11 Mobile Apps for Customer Management

With a smartphone and the right app, an entrepreneur or exec can manage customers and prospects on the go, from an initial lead to deal close and beyond.

Here is a list of mobile apps for customer relationship management. Some are dedicated platforms, while others are components of larger productivity suites. Several have free and premium plans. All have free apps for iOS and Android.

Zendesk Sell

Zendesk Sell

Zendesk Sell is a sales and customer management platform. Its features include email templates with view notifications, geolocation, and mobile reporting. Utilize sales tracker, sales pipeline, automatic sales communication tracker, task manager, and calendar. Price: Plans start at $19 per month.

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Bigin

Bigin

Bigin by Zoho is pipeline-based customer management for small businesses. Get a comprehensive view of all records. Manage a pipeline, projects, and deals. Call, text, or email contacts on the go. Stay in sync across all devices. Price: Free for up to 500 records. Premium plans start at $7 per month.

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Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM provides real-time access to customer information, sales notifications, and tasks. Engage with team members and collaborate in feeds. Utilize the mobile app to visualize sales metrics, locate prospects, access customer emails, log calls, and manage inventory. Price: Plans start at $14 per month.

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Vtiger

Vtiger

Vtiger is an all-in-one management platform for marketing, sales, and support. Access and update your contact data, sales pipeline, projects, or support data on the fly. Collaborate with your team and get real-time push notifications on events, tasks, or mentions. Log calls instantly and view customer locations. Utilize dynamic dependency to keep records organized by showing fields only when specific business rules are met. Price: Free for up to 3,000 records. Premium plans start at $12 per month.

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Insightly CRM

Insightly CRM

Insightly CRM manages customer interactions, leads, sales opportunities, and projects. Access the task list and assign follow-ups immediately after a meeting. Add contacts on the fly and scan business cards or import them from your device’s address book. Add voice memos to leads, contacts, opportunities, and organizations so everyone is current on the opportunity. Price: Plans start at $29 per month.

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Pipedrive

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a customer-management platform for activity-based selling. The mobile app is a sales pipeline and lead tracker to access prospects and schedule activities and events. Access to-do lists, customer profiles, deal details, and planned activities and reminders. Manage team members’ activities by assigning tasks. Automatically link outgoing calls with activities related to leads. Use the data to analyze the pipeline and improve marketing. Price: Premium plans start at $14.90 per month.

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Hubspot CRM

Hubspot CRM

HubSpot CRM mobile app provides tools for managing contacts and deals. Access mobile inbox, create tickets, and reply to conversations. Get real-time notifications when there’s a new live chat or email. ​​Assign tickets and collaborate with your team. Keep track of progress towards goals with forecasts. Schedule and review social media posts. Price: Free. Premium plans start at $18 per month.

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Freshsales

Freshsales

Freshsales is customer relationship management software with built-in phone and email, event tracking, lead scoring, automation, and more. The mobile app accesses customer data and tracks the sales pipeline. Monitor key metrics, assign tasks, add records and sales, access customer locations, and engage with contacts in a single click. Scan and upload documents using the phone camera. Add notes of every detail, even as a meeting is in progress. Price: Free for up to three users. Premium plans start at $15 per month.

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Capsule

Capsule

Capsule tracks tasks, customers, and sales communications Develop deals and create and assign follow-up tasks. Start calls, messages, and emails directly from a contact’s profile. Follow your team’s activity. Update your data even when you’re offline. Price: Premium plans start at $18 per month.

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Apptivo

Apptivo

Apptivo offers an integrated suite of apps for businesses of all sizes, including customer management, project management, and invoicing. Manage leads, send invoices, and more from your smartphone. Price: Premium plans start at $10 per month.

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Salesforce CRM

Salesforce CRM

Salesforce, the giant customer-management platform, provides access to its functionality in a mobile app. Launch a personalized dashboard with your favorite reports, lists, tasks, events, and more. Access your customer data, customizations, and productivity tools. Log calls, create and update opportunities, and complete tasks. Price: Plans start at $25 per month.

Ecommerce Product Releases: January 22, 2024

Here is a list of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on generative AI, payment platforms, 3D product images, dropshipping, logistics, ad publishing, and creator management tools.

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

Product Releases: January 22

Commercetools launch​​es Foundry to help B2C retailers unlock composability. Commercetools, a developer, has launched Foundry for B2C retailers, providing a quick solution for composable commerce, including “Blueprint for B2C Retail” (a step-by-step guidance), an AI-powered developer assistant, a store launchpad with frontend components, and a curated selection of services and best practice guides. Commercetools Foundry is now available for B2C retail brands and, in the coming months, for B2B wholesalers.

Commercetools

Amazon adds generative AI shopping assistant. Amazon is rolling out an AI tool in its mobile app to answer shoppers’ product questions. The feature prompts users to ask questions about a product and then returns an answer within seconds, primarily by summarizing information from product reviews and listing text. Amazon’s new feature isn’t equipped to carry out a conversation but can respond to creative prompts.

