Here is a list of recent product releases and updates for December, from companies that offer services to online merchants. There are updates on email marketing, same-day delivery, one-click purchasing, e-gifting, sensory branding, and shopping from your car’s dashboard.
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Ecommerce Product Releases
Magento Commerce launches one-click instant Purchase checkout. Magento Commerce, the ecommerce platform, has announced the launch of Instant Purchase, becoming the first commerce platform to deliver the functionality since the Amazon 1-Click patent expired in September 2017. The new capability helps merchants drive repeat purchases for returning customers with a streamlined checkout process. The Instant Purchase feature was developed in conjunction with enterprise solution partner, Creatuity, and is now available with the latest version of Magento Commerce.
Magento Blog
Amazon expands Prime delivery services. Amazon has expanded Prime Free Same-Day Delivery and Prime Free One-Day Shipping to members in more than 8,000 cities and towns. To find eligible items, Prime members can look for logos next to product listings or filter using the checkbox located in the filter menu. Select free same-day or one-day shipping at checkout and eligible orders over $35 will be delivered for free. Eligible same-day orders placed in the morning arrive from 6 – 9 p.m.; orders placed in the evening, or through the one-day option, arrive the next day.
GM launches Marketplace for in-car shopping and reservations. General Motors has announced that it will be equipping new cars with an in-dash ecommerce system for drivers to order food, find fuel, and reserve hotel rooms. Drivers will be able to transact by tapping icons on the dashboard (rather than a smartphone) while driving. Developed with IBM, the Marketplace technology will be available in 4 million vehicles by the end of 2018.
Target adds e-gifting option to website. Target has unveiled a new feature on its website called “GiftNow,” letting shoppers pick out items that are then sent via email to gift recipients. A recipient can then accept the gift by providing a shipping address, change the size of the item, or even exchange it for another product.
Target Blog – GiftNow Button
Payment Rails launches Global Payout API to 220 countries. Payment Rails, an API-first payout platform, has announced the launch of a global payout platform for sending payments to roughly 220 countries in approximately 135 currencies. Through a single simplified integration, businesses and platforms can now access global banking, payment and real-time networks around the world in a fully compliant and regulated environment. The Payment Rails platform has no setup fees, monthly minimums, or long-term contracts.
Visa announces sensory branding. Visa has announced a sensory branding suite that will support the Visa brand in an expanded universe of connected, payment-enabled devices. These new sound, animation, and haptic (vibration) cues will help signify completed transactions in digital and physical retail environments when consumers pay with Visa. The sound of Visa will debut in Visa’s global advertising campaign ahead of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
Prime Now and Amazon Handmade team up to offer fast delivery for local artisans. Prime Now, Amazon’s one and two-hour delivery service, and Amazon Handmade, a site for handcrafted items, have announced that unique, handcrafted products from local artisans are now available on Prime Now. This is the first time Amazon Handmade Artisans is leveraging Amazon’s fastest delivery method to extend the selling season through Christmas Eve on Prime Now. Amazon Handmade products are available through the holiday season via Prime Now for Prime members to shop in Austin, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle.
Amazon Handmade
First contemporary art purchased with Bitcoin in U.S. American artist Mark Flood’s painting was the first art piece to be purchased with Bitcoin in the US. When it sold last week in New York for 12.3 BTC (equivalent to $100,000). The White Company, a purveyor of fine art and luxury goods, specializes in working with clients in the cryptocurrency space. It sold the piece. “Select a Victim,” the 2013 painting by Mr. Flood, was offered privately to an anonymous Canadian citizen. The White Company was started for clients who hold wealth in cryptocurrencies to purchase luxury goods without giving up their desire for anonymity.
Shopventory officially launches on Shopify app store. Shopventory, a provider of inventory management, sales reporting, and business optimization solutions for small-to-medium size businesses, has announced its formal launch on the Shopify app store of its Shopventory inventory and channel management platform. Shopify users can now easily push their Shopify catalog to a multitude of point-of-sale providers, such as Square, Clover, and PayPal Here while mobile point-of-sale users can expand their online offering by sharing their POS catalog with the Shopify platform.
Heap introduces a new platform to derive customer insights. Heap has announced a platform to automate all phases of customer insights. Heap’s autonomous customer insights platform has three key layers: data capture, control, and insights. The data capture plane automatically captures all behavioral data from sources across departments and domain-specific tools into one standard schema. The control plane assures data integrity and the ability to change event definitions on the fly; and the insights plane produces networked insights across marketing, sales, and customer success silos.
Dynamic Yield launches a complete suite for email personalization. Dynamic Yield has announced the launch of a full suite of email personalization capabilities, enabling marketers to deliver personalized, engaging emails to their customers. Dynamic Yield for Email is built into Dynamic Yield’s core personalization suite so marketers can leverage user data and preferences across all customer channels — web, mobile app, email, and any existing enterprise system — to deliver true personalization in email. Personalize and synchronize the entire customer journey from start to finish including web, mobile web, mobile apps, campaign landing pages, advertising and now, email.
Dynamic Yield