Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-September from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on shipping, warehousing, fulfillment, cross-channel marketing, last-mile delivery, and visual search.
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Ecommerce Product Releases
Magento Business Intelligence announces new capabilities. Magento Business Intelligence provides dashboards and reporting tools, letting merchants consolidate data from internal systems, Magento extensions, and third-party tools. This update introduces three new visualization types: scatter plots, scatter plots with a trend line, and bubble charts. Also, merchants can now schedule and send timely data reports with an enhanced email summary feature. Schedule and send visualizations, tables, or standalone key performance indicators to people in your organization right from the platform.
Magento Business Intelligence
AdRoll Group rebrands as NextRoll, launches marketing platform services. AdRoll Group rebranded as NextRoll, a marketing and data technology company. Additionally, NextRoll is introducing external APIs to open its infrastructure, technology, and data. NextRoll is now comprised of three business units: RollWorks, an account-based platform for B2B marketing and sales teams; AdRoll, a marketing platform for direct-to-consumer brands; and NextRoll Platform Services, a marketing-technology-as-a-service offering for brands, agencies, marketplaces, publishers, and marketing platforms.
USPS to launch website to support shipping and return consolidators. The United States Postal Service is providing an opportunity to shipping and return consolidators for first and last-mile delivery services. USPS will list companies on a new shipping-and-returns-consolidators website to be featured on USPS.com. There is no cost or fee associated for approved consolidators to be listed. However, participating companies must complete an application and meet the criteria for inclusion. The new website will go live on September 30.
Shopify to acquire 6 River Systems. Shopify has reached an agreement to acquire 6 River Systems, a provider of collaborative warehouse fulfillment solutions. In June, Shopify introduced the Shopify Fulfillment Network. With the acquisition of 6 River Systems, Shopify adds a team with decades of experience in fulfillment software and robotics, including experienced leaders from Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics). Adding 6 River Systems’ cloud-based software and collaborative mobile robots called “Chuck” will increase the speed and reliability of warehouse operations, according to Shopify.
6 River Systems
Ware2Go launches suite of supply chain optimization tools. Ware2Go, an on-demand fulfillment platform, has announced a new suite of supply chain optimization tools: demand forecasting, warehouse network optimization, inventory level optimization, and service-level performance insights. The suite of tools augments Ware2Go’s fulfillment network and enables businesses to analyze and execute warehousing and inventory management strategies to achieve more competitive fulfillment speeds while managing costs.
Iterable releases cross-channel marketing individualization service. Iterable, a cross-channel marketing platform, has announced the release of Catalog, a data-driven individualization engine. With Iterable Catalog, marketers can create personalized messaging experiences derived from first-party customer data — from personal profile details to inferential behavioral preferences. Catalog is designed for marketing teams to build campaigns, filter criteria, and store or reuse customer segments through its Collection Builder interface. Real-time data continuity ensures customers receive individualized content that complements their experience.
Bloomreach announces search and merchandising connector for Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Bloomreach has launched a B2B search and merchandising connector for Salesforce Commerce Cloud on Salesforce AppExchange. The connector allows users of Commerce Cloud to integrate Bloomreach’s site search and artificial-intelligence-powered merchandising tools in their B2B commerce environment, providing users with even more relevant search results and allowing merchandisers to focus on strategic tasks while smart algorithms take over the mundane work.
Bloomreach
Huboo raises £1 million for its fulfillment platform. Huboo, a multichannel fulfillment company for ecommerce merchants, has raised £1 million in seed funding, led by London-based venture capital firm Episode 1. Launched in 2017, Huboo provides real-time stock management to “take your stock, store it, pick, pack, and deliver it for you automatically.” Huboo focuses on fulfillment for underserved small and mid-sized ecommerce merchants, offering a relatively inexpensive option so that any company can free up time and space. Inventory will be stored for free for two months.
Amazon Attribution expands to U.S. Amazon Attribution, which provides impact analysis on how consumers discover and buy products on Amazon, launched earlier this year in limited availability to vendors in the U.K. The beta is now available to eligible brand-owning U.S. sellers through Seller Central. Both U.S. and U.K. vendors can now sign up for access through the Amazon Attribution web page. Also, Amazon recently introduced a click-based service that allows for in-app measurement, enabling brands to measure the impact of their social media ad campaigns based on how consumers discover, research, and buy products on Amazon.
Syte raises $21.5 million for its retail-focused visual AI technology. Syte, a player in visual-search artificial intelligence for retail, has recently raised $21.5 million, led by Viola Ventures. Syte has raised a total of $32 million. With Syte’s retail-focused visual search technology, users snap pictures of items they like, which can then be used by retailers to find lookalike products. Retailers can integrate Syte’s technology into their platforms through its API. Syte offers camera search, deep tagging, recommendation engines, and in-store solutions to utilize visual AI search. Brands currently using Syte’s technology include Conforama, Farfetch, Marks & Spencer, Boohoo, and Argos.
Syte