GoDaddy Payments expands into Canada. GoDaddy has expanded Payments into Canada, enabling small businesses there to accept payments online and in person. GoDaddy Payments integrates with GoDaddy’s existing Websites + Marketing and Managed WordPress ecommerce solutions, helping small businesses sell anywhere and manage all transactions in one place. GoDaddy Payments includes new tools — Online Pay Links and Virtual Terminal — enabling businesses to sell online even if they do not have a website.

Dopple unveils app to provide Shopify stores with 3D shopping. Dopple, a 3D augmented reality platform, has launched an app for Shopify stores. Dopple’s integration with Shopify allows shoppers to incorporate 3D AR to configure and customize products in real time. Features include a snapshot for capturing images of the 3D visualizer, auto rotation to signal a product’s interactivity, and custom loading screens. Dopple’s platform integrates into Shopify product pages, email marketing, and more.

Dopple

Fabric, a commerce platform, launches built-in order management. Fabric has announced the availability of its order management system. Fabric OMS unlocks services such as dropship to streamline real-time inventory and order management. Fabric says its integrated commerce and OMS help merchants mitigate out-of-stocks, offload inventory with promotions and markdowns, reduce returns through improved catalog enrichment, and more.

Meta introduces Creator Management Tools. Meta has launched Creator Management Tools in its Business Suite to help agencies and creators manage their relationships on Facebook by connecting accounts and granting access to assets, optimizing the payout process, and linking payment accounts to specific monetization products.

Cart.com secures $70 million in debt refinancing from Silicon Valley Bank. Cart.com, a unified commerce and logistics provider, has secured a $70 million debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank. The latest facility is part of a larger $100 million debt refinancing provided by SVB’s Technology Corporate Banking Division and Trinity Capital.

Cart.com

Logistics provider Flexport raises $260 million from Shopify. Digital-oriented freight forwarder Flexport has raised $260 million from Shopify. Founder and CEO Ryan Petersen announced via X that Shopify provided $260 million “on an uncapped convertible note.” The move comes after Flexport acquired Shopify’s logistics arm last year, expanding the company into ecommerce fulfillment and last-mile delivery. Shopify received a 13% equity stake in Flexport and a seat on the board as part of the deal.

Amazon Publisher Services integrates with Vidazoo by Perion. Perion, a platform connecting advertisers with consumers across major digital channels, has integrated its Vidazoo video monetization platform with Amazon Publisher Services via two features. Vidazoo’s Transparent Ad Marketplace attracts publishers, and Unified Ad Marketplace enables multiple publisher connections through a single integration and a reporting dashboard.

Tulip announces Pay, a payment integration powered by Stripe. Tulip, a retail customer engagement platform, has launched Pay for in-person retail transactions. Tulip Pay is a payment integration system powered by the Stripe financial infrastructure platform. Tulip clients can use Pay to close out a full range of transactions, including in-store, curbside, buy online pickup in-store, reserve online pickup in-store, and buy online return in-store.

TreviPay launches Universal Acceptance in partnership with Mastercard. TreviPay, a B2B payments and invoicing network, has launched its Universal Acceptance service in partnership with Mastercard to expand supplier access to TreviPay’s payments and invoicing technology. According to TreviPay, suppliers who accept Mastercard can extend net terms, trade-credit financing, and SKU-level invoicing to business buyers through Universal Acceptance using Mastercard’s commercial payment capabilities.

TreviPay

Ecommerce Product Releases: January 16, 2024

Every week we publish a list of new products and services that could help merchants. This week’s rundown includes tools and upgrades for marketplaces, video commerce, returns shipping, content generation, cryptocurrencies, and cross-border logistics.

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

Product Releases: January 16

BigCommerce and Marketplacer partner on multi-vendor marketplaces. BigCommerce, an open SaaS ecommerce provider, and Marketplacer, a platform to launch and grow marketplaces, have announced a strategic partnership. BigCommerce customers can now transform their online stores into multi-currency and multi-language marketplaces.

Marketplacer

FedEx introduces Fdx, an ecommerce platform. FedEx has announced Fdx, an ecommerce logistics platform connecting the entire customer journey. According to FedEx, Fdx will help merchants make strategic decisions from the point of demand to delivery and returns. Fdx says it helps merchants connect with high-value customers, share estimated delivery dates and times, see shipments in near real-time, access detailed carbon emissions data, and more.

Video commerce platform Firework launches AI virtual shopping assistant. Firework, a video commerce and engagement platform for brands and retailers, has unveiled AVA (i.e., AI virtual assistant), a video sales tool for commerce. According to Firework, AVA serves as an always-available brand and product expert, capable of answering customers’ questions, offering guidance based on past purchase history, and even demoing products in real-time.

