Ecommerce Product Releases: October 15, 2020

Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-October from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on voice commerce, social commerce, customer-support texting, cybersecurity, on-demand fulfillment, and holiday shipping.

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

Ecommerce Product Releases

Instagram’s shopping cart is coming to IGTV and Reels. Instagram’s in-app shopping is expanding to IGTV and Reels. Shopping in IGTV (the app for long-form videos) is available now, and testing in Reels launches later this year. Using the Instagram Checkout feature, creators and brands can tag products in their videos, which are then available for purchase without leaving the app. Instagram is also testing commercials in IGTV to share ad revenue with creators.

Google is enabling shopping on YouTube. YouTube has started asking creators to use YouTube software to tag and track products featured in their clips. The data will then be linked to analytics and shopping tools from parent-company Google. The result will be a large catalog of items that viewers can browse, click, and purchase directly. Google is also testing an integration with Shopify for selling products through YouTube.

Google Assistant to bring voice control to the eBay app. Android customers can now seamlessly blend voice querying with the eBay app to facilitate an end-to-end shopping experience on their Android device. As one of Google Assistant’s first integrated ecommerce partners, eBay has collaborated with Google using a deep linking architecture on four main use cases, each of them central to the core shopping journey. Integrating the eBay app with Google’s Assistant is eBay’s first mainstream experience in voice commerce.

Tone raises $4 million to help ecommerce brands text with customers. Tone has raised $4 million in seed funding, led by Bling Capital. Tone helps ecommerce brands increase sales and customer satisfaction by allowing shoppers to get help quickly via text and check out faster. Tone’s human agents engage, educate, and convert visitors into customers with lightning-fast text conversations that take just a few minutes. Tone increases sales and customer satisfaction by giving online businesses a human that consumers can text with 24/7. Its app can be installed in less than 10 minutes for Shopify and Magento users or through a custom integration.

Apptega launches CyberXchange, a B2B marketplace for cybersecurity. Apptega, a platform that helps companies automate cybersecurity and compliance programs, has announced the launch of CyberXchange, a B2B ecommerce marketplace dedicated solely to cybersecurity and compliance. CyberXchange eliminates the ad hoc searching, guesswork, and complexity of cybersecurity commerce by matching providers with buyers. CyberXchange’s AI technology engine, called Harmony, maps leading cybersecurity products and services to over 10,000 categories and compliance standards, giving organizations an efficient way to find and buy the products and services they need to counter the expanding threat landscape.

USPS releases 2020 holiday shipping deadlines. The U.S. Postal Service has released its 2020 holiday shipping deadlines, in a post entitled “Despite 2020’s Best Efforts, the Holidays Are Approaching.” In addition to the shipping deadlines, the update provides a list of tips for a successful holiday mailing and shipping season. USPS anticipates Dec. 14 will be its busiest day online, with more than 13 million consumers predicted to visit Usps.com.

Tradeswell launches neural AI to enhance ecommerce margins. Tradeswell is launching a neural artificial intelligence platform for real-time ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands. Tradeswell brings optimization across six key areas of ecommerce in real-time, including marketing, retail, inventory, logistics, forecasting, lifetime value, and financials, so brands know what to sell, to whom, where, and at what price with full visibility into customer data.

Ware2Go launches FulfillmentVu technology platform. Ware2Go, a UPS company offering on-demand fulfillment through an integrated tech platform for one- to two-day shipping, has announced FulfillmentVu, a new technology platform with a combined warehouse management system, order management system, and transportation management system. The platform helps merchants meet customer expectations across all sales channels. Its flexible pricing and operational model eliminate long-term contracts, as well as order minimums, to facilitate multichannel growth at any level.

Voice Shopping from Speak2web available on WooCommerce. WooCommerce store owners can now install the Voice Shopping WordPress plugin from Speak2web. Shoppers can utilize the world’s first web-based voice shopping experience from product discovery through checkout. With the Voice Shopping plugin, customers can search, add to cart, check out, and more.

Braze reveals multi-cloud support with Microsoft Azure. Braze, a customer engagement platform, announced several product and partnership updates. Braze is adding Microsoft Azure to its list of supported cloud platforms, with general availability expected in early 2021. Braze also has improved native reporting capabilities through a new Report Builder and Funnel Reports. With Report Builder, brands can quickly compare the results of multiple campaigns directly in Braze. Funnel Reports allow customers to visualize where conversion drop-offs occur and then quickly optimize outcomes at every step of the funnel.