Here is a list of product releases and updates for late June from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on personalized shopping, fintech, subscription groups, sponsoring creators, online sales tax, and fraud prevention.
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Ecommerce Product Releases
Adobe unveils Project Rush at VidCon 2018. Adobe has unveiled Project Rush, an all-in-one, cross-device video editing app for creating and sharing online content. The app automatically syncs all your projects to the cloud allowing you to work on any device. Harnessing Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Premiere Pro and After Effects, Project Rush delivers a streamlined and intuitive user experience. Simplified editing, color, audio, and titling are at your fingertips, while Adobe Stock integration and editable Motion Graphics templates allow you to get up-and-running quickly.
Adobe’s announcement of Project Rush.
Introducing Adobe Spark Post on Android. Adobe has announced the first public beta release of Spark on Android. This Android app lets you apply typography and design filters to any photo in your camera roll, Creative Cloud library, or to thousands of stock photos available for free in Spark Post. Start from templates, resize in one tap, apply design filters, and easily make your design pop with beautiful typography. If you’ve been using Spark on the web, your projects will sync across devices.
Facebook introduces Subscription Groups. Facebook is letting Group admins charge $4.99 to $29.99 per month for access to special sub-groups and exclusive posts. During the beta test, Facebook won’t be sharing the revenue. This pilot is testing with a small number of groups across a range of interests who will share input and feedback along the way. They include a dedicated college preparation group and a meal preparation group that includes weekly meal plans, shopping lists by the preferred grocery store, and more.
PayPal acquires Hyperwallet. PayPal Holdings has announced that it has agreed to acquire Hyperwallet, a global payout platform, for $400 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments. The acquisition of Hyperwallet enhances PayPal’s payout capabilities, improving the company’s ability to provide an integrated suite of payment solutions to ecommerce platforms and marketplaces around the world. Upon closing, PayPal and Braintree merchants will gain localized, multi-currency payment distribution capabilities in more than 200 markets with numerous disbursement options, including prepaid card, bank account, debit card, cash pickup, check, and PayPal.
Hyperwallet
Facebook launches Brand Collabs search engine for sponsoring creators. Facebook has launched Brand Collabs Manager, a search engine that brands can use to browse popular creators based on their audience and portfolio of sponsored content. To entice sponsorship from brands, creators will be able to compile portfolios connected to their Facebook pages. Also, Facebook is also launching creator monetization tools through Facebook’s Creator app, including ad breaks, subscriptions, fan badges, and rights manager.
Amazon Prime Wardrobe officially launches to all U.S. Prime members. Prime Wardrobe, Amazon’s try-it-before-you-buy-it shopping service, is now out of beta and open to all Prime members in the U.S. Prime Wardrobe is Amazon’s answer to personalized shopping services such as Stitch Fix and Trunk Club, which send curated boxes of clothes to customers on a regular basis. In Amazon’s version, users fill their own boxes with three to eight items and then have a week to try on and return unwanted items.
Skava launches voice commerce and microservices. Skava, a global provider of cloud microservices for ecommerce, has integrated voice into its microservices via the latest 7.5 version of the Skava Commerce platform. The new feature allows shoppers to order products without a user interface. Skava has enabled voice commerce with Amazon Alexa and integrated with its APIs so a merchant’s customers can reorder products based on their order history. When your customer orders a product, it will send a text message to their device that order was placed. Then, that particular order information is sent over to the order management system, another microservice that Skava offers.
Skava
Adjust to launch open source mobile performance tool. Adjust has launched a free open source performance benchmarking tool for app publishers. It is designed to help publishers and marketers better understand how well their apps are doing. The benchmarking tool measures five specific key performance indicators, including fraudulent-rejected installs, cost per install, retention rate, sessions per user, and events per user. These KPIs can be measured across eight vertical segments: ecommerce, gaming, entertainment and news, social, health and fitness, utilities, travel, and business and finance.
Webgility and Stamps.com forge partnership to provide ecommerce sellers discounted USPS shipping rates. Webgility, an ecommerce and accounting automation solution, and Stamps.com, a PC postage provider for the United States Postal Service, have signed an agreement to deliver USPS shipping technology and discounted shipping rates to Webgility users. Webgility will offer its customers Commercial Plus Pricing rates for qualified USPS shipments using Stamps.com. The deal represents a significant saving for high-volume multichannel sellers —who currently receive commercial base pricing or retail rates on their shipping — plus allowing them to cut shipping costs by as much as 40 percent.
Payability expands ecommerce marketplace support, launches new financing service. Payability, a provider of financing for ecommerce marketplace sellers, has announced the availability of its Instant Advance financing offering. A seller can qualify for Payability’s Instant Advance based on their marketplace sales history and performance metrics. If Payability collects the total future receivables sooner than expected, the seller will receive an early payment rebate. There are no origination fees, application fees, or interest applied to an Instant Advance. Additionally, Payability is expanding its offerings to sellers on online marketplaces Newegg, Tophatter, Walmart, and Jet.com.
Payability
Facebook Marketplace opened to BigCommerce merchants. BigCommerce is working with Facebook to give pages with a Facebook Shop an easier way to extend their online product inventory within Facebook. Ecommerce businesses using BigCommerce can now tap directly into the Facebook Marketplace community to promote and sell their products. Merchants can simply apply for the program and, based on eligibility, take advantage of organic distribution in the Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace surfaces product recommendations to consumers based on their preferences, ensuring a product is being seen by the right audience. Facebook Marketplace has no set listing fees.
eBay launches “Best Price Guarantee” program. eBay announced it will launch a Best Price Guarantee to offer shoppers in the United States 110 percent of the price difference if they find an item for less on another website. Eligible items must be available from an approved competitor, including Amazon, BestBuy.com, HomeDepot.com, Jet.com, Sears.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, and Wayfair.com.
PayPal to acquire Simility to expand global fraud prevention and risk management capabilities for merchants. PayPal Holdings has agreed to acquire Simility, a fraud prevention and risk management platform. Merchants on the PayPal platform will gain access to fraud tools that can be customized to reflect the nuances of their businesses through their existing account management dashboard. These machine learning-powered tools, which adapt and evolve with each transaction, will enhance payment experiences for merchants and their customers by helping to reduce fraudulent payment activity and, in some cases, verifying transactions that may have otherwise failed.
Simility