Amazon announces Buy with Prime integration with Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Salesforce Commerce Cloud merchants can now integrate Amazon Buy with Prime into their shopping experience. Buy with Prime for Salesforce lets shoppers search and filter for Prime-eligible items. The integration allows Salesforce merchants to offer the benefits of Prime, including free delivery and 24/7 live chat support. Buy with Prime for Salesforce is rolling out as invitation-only to select Salesforce merchants.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Shopify and Manhattan Associates to build an order management solution. Manhattan Associates, a supply chain commerce company, has partnered with Shopify to launch an enterprise order management solution. The combined platform will also include Manhattan’s post-purchase customer service tools.

Rokt to acquire AfterSell to expand offering for Shopify SMB customers. Rokt, a post-purchase ecommerce ad platform, has agreed to acquire AfterSell, a Shopify upsell and cross-sell provider. Through the acquisition, Rokt will expand its client portfolio to more than 20,000 SMB merchants. The transaction is expected to close by February 1, 2024.

Lily AI launches content generation to improve product discovery. Lily AI, a retail technology platform, has launched AI-powered content generation. Merchants and marketers can automate copy for titles and descriptions that are search-optimized, data-driven, and on-brand. Further, site merchandisers, copywriters, and other digital creatives can use the tool to improve efficiency and accelerate the production of email and advertising campaigns.

Lily AI

Ecommerce marketplace Mercari to allow Bitcoin payments. Mercari, a Japan-based consumer-to-consumer ecommerce marketplace, will enable users to purchase its community-listed products using Bitcoin starting in June. According to a Nikkei report, the ecommerce platform will facilitate Bitcoin transactions via Melcoin, its Tokyo-based crypto exchange subsidiary. Vendors and sellers will still receive the paid Bitcoin in local fiat currency, as the marketplace will convert the Bitcoin through its exchange partner in real time.

X partners with Shopify for in-stream product promotion. X has announced a deal with Shopify that offers merchants more advertising opportunities on the social platform. According to a post on the X Business account, the partnership will enable “all Shopify merchants to reach even more customers by leveraging the power of X.”

Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, offers grouped delivery service in the U.S. Cainiao, Alibaba Group Holding’s logistics unit, will open a new U.S. service for consumers to package several purchases together, cutting delivery times to as little as five days. Cainiao said in a statement that the cross-border shipping service would mainly help Chinese consumers and students in the U.S. who tend to buy goods on China-based ecommerce sites.

Cainiao

Ecommerce Product Releases: January 10, 2024

Here is a list of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on loyalty programs, live-selling, generative AI, video players, fraudulent reviews, return shipping, search engines, and virtual goods.

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

Product Releases: January 10

Visa launches Web3 loyalty program for brands to engage consumers. Visa has launched its Web3 loyalty engagement program. The new value-added service helps brands engage next-generation customers in digital and virtual worlds through immersive programs such as gamified giveaways, augmented reality treasure hunts, and new ways to earn and burn loyalty points. The new service, powered by SmartMedia Technologies, can provide brands with an enterprise platform that bridges Web2 with Web3 innovation and can be customized to create curated experiences and offers for consumers.

Visa’s Web3 loyalty engagement program.

Poshmark offers webinars on hosting Posh Show live-selling events. Poshmark is offering webinars to teach sellers how to host live-selling events called Posh Shows. According to Poshmark, “Intro to Posh Shows” will teach merchants how to go live for the first time and how to utilize the various features to maximize a show. Sellers can bypass the waiting list to become hosts by attending an Intro to Posh Shows webinar. The Zoom-powered webinars will occur on January 10 and 17.

OpenAI to launch online store for custom versions of ChatGPT. OpenAI is launching an online store to let people share custom versions of the company’s ChatGPT chatbot. OpenAI announced at its developer conference in November that users could start building GPTs, its term for custom versions of ChatGPT, without any coding. With this option, users can quickly create chatbots, such as teaching math or creating cocktail recipes.

Ex.co debuts vertical video players for publishers’ websites. Ex.co, a video technology platform for publishers, has launched a vertical video player, optimized for mobile web viewing, along with a desktop version. Ex.co’s player is engineered to play vertical video content with a 10:16 aspect ratio, modeled after the experience on social platforms. The player also includes familiar swiping-gesture controls to navigate between videos.

Ex.co

Factlix uses AI to identify fakes in consumer reviews. Factlix is a just-launched AI-powered technology to identify fraudulent consumer reviews before publication. Factlix says it is based on a decisional AI, identifying and understanding patterns in online content and related cohorts and using the patterns to assess the authenticity of the content in question. Factlix detects fraudulent content generated by humans and machines.

AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI raises $73.6 million. Perplexity AI, a search engine startup, has raised $73.6 million in Series B funding from venture capital firms and prominent tech investor-entrepreneurs. IVP led the round with continued support from seed and Series A investors (including NEA, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, and Databricks) as well as new investors (including Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, Tobi Lutke, and Bessemer Venture Partners). Perplexity AI has raised $100 million in total.

