Ecommerce Product Releases: August 31, 2021

Here is a list of product releases and updates for late August from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on social commerce, cybersecurity, global tax management, omnichannel advertising, and buy now, pay later.

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

Ecommerce Product Releases

Affirm and Amazon partner on buy-now-pay-later purchasing. Affirm and Amazon have partnered to help Amazon customers finance purchases greater than $50. Testing for the program has already begun with select customers. Affirm says it will not charge late fees, and customers would know the total cost of using its services at checkout. The program will become broadly available in the coming months.

Affirm

Shopify introduces in-app shopping on TikTok. Shopify has announced a new way for entrepreneurs to reach consumers on TikTok. Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will soon be able to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create a mini-storefront that links to their online store for checkout. Shopify and TikTok have also partnered to tag and link products in organic TikTok posts. TikTok users can shop directly from a merchant’s mini-storefront or click a tagged product in a merchant’s TikTok video to shop directly on the merchant’s Shopify store.

CommerceIQ expands omnichannel advertising with Criteo integration. CommerceIQ, an algorithmic ad platform for consumer ecommerce brands, has announced an API integration with Criteo’s retail media service. CommerceIQ’s customers can now optimize their search advertising across Criteo’s ecosystem of retailers and marketplaces. With the Criteo integration, CommerceIQ is introducing a proprietary metric called “Search Rank Index,” which tracks the search ranking of individual SKUs on important keywords and automatically adjusts bids.

Yahoo Small Business expands partner ecosystem. Yahoo Small Business, a division of Verizon, has announced the expansion of its partner ecosystem to include 1-800Accountant, Constant Contact, PromoRepublic, and WebCEO. Through the partnerships, Yahoo Small Business customers will have access to industry-leading services via Business Maker, Yahoo’s all-in-one platform for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Business Maker at Yahoo Small Business

Instagram launches ads in the Shop tab. Instagram is launching ads in its Shop tab. These ads will appear as tiles on the Instagram Shop tab home page. Clicking on the ad will bring users to the product details page to learn more about the item, view images, and browse additional products. The ads will be rolling out in countries where the Instagram Shop tab is available.

Amazon announces two new cybersecurity initiatives. Amazon has announced two new initiatives that will help protect organizations and individuals from cybersecurity threats. Starting in October, Amazon will make available to the public the cybersecurity training materials it has developed to keep sensitive information safe from cyberattacks. Amazon also announced that it would offer qualified AWS customers a free multi-factor authentication (MFA) device to further secure their environments and protect their most sensitive assets from attacks. AWS customers with access to the AWS Management Console can authenticate themselves by typing in their passwords and touching the MFA security token plugged into their computer’s USB port. Customers can also use their MFA devices to access multiple AWS accounts and other token-enabled applications, such as GitHub, Gmail, and Dropbox.

Deck Commerce launches order management app for Shopify merchants. Deck Commerce has announced the launch of its Shopify app, a distributed order management integration that enables retailers to automate order flows for omnichannel, preorders, backorders, drop-shipping, returns, and other complex scenarios.

Deck Commerce

Rutter raises $1.5 million for unified ecommerce API. Rutter, which provides a white-label connection flow that handles OAuth and merchant authentication, has emerged from stealth with $1.5 million from an investor group that includes Haystack, Liquid 2, and Basis Set Ventures. Rutter’s unified ecommerce API allows companies to connect anywhere, enabling developers to build universal applications across multiple ecommerce platforms.

Amazon to open large retail locations in the U.S. Amazon is planning to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal. The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet (roughly one-third the size of traditional department stores) and will offer items from top consumer brands and Amazon’s private-label goods. Other department-store chains, such as Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, have opened similar scaled-down physical-store formats.

Digital River and Avalara team up to simplify global ecommerce. Digital River, an experienced global payments enabler for brands, has announced a collaboration with Avalara, a provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes. The partnership brings together two respected brands to launch a global tax management solution to eliminate the complexity of international taxes and simplify and accelerate cross-border ecommerce sales. By combining Digital River’s experienced tax professionals and APIs with Avalara’s tax automation technology, brands can scale globally without worrying about the complex tax liabilities and regulations of each local and regional market.

Walmart Launches GoLocal, a delivery-as-a-service business. Walmart’s new GoLocal service extends its logistics network to businesses of all sizes. In three years, Walmart has launched and scaled delivery and express delivery for its customers on 160,000 items from more than 3,000 stores, reaching nearly 70% of the U.S. population. The new white-label delivery-as-a-service offering empowers businesses to grow using Walmart’s delivery capabilities and nationwide coverage at competitive pricing.

Walmart GoLocal