Here is a list of product releases and updates for mid-March from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on digital currencies, multichannel fulfillment, advertising, platform migration, email marketing, same-day delivery, and visual analytics.
Got an ecommerce product release? Email releases@practicalecommerce.com.
Ecommerce Product Releases
VisualCamp releases a free web analysis app. Eye-tracking startup VisualCamp has launched SeeSo Web Analysis, an app where users can enter a URL and track their eyes as they browse the site. The app gives an analysis of gaze data in real-time, providing analytics on where you’re focusing through heatmaps, the path you visually take, and how long you are looking. SeeSo Web Analysis is available for free on the iOS App Store.
VisualCamp
Etsy introduces risk-free advertising service. Etsy has announced two advertising updates. Offsite Ads promote Etsy items on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Bing. You’ll pay an advertising fee only when a shopper clicks on one of those ads for your products and purchases from your Etsy shop within 30 days. Etsy has also updated its existing advertising tool, Etsy Ads, so that your budget will only apply to shoppers on Etsy.
PayPal enhances business accounts with integrated tools. PayPal informed business customers of upcoming enhancements to their accounts. Businesses will have access to PayPal’s suite of business services directly from the PayPal home page, with tools for accepting payments, managing risk, streamlining operations, and accessing financing. Customers can personalize the PayPal home page with shortcuts to the apps and actions they use most.
Amazon lowers multichannel fulfillment fees. Amazon announced that it is lowering multichannel fulfillment fees, which occur when Amazon fulfills orders from outside of the Amazon marketplace, such as from a merchant’s website. Amazon is reducing rates for expedited 2-day shipping and standard shipping, and introducing new tiers for standard and expedited shipping.
Fulfillment by Amazon
Celo, a provider of blockchain technology, announces a 50-member crypto alliance. The Celo Foundation has announced 50 founding members of the Celo Alliance for Prosperity. The goal of the Alliance is to bring organizations together with the shared vision of making crypto-payments more accessible and useful in the real world. Alliance members are pursuing a diverse set of use cases, including powering mobile and online work, enabling faster and affordable remittances, reducing the operational complexities of delivering humanitarian aid, facilitating payments, and enabling microlending.
Amazon speeds up same-day delivery in select cities. Amazon announced that Prime members in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando, and Dallas can now receive faster same-day delivery. Up to 3 million items across dozens of categories that are marked “Today by” can now be ordered for delivery throughout the day. Members can also order as late as midnight and have their orders on their doorstep the next morning by selecting the “Overnight by 8am” delivery option. If customers select to have their order delivered overnight, drivers will arrive between 4:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., which is noted on the product detail page and again at checkout.
BVA launches accelerated Magento to Shopify Plus replatform services. Magento has announced that all versions of Magento 1 will expire in June 2020. The number of impacted online stores is estimated to be between 200,000 and 240,000. In response, BVA, a Shopify Plus agency, is launching a new “accelerator” to migrate Magento 1 merchants to Shopify Plus.
BVA
Sales CRM Pipedrive acquires Mailigen, provider of email marketing automation. Customer-relationship-management company Pipedrive has acquired Mailigen, an email and social-media marketing automation service. Mailigen will help Pipedrive customers generate leads and nurture prospects.
MHS launches software for ecommerce-driven warehouses. MHS, which offers services for distribution centers, has announced the launch of software to address the challenges distribution and fulfillment centers face as a result of ecommerce growth. MHS Helix consists of template-based, integrated modules for equipment control, inventory management, and order fulfillment functions.
DHL Supply Chain and Locus Robotics launching 10 new U.S. deployments in 2020. DHL Supply Chain, part of Deutsche Post DHL Group, and Locus Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for fulfillment warehouses, have announced an expanded partnership that includes 10 new, nationwide deployments of the Locus AMR (autonomous mobile robot) service in 2020. DHL Supply Chain North America and Locus Robotics partnered in 2017 to pilot a collaborative, autonomous robotics service, LocusBots, to navigate autonomously within warehouses to quickly locate and transport pick items to associates.
DHL Supply Chain
