Here is a list of ecommerce-related product releases and updates for January. There are updates on mobile commerce, price forecasting, payment networks, and home delivery.
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Ecommerce Product Releases
BigCommerce and Handshake announce a strategic partnership for B2B. BigCommerce and Handshake, a mobile-first B2B commerce platform, have announced a strategic partnership to bring a suite of enhanced B2B capabilities to BigCommerce customers worldwide. Businesses selling on BigCommerce will be able to leverage existing product catalogs and customer data within Handshake, enabling a wide range of B2B selling scenarios while maintaining a single source for sales, inventory, pricing, and orders — spanning both B2C and B2B channels. Contact for pricing.
Handshake
Toyota unveils e-Palette, an autonomous ecommerce mobility platform. At CES 2018, Toyota unveiled its vision for autonomous business applications, with its reconfigurable e-Palette vehicles to provide space for on-demand offices, ride sharing, meal deliveries, stores, and medical clinics. According to Toyota’s president, the e-Palette vehicles can be reconfigured for different uses within a single day, with a Toyota distribution center to house the vehicles. Businesses and communities could additionally combine several e-Palettes in one place to form on-demand malls, medical clinics, entertainment, and festivals. Toyota said the company has created a group of business partners called the e-Palette Alliance to support ecommerce mobility.
First Insight launches a service to forecast pricing elasticity. First Insight, which helps retailers and brands make pricing decisions, has announced the release of ElastiCast, a service that enables retailers to forecast price elasticity of new products to determine optimal prices and increase margins. By processing consumer data through First Insight’s proprietary algorithms, ElastiCast enables merchants, planners, and marketers to analyze various pricing scenarios and predict how consumers will react to different price points throughout a product’s lifecycle. Contact for pricing.
eGain enables conversational customer service through Facebook Messenger. eGain, a cloud-based customer engagement tool, has announced its integration with Facebook Messenger. Features include (a) initiating customer service conversations from the business’s Facebook page using Facebook Messenger, (b) exchanging rich content, including multiple document types and images, and (c) accessing personalized, proactive customer engagement with award-winning digital engagement capabilities.
eGain
Grubhub and NCR make online ordering and delivery more efficient for restaurants. Grubhub, the online and mobile food-ordering company, and NCR Corporation are helping restaurants capitalize on online ordering and delivery with the Grubhub and NCR Aloha integration. Restaurants that use Grubhub can manage orders from the core point-of-sale platform, helping operators make smarter use of staff, save time on menu updates, free up counter space, view their financials and accounting in one place, and generate more orders in their locations.
Claritas acquires Geoscape, a multicultural market intelligence company. Claritas, a provider of consumer segmentation tools for improving marketing performance, has acquired Miami-based Geoscape International, a player in multicultural business intelligence. Claritas provides marketers with a comprehensive view into the buying behaviors and media choices of consumers and businesses through proprietary segmentation analysis, powered by unique data sources and direct consumer research. Geoscape offers a suite of online software and insights that enable marketers to access high-growth consumer groups.
Sprouts expands home delivery through partnership with Instacart. Sprouts Farmers Market has announced it will expand home delivery service to its major markets across the U.S. through a partnership with Instacart. Customers will be able to enjoy convenient delivery of products from Sprouts by simply visiting Delivery.sprouts.com or the Instacart website or mobile app, where they can choose to have their groceries delivered same-day within one or two hours, or schedule a delivery for later. Sprouts, which currently offers home delivery in eight cities across the country, will roll out the Instacart service to markets in phases, starting immediately with select zip codes in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Additional markets will be announced at a later date.
Sprouts
Tryzens delivers Salesforce Commerce Cloud integration for Eagle Eye, the first of its kind for Salesforce retailers. Tryzens, an ecommerce systems integrator, has been awarded the contract to develop a pre-built integration, or “cartridge,” for Eagle Eye, a SaaS technology company that allows businesses to create a real-time connection with their customers. Through the cartridge with Tryzens, Eagle Eye will be able to deliver retailers on the Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform the capability to issue and redeem digital promotions and digital or plastic gift cards in real-time through their ecommerce sites, enabling customers to buy and redeem across any channel.
MSTS and Apruve partner to expand the B2B credit network. Multi Service Technology Solutions, a B2B payment and credit solutions provider, and Apruve, a B2B credit network, have announced a partnership to provide manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors an alternative payment and credit service that competes directly with credit cards. The solution eliminates the need for businesses to leverage their capital and resources to provide credit and payment terms to customers. For many B2B companies, high transaction fees associated with accepting credit cards has become a necessary evil. The partnership will enable businesses to create a seamless, customer-centric payment process, including automated instant credit approval, buyer onboarding, billing, customer service, and collections. Contact for pricing.
August Access, an in-home delivery service first tested with Walmart, opens to all retailers. At CES 2018, delivery company August Home announced a service called August Access, where retailers can work with August and its partner Deliv to have packages delivered directly into homes when recipients aren’t home. The service is an extension of what was first announced with Walmart in September. August Access will appear as another delivery option in cases where a merchant is participating in the program. For those who have the required smart lock on their doors, August generates a one-time passcode for the Deliv courier to drop off the package.
August