Pitney Bowes and PackageHub launch no-box, no-label returns drop-off network. Pitney Bowes, a global shipping and mailing company, and PackageHub, a franchise system for retail shipping stores, have launched a returns drop-off network to enable no-box and no-label returns at nearly 1,000 U.S. locations. Ecommerce brands already using Pitney Bowes returns service will have immediate access to the drop-off network, with no additional integration required. The launch augments the existing network of 30,000 postal locations offering Pitney Bowes no-label returns.

Pitney Bowes

Walmart and Unity team up to bring immersive commerce for physical goods to games. ​​Walmart and Unity, a platform for creating real-time 3D content, have announced plans to give Unity developers the ability to integrate Walmart’s commerce APIs directly into their games and apps. The integration enables creators to sell physical items in real-time 3D experiences across 20-plus platforms, unlocking new ways to connect customers’ virtual and physical lifestyles and establishing new monetization channels in games and experiences made with Unity.

Vencru integrates with Shopify to automate accounting for SMBs. Vencru, an all-in-one accounting and inventory management software, has launched its Shopify integration. According to Vencru, the integration helps simplify and automate accounting and inventory management for Shopify stores. Vencru features multichannel sales tracking, real-time inventory management, financial reporting, automatic journal entries, sales tax calculation, multi-currency support, and more.

B2B food company Fresh2 Group acquires cross-border food ecommerce platform, Youfood Group. Fresh2 Group, a B2B ecommerce and supply chain management company for the restaurant and food industry, has agreed to acquire Youfood Group, a B2C cross-border ecommerce food platform. According to Fresh2 Group, the acquisition will connect Asian and South American food resources with customers in North America.

MarketGap enhances its Amazon FBA calculator for sellers. MarketGap, a research tool to help sellers find a market gap on Amazon by estimating product sales, has announced enhancements to its Amazon FBA calculator with more precise, AI-driven calculations. According to MarketGap, its Amazon FBA calculator can estimate prospective profits by considering factors such as FBA fees, sales volume, commodities, and shipping costs.

MarketGap’s Amazon FBA Calculator

Ecommerce Product Releases: January 3, 2024

Here is a list of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on website builders, email marketing, livestream shopping, B2B and B2C platforms, mobile shopping, chatbots, international shipping, and virtual product simulators.

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

Product Releases: January 3

Bonanza marketplace launches website builder. Bonanza, the marketplace, has launched Vercado, a website builder and business hub. Vercado users can sell on marketplaces such as Bonanza, Etsy, eBay, and Amazon while managing orders from a single central location. Users can also compare rates from top carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS. According to Bonanza, Vercado provides integrated financials, limitless storage for digital goods, and analytics.

Vercado by Bonanza

Cart.com raises $30 million from Trinity Capital. Cart.com, a commerce and logistics platform for B2C and B2B merchants, has secured $30 million from Trinity Capital, a provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-stage companies. This investment is part of a larger $100 million debt refinancing that included Trinity and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. Cart.com states the capital will strengthen its balance sheet and scale operations.

eBay Canada extends promotional rates for U.S.-bound shipping. Earlier this year, eBay partnered with Canada Post for a limited-time promotion for the Tracked Packet USA service to help Canadian sellers offer low-cost, tracked shipping to buyers in the U.S. eBay has extended the promotion to March 31, 2024. eBay sellers can access the specially reduced rates by purchasing their shipping on eBay Labels.

Maileroo launches transaction email platform with real-time tracking. Maileroo has launched an email delivery platform for brands sending transactional emails. Maileroo’s platform uses real-time tracking so businesses know the immediate impact of their campaigns and can respond quickly as needed.

Korea-based shopping platform Pocket PangPang launches in Thailand. Pocket PangPang, a Korea-based single-price mobile shopping platform, has launched its service in Thailand. Pocket PangPang automatically matches a customer with one product from a selection of food, household items, cosmetics, smartphones, and luxury designer goods for a single price of 200 baht (the Thai currency). Honest Trading, a logistics distribution company based in Bangkok, Thailand, and Buda Co., a Korean Pocket PangPang operator, collaborated to launch Pocket PangPang in Thailand.

SaaSQL releases a free website chatbot for local businesses. SaaSQL, a digital marketing agency and technology provider, has launched a free website chatbot for local businesses. According to the company, the chatbot is powered by AI and can represent a local brand’s products and services. It interacts with website visitors in real-time, providing personalized assistance and information for decision-making. The chatbot is designed to guide consumers toward an outcome, such as a sale, phone call, or form completion.

SaaSQL

Onbe and CardCash launch an instant payouts marketplace. Onbe, a corporate payouts platform, has partnered with CardCash, an online secondary market for unused gift cards, to enable instant payouts on virtual Mastercard cards. Consumers can now turn unwanted gift cards into an instant payment method to spend immediately with the 37 million merchants worldwide that accept Mastercard.

