New Ecommerce Tools: May 21, 2024

This week’s list of new products from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants includes updates on tax compliance, accessibility, inventory, social media management, cross-channel order fulfillment, chargebacks, and direct-to-consumer management for perishable-goods brands.

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New Tools for Merchants: May 21

Avalara expands partnership with Shopify to enable global tax compliance for merchants. Avalara, a provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation, has expanded its partnership with Shopify by joining the Shopify Tax Platform. According to Avalara, through the expanded partnership, Shopify merchants of any size can easily manage and automate global tax compliance. By joining the Shopify Tax Partner Platform, Avalara can now serve all Shopify customers with their global tax compliance requirements, including sales tax, value-added tax, exemption certificate management, 1099 and W-9 issuance, property tax, and more.

Avalara

Zoovu releases tools for accessible ecommerce experiences. Zoovu, a developer of AI-powered ecommerce experiences, has released tools to create product discovery that comply with level AA of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. The features include making it easier to provide live video and audio captions, 4.5-to-1 contrast ratios to ensure text is readable by those with color blindness, up to 200% text resizing, and simpler navigation with consistent menus and buttons.

eBay launches feature to simplify listing resale clothing. eBay has launched a “resell on eBay” feature to simplify the process of listing pre-owned clothing. The feature will be integrated into Certilogo’s Secure by Design digital ID, which can be accessed by scanning a smart label on connected products. eBay plans to extend the resell service to more brands using Certilogo digital ID and make it a default feature of its Secure by Design technology.

Ecommerce startup Purple Dot raises $10 million to reduce unsold inventory. Purple Dot, an ecommerce pre-order and waitlist platform, has announced the closure of a $10 million Series A funding round led by European venture capital firm OpenOcean. Purple Dot’s pre-commerce solution enables brands to sell earlier, helping them reduce inventory risk and store less. Purple Dot states the cash will enable it to continue building the platform and expand its reach to more brands and industries.

Purple Dot

Astound Digital and Shopify partner to boost outcomes for retail brands. Astound Digital, a producer of digital experiences for brands, has announced a strategic partnership with Shopify. The partnership will combine Astound’s knowledge of retail and Shopify’s unified commerce offering aimed at helping retailers break down silos between channels such as D2C, B2B, and point of sale. The partnership includes training and certification on Astound’s capability to support customers beyond online commerce.

Mastercard and Salesforce announce an integration to transform transaction disputes. Mastercard and Salesforce have announced a new integration to speed up the resolution of transaction disputes and reduce associated costs. The partnership will integrate Salesforce’s Financial Services Cloud with Mastercard’s dispute resolution services, providing a powerful one-stop shop for intake, managing disputes, reporting, and preventing chargebacks. Mastercard’s services include Ethoca Alerts, which provides near real-time notifications when a financial institution raises a chargeback, and Ethoca Consumer Clarity, enabling purchase insights to issuer teams.

Highperformr secures $3.5 million to help B2B businesses amplify their social presence. Highperformr, a social AI platform for B2B businesses, has secured $3.5 million in seed funding and launched its product, Highperformr for Teams, designed to help B2B companies streamline their social media workflows. The funding round was led by Venture Highway, with participation from Neon, DeVC, and notable angel investors. The investment will be used to develop Highperformr’s native AI capabilities further and to build a distribution network.

Highperformr

Poshmark launches Promoted Closet marketing tool. Poshmark, a fashion resale marketplace with real-time social experiences, has launched Promoted Closet, a paid marketing tool to help sellers accelerate sales and drive engagement with their listings. Available in the U.S., Promoted Closet leverages machine learning to match shoppers’ search terms with promoted listings, ensuring relevancy and enhancing sellers’ ability to earn on Poshmark. Sellers can set a weekly budget and let it run, unlocking listing-level data reports, including impressions, clicks, and insights.

Gorgias raises $29 million for AI-powered customer experience for ecommerce. Gorgias, a customer experience platform for ecommerce brands, has announced $29 million in additional seed funding, led by SaaStr and Alven, with participation from Horsley Bridge, Amplify, Shopify, Sapphire, CRV, and Transpose Platform. Gorgias will utilize the funding to expand its suite of AI tools, including Automate for customer support. According to Gorgias, ecommerce brands can now exceed customer expectations with instant on-brand answers to customer questions.

CedCommerce launches MCF Connector, simplifying cross-channel order fulfillment. CedCommerce, a multichannel enabler, has launched MCF Connector to streamline cross-channel order fulfillment for non-Amazon sellers. Merchants can connect their Shopify, eBay, TikTok Shop, and custom platforms to MCF. This centralized platform allows for streamlined order and inventory management, eliminating the need to juggle multiple systems.

Grip launches Pulse, a next-generation order management system for perishable goods brands. Grip, a provider of perishable supply chain technology and fulfillment, has introduced Pulse, an order management system and multi-directional dashboard for ecommerce brands. Pulse offers features for D2C brands that ship frozen and refrigerated items, including real-time inventory management, batch number traceability, SKU-specific tracking, live carrier tracking data, and multi-directional updates with Shopify and other point-of-sale systems. Bands can monitor daily shipments, refrigerant usage, and inventory movement without custom middleware and spreadsheets.

Grip