New Ecommerce Tools: November 21, 2024

Every week we publish a selection of new products from companies offering services to ecommerce merchants. This installment includes updates on local search marketing, video generators, AI-powered shopping assistants, email marketing tools, conversational commerce, online review tools, and influencer marketing.

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

New Tools for Merchants

Google Maps launches product search. Google has updated Maps to include product-specific search. The update lets users search for products directly within Google Maps and find real-time inventory availability at nearby stores. Shoppers can find a wide range of items and have immediate access to local pickup options. For accurate inventory tracking, merchants should regularly sync with Google Merchant Center and ensure accurate Google Business Profile information.

Google Maps

TikTok launches AI-powered video platform to advertisers globally. ByteDance-owned TikTok has announced the global availability of Symphony Creative Studios, its generative AI video creation platform and a component of the Symphony creative content suite, which aims to help businesses, creators, and agencies customize content to their brands. The suite includes Symphony Creative Studios, Symphony Assistant, Symphony Digital Avatars, and TikTok ads manager. Symphony Creative Studios, which also includes a virtual assistant, helps users automate tasks to create content on the platform.

Alibaba releases AI search tool for small businesses in Europe and the Americas. China-based ecommerce giant Alibaba has released an AI-powered search engine for small companies in Europe and the Americas to source inventory. With a few text or image prompts, businesses can use the AI-assistant Accio to find wholesale products, including an analysis of their popularity with consumers and projected profit. The technology uses generative AI from Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen large language model. The initial version of Accio is web-based and supports English, German, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Bluecore acquires AI shopping assistant Alby for conversational commerce. Bluecore, a retail technology provider, has acquired AI shopping assistant Alby in preparation for a new conversational shopping release. Using Bluecore, retailers can soon make their ecommerce sites, email campaigns, SMS, and mobile apps conversational by anticipating and answering shoppers’ questions. The shopping assistant will leverage the retailer’s product catalog and customer lifecycle stage data to generate real-time prompts, responses, and recommendations that progress the shopper toward purchase.

Alby

PhaseZero launches commerce-ready AI agents. PhaseZero, an AI-native composable commerce provider, has announced commerce-ready AI agents integrated with its CxCommerce platform. Pricing Agent provides insights into competitive and channel pricing trends. Inventory Agent provides visibility into alternate products and suppliers for out-of-stock items. Visual Search Agent makes it easy for customers to find products matching pictures. SEO Agent enables improved rankings. Insights Agent helps merchants identify sales opportunities, perform data-driven planning, and maximize return on investment.

CommerceIQ launches Nexis, an omnichannel AI assistant for commerce. CommerceIQ, a retail ecommerce management platform, has launched Nexis, a generative AI-powered omnichannel commerce tool. Nexis is a role-based teammate that enhances Amazon Copilot and retail media management solutions with advanced AI capabilities tailored to ecommerce. With the sales module, merchants can enhance Copilot with tailored templates to generate insights from Amazon sales and operations data. With the marketing module, merchants can deepen analysis across global retail media platforms.

MailReach releases tools for email marketing campaigns. MailReach, a provider of email deliverability solutions, has launched a suite of tools to enhance email marketing campaigns. The tools feature email warmup, advanced spam testing, real-time analytics, A/B testing, and integration with popular ecommerce, CRM, and marketing automation platforms. The platform’s intelligent inbox placement tester and domain health checkup tools help businesses address deliverability issues proactively to overcome spam filters and achieve higher engagement rates.

MailReach

Thryv launches AI tool to help small businesses respond quickly to online reviews. Thryv, a small business software platform, has launched Thryv AI Review Response, allowing businesses to respond quickly to positive and negative feedback on Google Business Profile listings, YP.com, Trustpilot, and 20 other popular review sites. Thryv aggregates review sites into one view. Users select the AI wand to generate review responses. Other AI-enhanced platform tools include social media management and Pro Campaign Editor.

StackAdapt integrates with the Shopify platform to optimize merchant campaigns. StackAdapt, a multichannel advertising platform, has announced its latest application on the Shopify App Store. Shopify store owners can now automatically install the StackAdapt pixel through the App Store or directly from StackAdapt. The integration enables users to onboard pixels and audience activations, tracking conversion events for monitoring and optimization. StackAdapt also offers predefined templates that enable users to define their audiences with rule-based segmentation.

Popcorn AI secures funding to define conversational commerce. Popcorn AI, a conversational commerce developer, has announced a $500,000 pre-seed funding round, with participation from Spring Studios. Popcorn AI says the funding will accelerate its development of conversational commerce for business-customer interactions, advancing the platform’s conversational AI capabilities and expanding its team of AI and commerce experts. Popcorn AI’s platform creates intelligent AI agents that handle the entire customer journey, from personalized product discovery to payment processing, all within life-like conversations.

BrandLink launches an influencer marketing platform for businesses and creators. SooNet Inc., a business application developer, has launched BrandLink, a mobile-first platform to provide accessible and affordable influencer marketing solutions for businesses of all sizes. BrandLink allows firms to search for and connect with influencers based on specific filters such as niche, location, and audience size. Influencers, in turn, can set their own rates and customize service packages, making the platform flexible and transparent for both parties, according to BrandLink.