Duality AI joins Amazon Web Services Partner Network. Duality AI, a digital simulation company, has joined the Amazon Web Services Partner Network (APN) to bring spatial simulation tools to a wider audience. Falcon, Duality’s twin simulation platform, allows organizations to build complex digital twin scenarios and simulate them for valuable synthetic data. The APN is a global community of AWS Partners that leverage programs, expertise, and resources to build, market, and sell customer offerings.

ChannelEngine announces integration with Reverb marketplace for musical instrument retailers. ChannelEngine, an ecommerce marketplace integrator, can now connect brands and online retailers with Reverb, a marketplace for new, used, and vintage musical instruments. With ChannelEngine, music retailers can link their systems with Reverb and multiple other marketplaces. ChannelEngine states that its marketplace integrator now facilitates the sale of over 11 million products on more than 700 online sales channels.

ChannelEngine and Reverb

20 Open Source Ecommerce Platforms

Open-source ecommerce platforms are flexible and customizable with active support communities, developers, and how-to resources.

Here is our updated list — first published a decade ago — of open-source ecommerce platforms. Many have advanced features, customizable themes, and extensions. Some offer hosted enterprise versions.

Open Source Ecommerce Platforms

WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. Sell physical products, customizable bundles, appointments, and members-only content. WooCommerce offers automated tax calculations, live shipping rates from leading carriers, options to print labels, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and more. Available in 38 countries and accepting payments in 135-plus currencies, WooCommerce is highly customizable with 800 extensions. Over 3.9 million stores are built with WooCommerce.

WooCommerce

Drupal Commerce is an open-source ecommerce framework built upon the Drupal content management platform. Use Drupal Commerce to create a headless commerce backend with a frontend of choice, a full site or embedded in an existing web property. Drupal Commerce’s core systems offer product admin, shopping cart, and checkout forms with multilingual and multi-currency support. Additional features and add-ons are available via contributed modules, including roughly 100 integrations in the free module library.

Magento Open Source (formerly Magento Community Edition) is a free version of Adobe Commerce, a hosted enterprise platform. Access the Adobe Commerce Marketplace to configure Magento Open Source, with nearly 4,000 extensions and a wide range of themes, support options, and additional resources. Adobe also offers ecommerce training courses and a certification program.

Spree is an open-source ecommerce platform, built with Ruby on Rails, for multi-language and multi-currency global brands. Spree includes pre-built React and Vue Storefront starters. Leverage over 200 third-party integrations for automation, referral, email, A/B testing, live chat, advanced analytics, CRM, helpdesk, and data warehousing. Accept one-time or recurring payments with credit and debit cards, wallets (i.e., Apple Pay, Google Pay), bank accounts, and buy-now, pay-later. Spree has more than 850 contributors, 4,800 forks, and 1.5 million downloads.

Spree

PrestaShop powers more than 300,000 ecommerce sites worldwide. Based on the Symfony framework, PrestaShop includes more than 300 features to manage a product catalog, payments, shipping, multi-shops, and more. The PrestaShop Marketplace contains thousands of modules and themes to customize a store, increase traffic, improve conversion rates, and build customer loyalty.

OpenCart runs multiple and standalone stores from one mobile-friendly interface, complete with detailed product, order, and customer management, as well as sales reports, marketing tools, and more. Set advanced user privileges and access. OpenCart offers over 13,000 modules and themes. Its forums have more than 110,000 registered members and 550,000 posts.

Joomla is a free and open-source CMS for ecommerce, reservations, small business websites, online publications, and more. Its core framework facilitates integrated commerce, inventory control systems, data reporting tools, custom product catalogs, reservation tools, and more. Joomla’s marketplace contains nearly 6,000 extensions.

Shopizer is enterprise open-source ecommerce software for retailers to use out of the box or as a backend application for serving commerce REST APIs for a tailored frontend. Shopizer features catalog and product management, shopping cart, inventory management, promotion management, content management, smart pricing, ordering, payment, and shipping.

Shopizer

nopCommerce is an open-source platform built on Microsoft’s ASP.NET ecommerce framework. In addition to ecommerce features for small and medium businesses, nopCommerce has built-in enterprise tools such as multi-store and multi-vendor functions, advanced search engine optimization settings, marketing tools for affiliate and client loyalty programs, one-page checkout, extended product attributes, and more. nopCommerce has more than 250,000 community members.

OroCommerce is an open-source B2B ecommerce platform. The Community Edition features a multichannel customer portal, multiple shopping lists, a dynamic pricing engine, inventory management, a customer relationship tool, marketing features, and more.

Mailchimp Open Commerce (formerly Reaction Commerce) is an API-first, modular commerce stack built with Node.js, React, and GraphQL around a catalog of products. Set up products in the admin and organize them with tags to help shoppers navigate the catalog. A wide range of plugins covers basic features, including backend services, shop configuration, and the shopper experience.

