The Trade Desk, AppNexus, DoubleClick, and more. Campaigns can be optimized and performance can be tracked from a single application.

SteelHouse Creative Suite.

MEGAstream LLC releases MEGAstream X2 sales and marketing solution. The new MEGAstream X2 software application is designed for sales and marketing departments that want to optimize selling behaviors and exercise branded content control throughout their sales channels of dealers, distributors, reps, and agents. Contact on pricing.

SoGoSurvey launches SoGoSurvey Summer ‘16. SoGoSurvey, a provider of online survey software, announced today that it has launched SoGoSurvey Summer ‘16. The software features guarantees anonymity. It lets you link your client, employee or transaction data with your survey data with ease. And SoGoSurvey allows you to easily track and plot multi-year survey results and spot trends quickly. Price: Free plan allows 30 questions and 125 responses. Paid plans start at $12 per month.

eBridge Connections launches DIY integration between Shopify and Sage 50. eBridge Connections has announced the launch of eBridge DIY, which facilitates bi-directional order automation between Shopify and Sage 50. The intended user will be a Shopify retailer who typically processes over 250 order transactions per month and is looking for a do-it-yourself connector to automate order entry into and out of their Sage 50 accounting package. Price: $99.99 per month.

Track shipments on BigCommerce with AfterShip. AfterShip has announced the integration of its search engine into the BigCommerce platform to provide a seamless shipment tracking experience for online customers after purchase. AfterShip enables BigCommerce merchants to select their local couriers and postal services from over 350 carriers worldwide. Customers can track shipments for all couriers supported by AfterShip, even if the carrier is unsupported by BigCommerce. Price: Free.

Vinimaya Launches Aquiire. Vinimaya, Inc., a developer of B2B marketplace and supplier relationship management solutions, has announced the launch of Aquiire, a cloud-based, real-time e-procurement suite. Aquiire aggregates price, product, and supplier information into a marketplace. Real-time guided-buying controls direct users to your preferred suppliers and products. Get current spending trends, budget compliance tracking, compliance savings, and real-time market pricing comparisons. Contact on pricing.

Aquiire.