Here is a list of product releases and updates for late August from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on last-mile delivery, holiday shipping, payment security, customer scoring, seller protection, and charitable donations from merchants.
Got an ecommerce product release? Email releases@practicalecommerce.com.
Ecommerce Product Releases
Amazon to enable the donation of excess and returned products to charities for sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon. Amazon is launching Fulfillment by Amazon Donations, a new program where eligible excess and returned products from sellers using FBA will be made available to charitable organizations. Amazon will start donating products from sellers beginning this September in the U.S. and U.K., providing items to people in need. Amazon works with charity partners and manages logistics to streamline the donation process for independent sellers.
“DayOne,” The Amazon blog.
Etsy launches ad platform for sellers. Etsy has introduced an advertising platform, Etsy Ads, to help shoppers to discover products on both Etsy and Google. Instead of managing two separate campaigns through Etsy’s Promoted Listings and Google Shopping, sellers can set a single daily budget and see advertising performance in one place. Etsy sellers using Promoted Listings or Google Shopping will soon receive an email with more details.
UPS will not access residential peak surcharges during 2019 holiday shipping season. UPS said the company will not apply additional peak surcharges for U.S. residential deliveries during the 2019 holiday season, unless by contractual exception or for those requiring special handling. The company expects to handle a record number of holiday deliveries during peak season 2019. During 2018 and 2019, UPS has added 20 additional 747-8 and 767 aircraft, more than 700,000 additional packages per hour of automated sortation capacity in new “super hubs,” and updated processing and delivery facilities.
Enjoy ecommerce raises additional $150 million, expands into U.K. Enjoy, an ecommerce startup led by a former Apple VP of retail operations, has raised an additional $150 million. The funds will be used for Enjoy’s U.K. expansion and for international growth. Enjoy provides “Smart Last Mile” delivery for technology companies such as Google, Sonos, AT&T, and Magic Leap. Enjoy offers same-day delivery, along with free product setup and personalization by certified experts.
Enjoy
ShippingEasy launches agency program. ShippingEasy, a provider of cloud-based shipping, inventory management, and marketing services for ecommerce sellers, has launched an agency program. Aimed to benefit advertising firms, designers, and others with an ecommerce and technology focus, the program allows agencies to refer ShippingEasy’s shipping, inventory, and marketing services for a share of revenue.
RollWorks launches account scoring powered by machine learning to help account-based teams prioritize accounts. RollWorks, a division of AdRoll Group, announced a new account-scoring feature to help sales and marketing teams score and prioritize account lists. The new functionality uses a predictive machine-learning model that ranks accounts within a target list based on firmographic and technographic fit characteristics. The account-scoring feature is an update to RollWorks’ Identification Solution, which taps into data insights from over 18 million accounts and over 320 million contacts. The feature helps customers focus and prioritize sales and marketing outreach.
RollWorks
Visa introduces a suite of security capabilities to help prevent payment fraud. Visa has announced a suite of security capabilities to help prevent and disrupt payment fraud. The new payment security capabilities help protect the integrity of the payments ecosystem by detecting and disrupting fraud threats targeting financial institutions and merchants. The new capabilities are available to Visa clients at no additional cost or signup.
TrueCommerce announces WooCommerce integration. TrueCommerce, a provider of connectivity and electronic-data-exchange services, has announced the integration with WooCommerce, the WordPress ecommerce plugin. The integration allows WooCommerce merchants to automatically transfer key order data between their WooCommerce storefront and popular business systems, as well as consolidate multiple sales channels.
TrueCommerce