Ecwid (“ECommerce WIDget”) is an ecommerce platform founded in 2009 to enable small businesses to add stores to their existing sites. Use a free customizable Ecwid Instant site with a built-in online store or integrate Ecwid with any existing website. Add your store to multiple sites, blogs, and social networks, and manage it all from one place. Premium plans let you sell on Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon.

Ecwid

Zen Cart is a free, open-source app that branched from osCommerce in 2003. Zen Cart is PHP-based, with a MySQL database and HTML components. It has over 2,000 add-ons in 16 categories. Zen Cart provides the pieces to sell online, with basic functionality for CRM, accounting, and content management.

Vue Storefront is an ecosystem of open-source tools as a frontend-as-a-service for composable commerce. Vue Storefront is compatible with any backend that has an API. It integrates with PrestaShop, Spree, Sylius, BigCommerce, Commercetools, SAP Commerce Cloud, and more. Merchants can build an ecommerce application from scratch or with the pre-installed Storefront UI components library.

osCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform launched in 2000, compatible with any web server using PHP and MySQL installed. The Online Merchant edition is a complete store system with both a frontend and an administration backend that can be easily configured and customized using 9,100 free add-ons. More than 40,000 live sites use osCommerce. Its community has 300,000 members, and its forum contains 1.7 million posts.

Shopware is an open-source commerce platform based on Vue and the Symfony framework and supported by 7,000 developers and 3,000 extensions. Shopware can be tailored to meet the requirements of any business model — B2B, B2C, or D2C. Create product catalogs tailored to target groups. Operate a variety of storefronts, warehouses, and inventories in one environment. ​​​​Configure product prices based on customer groups or marketing strategy. Use AI Copilot to generate content and set up stores quickly.

Shopware

Sylius is an open-source, headless ecommerce platform for mid-market and enterprise brands. Released in 2016, Sylius features a flexible framework for cross-border commerce, multiple currencies, easy customization and integration, out-of-the-box promotions, an adaptable administration panel, and scalable infrastructure. Sylius is supported by more than 650 contributors and offers approximately 150 plugins. A commercial edition, Sylius Plus, is also available.

Saleor is a headless, open-source ecosystem for building rich ecommerce experiences. Its centerpiece is the Saleor GraphQL API, which processes complex online store logic around a collection of integrated services. Sell simple and configurable products with multiple variants. Handle digital and physical inventory. Saleor’s dashboard is available in 30-plus languages.

Solidus is open-source ecommerce software built on the Ruby on Rails framework as a fork of Spree. Start from a strong foundation and functional backend, then customize the required aspects through built-in configuration hooks and extensions or through Ruby’s and Rails’ native overrides. Solidus is used by stores such as Floyd, Maisonette, MeUndies, Away, Casper, Bonobos, and Ace & Tate.

Sharetribe is a headless application to build B2C and B2B marketplaces for rentals, services, products, and more. Create a marketplace in no-code with the Sharetribe Web Template. Store any type of structured data on your users, listings, and transactions. Assign multiple types of users of any product or service, and make it easy for the users to search and filter based on your custom data schema.

Sharetribe

Ecommerce Product Releases: December 25, 2023

Here is our weekly list of new products and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on social commerce, buy-now-pay-later options, generative AI, video email, analytics, website builders, and tools to sell on Amazon.

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

Product Releases: December 25

Amazon adds metric to help sellers avoid the new FBA low-inventory fee. Amazon has launched a “minimum inventory level” metric to help FBA sellers plan stock availability, improve delivery speeds, and avoid the recently announced low-inventory-level fee. Effective April 1, 2024, the low-inventory-level fee will apply when both the long-term historical days of supply (last 90 days) and short-term historical days of supply (last 30 days) are below 28 days. To view historical days of supply, go to FBA Inventory.

Amazon Seller Central

TikTok tests new desktop-based tools for creators. TikTok is developing tools for creators, including a new Creator Center UI in the desktop-based version of the app, providing more analytics insights and updated discovery tools utilizing conversational AI. TikTok recently added a conversational chatbot guide to help Creative Center users find what they’re after in the app. The updated Creator Center format is being tested with selected users, while the new chatbot is available in TikTok’s Creative Center.

Affirm to offer BNPL loans at Walmart self-checkouts. Affirm is offering buy-now-pay-later loans at self-checkout kiosks in more than 4,500 U.S. Walmart stores. Buyers of at least $144 of products at Walmart, except groceries, can divide payments over 3 to 24 months. After scanning products at Walmart’s self-checkout kiosks, shoppers log onto Affirm’s app or website and enter details, including the last four digits of their social security number. Approved shoppers receive a barcode to finalize payment.

