This week’s rundown of new products and services for ecommerce merchants includes updates on AI-powered agents, wholesale management, fraud prevention, marketplace advertising, influencers, and social commerce.
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New Tools for Merchants
Wholesale platform Joor launches matchmaking tool for brands and retailers. Joor, a wholesale management platform for the fashion sector, has introduced Joor Discover to streamline the matchmaking process between brands and retailers. According to Joor, by leveraging proprietary data and a network of authenticated retailers, the tool offers a more efficient and targeted approach to wholesale expansion. Joor Discover allows brands to search and filter through its retailer directory to identify potential partners.
Joor
Meta will show rival classified ad providers on Marketplace. Meta will allow rival classified ad service providers to post listings of their ads on Facebook Marketplace. Calling it the Facebook Marketplace Partner Program, Meta said the scheme is a response to a recent antitrust decision by the European Commission. Meta also said it tested the program in Germany, France, and the United States with eBay last month.
Trustfull launches AI-powered Domain Intelligence domain agents. Trustfull, a provider of identity intelligence for fraud prevention, has launched Domain Intelligence, a suite of AI agents designed to automate “know your business” checks and merchant verification with online due diligence. Domain Intelligence’s AI agents perform a website analysis and checks on social media, business platforms, and marketplaces to confirm active commercial operations. Additional insights include reviews, digital advertising activity, business photos, and data from online sources to verify the company’s legitimacy.
Hightouch raises $80 million for AI-powered marketing tools. Hightouch has raised $80 million for its platform to allow sales, marketing, and customer service teams to synchronize data warehouses and other locations, along with AI agents. Sapphire Ventures led the funding round with NVC, Amplify Ventures, ICONIQ Growth, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator. The funding will additionally advance Hightouch’s technology, business development, and hiring.
Hightouch
Sprout Social launches rebranded influencer marketing platform. Sprout Social, a social media management platform, has launched its rebranded influencer marketing portal, called Sprout Social Influencer Marketing, formerly Tagger Media. Influencer Marketing is designed to make discovering influencers and executing campaigns more efficient and intuitive. Sprout Social says Influencer Marketing equips brands with AI-powered insights and advanced analytics to help identify the right influencers, build authentic partnerships, and maximize campaign performance.
Commerce platform MarketLeap raises $8 million. MarketLeap, a platform to simplify and scale direct-to-consumer ecommerce, has announced an $8 million Series A funding round led by Smedvig Ventures, with participation from Expon Capital and Motier Ventures. MarketLeap offers customers a platform that uses AI-powered automation to navigate the complexities of marketplace operations and backend management. MarketLeap says the funding will facilitate more automation across multiple functions and enhance analytics capabilities.
Swap and Signifyd partner to empower brands with global commerce. Swap, an ecommerce tool that consolidates global operations, has announced a strategic partnership with Signifyd, a provider of fraud and abuse prevention. According to the companies, merchants can scale internationally by streamlining cross-border logistics and compliance through Swap and mitigating fraud risk through Signifyd. Signifyd’s AI-powered fraud detection protects checkout conversion by approving more legitimate transactions while blocking fraudulent ones.
Signifyd
Locafy introduces Localizer to boost local search visibility. Locafy, a provider of location-based digital marketing capabilities, has launched Localizer to help businesses improve their online visibility and rank higher in local search results. According to Locafy, Localizer distributes across more than 120 platforms, deploys optimized landing pages, optimizes Google Business Profiles, applies search optimization technology to boost local pack rankings, and produces content to target key search intent categories.
Wyrld lands €1 million for social commerce with content creators and influencers. Hamburg-based startup Wyrld has secured €1.0 million ($1.04 million) in pre-seed funding to launch a social commerce platform and blend traditional ecommerce with the creator economy. Wyrld says it offers content creators and brands a direct way to market and sell products while it handles logistics and customer support. Set to launch this year, Wyrld is being tested by influencers and select brands.
Gupshup launches AI Agents for businesses. Gupshup, a conversational AI platform, has launched its AI Agent Library, a suite of pre-built and customizable AI agents. Gupshup says its AI agents can handle inbound queries and outbound notifications, reminders, and alerts. The agents leverage large-language models to engage in natural language conversations with the user. The agents integrate with relevant backend tools, such as catalogs, CRMs, ticketing systems, and calendars.
Gupshup