New Ecommerce Tools: March 18, 2024

Every week we publish a rundown of new products from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. This installment includes updates on payment platforms, smart search, B2B commerce, resale programs, gated-offer tools, logistics, customer experience platforms, and generative AI tools.

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

New Tools for Merchants: March 18

Amazon launches new generative AI-powered listing tool. In addition to using text or an image to generate product listings, sellers can now leverage existing listings by providing Amazon with a URL, which is automatically parsed by generative AI. This new capability is rolling out and will be available to U.S. sellers in the coming weeks.

“List Your Products” page on Amazon Seller Central.

eBay launches Preloved Partner program. eBay is launching a new pilot program late this month to highlight pre-owned fashion, which sellers can join by invitation only. eBay will display a “Preloved Partner” program badge next to qualified items. Eligible sellers must maintain certain performance metrics, including Top Rated Seller status, a minimum of 95% positive feedback, 30-day returns, and fewer than 1% “Not Received” items.

SAP announces composable payment solution. SAP’s new composable payment solution for retailers, Commerce Cloud, integrates with numerous third-party payment service providers, including Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, and Airwallex. Commerce Cloud’s composable architecture allows retailers to pick payment partners tailored to their unique needs and markets. The new framework is extensible and headless, helping ensure the front- and back-ends are decoupled and operate independently.

Walmart Commerce Technologies releases AI-powered logistics platform. Walmart is making its AI-powered logistics platform — Route Optimization — available to businesses as a SaaS solution through Walmart Commerce Technologies. Route Optimization provides businesses of all sizes the use of AI-driven software to optimize driving routes, pack trailers efficiently, and minimize miles traveled. Walmart says companies using this technology avoided 94 million pounds of carbon dioxide by eliminating 30 million unnecessary miles and optimized routes to bypass 110,000 inefficient paths.

Walmart Commerce Technologies

SheerID and Payment Plugins partner on gated offer platform for WooCommerce merchants. SheerID, a provider of identity verification for commerce, has partnered with Payment Plugins, a developer for WooCommerce, to launch SheerID for WooCommerce. The new platform allows merchants to verify consumer eligibility for gated offers and discounts instantly. SheerID states the platform is a no-code, turnkey solution.

Rebuy introduces Smart Search for ecommerce. Rebuy, an ecommerce personalization platform for Shopify brands, has released Smart Search with the goal of increasing conversion rates and lowering cart abandonment rates through personalized experiences. Rebuy states that Smart Search can be set up and implemented in minutes. Additional enhancements will be released throughout the year, including collections merchandising and semantic search.

Fortis and WooCommerce partner on B2B payment integration. Fortis, a payment and commerce technology service provider, has partnered with WooCommerce. This collaboration aims to provide B2B payment functionality to the WooCommerce platform and Fortis’s expanding back-office ecosystem. Fortis will debut as a verified payments app in the WooCommerce Marketplace and the WordPress Plugins Marketplace.

Fortis

Verndale announces strategic partnership with BigCommerce. Verndale, an ecommerce agency, has partnered with BigCommerce to provide design, development, and optimization services to merchant sites. Verndale’s commerce practice serves mid-market and enterprise clients and works with content management systems, enterprise resource planning platforms, customer relationship management platforms, and product information management databases.

Brevo launches Commerce Suite for customer-data analysis. Brevo, a provider of customer-management applications, has launched Commerce Suite to provide merchants with a 360-degree view of customer data. Brevo says Commerce Suite enables merchants to analyze the full spectrum of their customers’ purchasing habits across all channels, allowing them to send more personalized recommendations. Per Brevo, merchants using Commerce Suite can improve the customer experience through multichannel communication adapted to each customer by email, SMS, chat, and social media — per Brevo.

ShopMy secures $18.5 million to help influencers earn more from promoting products. ShopMy, a marketing platform for content creators, has raised $18.5 million in a round led by Inspired Capital. ShopMy’s platform equips creators with the tools to earn from their product recommendations, such as building digital storefronts, accessing a catalog of millions of products, making commissionable links, and chatting directly with companies. ShopMy will use the money to scale its network of 40,000 creators.​

Zendesk to acquire Ultimate for AI-powered CX automation. Zendesk, a customer service platform, has announced it will acquire Ultimate, a provider of help-desk automation, to deliver a customer-service AI offering. With the addition of Ultimate, Zendesk says it will offer AI agents enhanced intelligence for proactive problem-solving, complementing human expertise. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ultimate