Meta launches small business partnership with India’s ONDC. Meta has partnered with India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce to help smaller merchants do business on WhatsApp. The partnership enables and educates small businesses in building conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp through an ecosystem of solution providers. Meta will kick off the partnership by training micro, small, and midsize enterprises in India through its Small Business Academy.

ONDC

eBay releases social caption generator using AI to help sellers. eBay has launched a generative AI feature to assist sellers in creating social posts. Sellers visiting the Social page in Seller Hub will see the “Use AI Caption” button next to the text entry box when adding a social media caption. The generative AI crafts a post about the listed item, including hashtags and emojis. The seller can prompt the AI to rewrite captions, and manually customize them.

Payoneer introduces new payment processing features. Payoneer has updated its online payment processing platform. The update includes (i) pre-dispute alerts to help SMB merchants avoid costly chargebacks, (ii) a native Shopify checkout feature, (iii) batch payment requests to handle up to 200 transactions simultaneously, and (iv) batch payment transfers to 500 Payoneer accounts simultaneously. A role management feature to set up staff is coming soon.

Byteex introduces personalized video email communication for ecommerce. Byteex, an agency specializing in integrating artificial intelligence and ecommerce, has launched an AI-driven offering that personalizes video emails within the online retail space. According to the company, the AI tool transforms ecommerce merchant interactions with customers through video communication. Byteex offers search engine marketing, pay-per-click services, and ecommerce development, along with UI/UX design and AI and machine learning development.

Byteex

Joopco releases white-label feature and automated reporting for Amazon sellers. Joopco, a provider of Amazon analytics, has released a white-label feature for sellers. The feature empowers agencies to have branded reporting that transforms data analysis for Amazon businesses. Joopco’s automated reporting and reimbursement tool enables sellers to deliver info to investors, agencies, and interested parties.

Vagaro launches MySite website builder for wellness businesses. Vagaro, a developer of salon, spa, and fitness software, has launched MySite, a website builder with a booking system. According to the company, users can customize their website with drag-and-drop templates. Multi-location compatibility makes it easy to scale as a business grows. Also, MySite allows wellness professionals to create their own custom domain or transfer an existing one to the platform.

Tokens.com launches Valor ecommerce app on Google Play and Apple iOS stores. ​​Tokens.com, a developer of products and services to connect brands and consumers in three-dimensional internet environments, has launched Valor, an ecommerce platform within the company’s metaverse group that allows product placement and advertising within virtual gaming worlds, including Roblox and Fortnite. Players in these environments use the app by scanning branded items to claim offers and earn points redeemable for rewards.

GroupBy’s product discovery platform is now available on Shopify. GroupBy, a product discovery platform, has launched its AI search and discovery app on the Shopify App Store. The AI manages search results based on inventory status, customer preferences, and click stream data to deliver personalized and relevant customer search experiences. Merchants can manage the search experience and set dynamic filters that help customers find what they want. GroupBy’s app includes analytics data, real-time data syncing, and visual reports on key website metrics.

GroupBy

Ecommerce Product Releases: December 18, 2023

Here is our weekly list of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on headless commerce, logistics, payment gateways, fraud prevention, cross-border payments, SMS marketing, and last-mile emissions.

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

Product Releases: December 18

Bold Commerce releases dynamic payment feature. Bold Commerce, a headless checkout platform for omnichannel retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, has launched a dynamic payment feature. The technology enables brands to expand their payment options and tailor what payment options are displayed at checkout for each shopper based on her device, the channel she’s coming from, and her past payment methods.

Bold Commerce

JD Logistics launches express delivery service to North America and Europe. JD Logistics, the logistics arm of JD.com, has launched its international express delivery service. Currently available for individuals in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, China, the express delivery service will initially cover 23 countries across North America and Europe, facilitating one-way deliveries from China. JD Logistics plans to expand its availability throughout that country.

Payway introduces WooCommerce payment gateway plugin. Payway, a payment processing platform, has launched a plugin for WooCommerce, allowing merchants to accept immediate payments on their online stores. Payway’s Payment Gateway plugin ensures secure transactions and streamlines the checkout by allowing customers to pay directly on the site. The PCI-DSS-compliant checkout experience is protected with Payway’s fraud detection tools, including bin filtering and 3-D Secure.

nShift unveils Emissions Tracker for last-mile emissions. nShift, a provider of parcel delivery management software, has launched Emissions Tracker. Calculating the CO2 emissions associated with each shipment, the tool makes it possible for ecommerce merchants to comply with sustainability disclosure rules, prove environmental credentials to shoppers, and see where they can reduce emissions from shipping. Calculations are done at the shipment level, allowing merchants to drill into shipping data, compile accurate reports, and identify quick wins for emissions reduction.

nShift Emissions Tracker

Visa introduces Provisioning Intelligence to combat token fraud. Visa​​ has launched Provisioning Intelligence, an AI-based product to combat token fraud. The tool uses machine learning to rate the likelihood of fraud for token provisioning requests, issuing a real-time fraud propensity score between 1 and 99 for each request. Provisioning Intelligence uses a segment-level supervised machine learning model to identify patterns in past token requests across devices, ecommerce sites, and card-on-file tokens to help predict the probability of fraud.

