Ecommerce Product Releases: April 16, 2023

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-April from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on live shopping, email marketing, artificial-intelligence applications, virtual store builders, and cross-border payments.

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

Ecommerce Product Releases

CommerceIQ launches Ecommerce Sales Management Pro for Amazon sellers. CommerceIQ has launched Ecommerce Sales Management Pro, an all-in-one offering for brands to plan, monitor, and execute on Amazon. Building on CommerceIQ’s retail ecommerce automation platform, ESMP integrates market share and forecasting features with sales, supply chain, and content automation to help brands maximize profitable growth. CommerceIQ’s ESMP enables brands to consolidate their tech stacks for a single source of truth.

CommerceIQ

Bold Commerce and PayPal collaborate on checkout for Adobe Commerce. Bold Commerce, a provider of tailored checkout experiences for omnichannel retailers and brands, has launched a headless checkout integration with Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. Bold Commerce collaborated with PayPal to create the integration. Bold Commerce enables brands using Adobe Commerce to elevate checkout experiences without re-platforming. The checkout tool integrates a customizable experience on top of the brands’ existing technology, a first step toward a composable (multi-component) SaaS infrastructure.

Web.com launches appointment platform for professional services. Web.com, a do-it-yourself website provider, has launched MySchedulr, an appointment scheduling platform that lets services-based businesses provide a way for clients to schedule and pay for appointments. MySchedulr connects with top payment providers and offers an easy booking process for customers, who can view availability and receive personalized confirmations and reminders. The platform adds appointments to the calendar and sends automated emails for reminders and cancellations.

Poshmark introduces Posh Shows for live shopping. Poshmark, a fashion resale marketplace, has launched Posh Shows, a live shopping product on Poshmark. Available in the U.S. and Canada, Posh Shows enables participants to live stream on Poshmark, leveraging live video to sell items from their Poshmark closet and reach a community of more than 100 million users.

Poshmark’s Posh Shows

Meta introduces Segment Anything to identify objects in images. Meta has introduced the Segment Anything project, a new AI model for image segmentation (i.e., picking out individual objects in an image). The project comprises the largest segmentation dataset to date, with over 1 billion objects on 11 million licensed and privacy-respecting images.

CoreChain launches direct-to-consumer embedded payments. CoreChain Technologies, an embedded B2B payments network built on distributed ledger technology, has launched its direct-to-customer payments automation product, CoreChain Pay. With CoreChain Pay, merchants can manage vendor payment processing using virtual payment cards, ACH, and other digital methods. CoreChain Pay mitigates payments fraud by providing a tamper-proof record for every buyer-supplier transaction.

PayPal adds payment features for smaller online businesses. PayPal has added features for small businesses to accept a range of payment options, including PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal’s complete payments platform also enables small businesses to process card payments directly on their websites and customize the checkout experience to match the look and feel of their brand, all through a single integration.

Amazon launches free email marketing capabilities for sellers. Amazon has introduced three new audience types within its Customer Engagement tool to help sellers increase their email marketing reach. When sending free marketing emails, sellers can now reach their most loyal customers, such as repeats, recents, and high-spend. Amazon Customer Engagement’s Tailored Audiences also allows sellers to monitor the impact of email marketing campaigns. Amazon is currently testing Tailored Audiences in a beta program.

Dispatch launches ecommerce and ad tech platform. Dispatch, a multichannel selling tool, has unveiled new ecommerce capabilities in collaboration with leading brands such as Lacoste, Templon, Ledger, and Marie Laffont. Dispatch uses blockchain-based technology, leveraging web3 (de-centralized) capabilities to help brands sell physical and digital goods through marketplaces by connecting with existing order management and consumer relationship systems.

Dispatch

Sprout Social enhances platform with artificial intelligence. Sprout Social, a cloud-based social-media-management software provider, has launched AI features that combine the power of Sprout’s proprietary machine learning and deep automation capabilities with OpenAI’s GPT model. The new features will be available throughout the Sprout platform, starting with additions to listening, publishing, customer care, and advocacy.

Mastercard introduces Cross-Border Services Express to modernize international payments. Mastercard has introduced Cross-Border Services Express, a tool that enables financial institutions to set up international payments for their customers, including consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises. With Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services, participating financial institutions can offer their customers international payments in more than 60 currencies to over 100 markets. The service complements Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services offering.

Digital River launches pay-later options for cross-border shoppers. Digital River, a global commerce enabler, now offers Afterpay and Clearpay, two buy-now-pay-later providers. Afterpay allows customers across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to pay with four interest-free installments over six weeks. Clearpay is a leader in BNPL payments in the U.K., enabling customers can pay later with three interest-free installments over 60 days.

Mailchimp announces Email Content Generator, a generative AI tool. Intuit Mailchimp, an email marketing provider, has launched Email Content Generator in beta, which provides ChatGPT AI technology for customers to create marketing email campaigns based on industry, marketing intent, and brand voice. Email Content Generator is part of a suite of AI-powered features within Mailchimp.

GoDaddy launches Generative AI Prompt Library for SMBs. GoDaddy has released its Small Business Generative AI Prompt Library, a catalog of more than 35 prompts ready-made for small businesses to start benefiting from tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Each prompt is a description of the request you want the generative AI tool to accomplish.

GoDaddy

Obsess introduces virtual store builder for 3D ecommerce. Obsess, an ecommerce platform enabling brands to create 3D virtual stores, has announced the launch of AVA by Obsess, a self-serve tool to build and customize virtual stores. The content management system leverages proprietary 3D editing and rendering technology to add and place products easily, embed rich media content, and customize merchandising and styling in virtual stores.

Humbl launches web3 ads to pair brands with consumers. Humbl, a digital payments platform, has launched web3 ads and customer-relationship technologies to pair advertisers, brands, and consumers directly through the Humbl Wallet via blockchain technology. The Humbl Wallet can pair brands and consumers with exclusive product drops, special offers, discount codes, special events access, loyalty programs, and more.

Amazon releases tools for building with generative AI on AWS. Amazon has announced several new tools for customers to use generative AI. CodeWhisperer is an AI companion to improve developer productivity by generating code suggestions in real-time. And Amazon’s Bedrock and  Titan models offer easier ways to build and scale generative AI applications. Amazon has also announced the general availability of network-optimized Trn1n instances delivering 1600 Gbps of network bandwidth.

Square launches nearly 100 features to help sellers automate and diversify. Square has unveiled an integrated spring product release, introducing new features across its entire product ecosystem to unlock growth and create resilience for any type and size of business, according to the release. The new features include Waitlists for appointment slots and services, Subscriptions to sign up for items or services, and the Square for Restaurants integration with OpenTable.

Muck Rack launches PressPal.ai to locate relevant journalists. Muck Rack, a platform to find journalists, has launched PressPal.ai, an AI-powered tool that surfaces relevant journalists based on keywords generated by its integrated press release creator. PressPal.ai quickly drafts a press release based on a brief description and surfaces a list of journalists to target. PressPal.ai is informed by Muck Rack’s extensive database of journalists and media outlets.

Muck Rack’s PressPal.ai