SAP builds payments plugin for the PayPal Braintree platform. SAP has expanded its integration with PayPal through a new payments plugin for PayPal Braintree built on the SAP Business Technology platform. PayPal Braintree provides SAP customers with more payment choices, including PayPal, Venmo, credit and debit cards, and digital wallets. SAP customers who purchased the SAP digital payments add-on can connect to PayPal via the plugin, available from the SAP Help Portal site.

Airwallex and Woo partner on cross-border commerce. Airwallex, a global payments platform, has partnered with Woo, an open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. The Airwallex integration enables Woo merchants to accept cross-border payments by leveraging at checkout global cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and 60-plus local payment methods. The Airwallex extension is available on Woo’s official marketplace.

Airwallex

SMS marketing platform Postscript launches Onsite Opt-In. Postscript has launched Onsite Opt-In, allowing merchants to compliantly collect phone numbers without visitors having to move into their phone’s messaging app to confirm. According to Postscript, with Onsite Opt-in, brands can improve SMS opt-in rates on popups to increase list growth and keep shoppers engaged.

Amazon launches Fit Insights tool for apparel and shoe brands. Amazon has launched Fit Insights, a tool to give apparel and shoe brands access to fit-specific info about their products to help meet customer sizing expectations and reduce returns. Fit Insights analyzes returns data, size charts, and customer feedback on fit, quality, and price to recommend improvements to size charts and product listings. Fit Insights is available to companies enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, with at least 100 units sold in the last 12 months.

MikMak updates platform to help brands measure digital marketing impact. MikMak, a global software company providing ecommerce and analytics for multichannel brands, has launched MikMak 3.0. According to MikMak, the platform’s new features, coupled with a new partnership with Circana, a consumer behavior advisor, will offer brands insights on how digital marketing influences their offline sales lift, prevents cart abandonment, and converts shoppers.

ShopBack and Runa partner to offer enhanced cashback rewards to consumers. Runa, a payouts infrastructure, has expanded its partnership with ShopBack, a cashback and rewards platform in Asia-Pacific, offering cashback on purchases at more than 4,000 online, in-store, and gift card brands, including Amazon and eBay. Businesses can send payouts to Australia and 35-plus countries and offer an expanded range of payout types, including 29 in Australia and 121 in Singapore.

Runa

Ecommerce Product Releases: December 4, 2023

Here is a list of new product releases and updates from companies offering services to ecommerce and omnichannel merchants. There are updates on website builders, supply chain tools, fulfillment services, ecommerce marketing, and artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms.

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

Product Releases: December 4

Web.com launches AI builder for websites. Web.com has launched a website AI builder for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Users answer three questions to guide the AI builder in designing a website for any industry, bringing together relevant images and content in under a minute. Included in Web.com’s AI Builder is AI Writer for creating social media posts, email marketing campaigns, blogs, and more.

Web.com

Syrup secures $17.5 million to help retailers predict and meet demand with AI. Syrup, a provider of AI-powered inventory optimization for omnichannel retail commerce, has announced a $17.5 million Series A funding round led by Accel Partners with participation from existing investors Gradient Ventures and 1984 Ventures. Syrup says it will use the capital to build on its machine learning team across engineering, product, and sales.

Square launches tap-to-pay on iPhone across the U.K. Square has launched tap-to-pay on iPhone across the U.K., available with the Square Point of Sale, Square for Retail, and Square Appointments iOS apps. Tap-to-pay on Square lets sellers accept contactless payments directly from their iPhone (XS or iOS 16.4 or higher), with no additional hardware required and at no additional cost.

Dynamic Yield by Mastercard unveils Shopping Muse, a personal retail assistant. Dynamic Yield by Mastercard has announced Shopping Muse, a generative AI tool to help consumers search for and discover products in a retailer’s digital catalog. Shopping Muse re-creates the in-store human experience by translating consumers’ language into tailored product recommendations, with suggestions for coordinating products and accessories. Shopping Muse combines contextual and behavioral insights to produce recommendations informed by keywords, visual cues, and the consumer’s preferences.

Dynamic Yield – Shopping Muse

Salesforce and AWS expand partnership. Amazon Web Services and Salesforce have extended their partnership, deepening product integrations across data and AI. Salesforce will offer its products, including Data Cloud, Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, Industry Clouds, Tableau, MuleSoft, Platform, and Heroku, on the AWS Marketplace. Salesforce will also support Amazon Bedrock, a managed service that makes foundation models available through a single API. In addition, Salesforce Data Cloud will expand to support data sharing across additional AWS technologies.

Stensul raises $34.5 million to develop its Marketing Creation Platform. Stensul has raised $34.5 million to expand the capabilities of its no-code and low-code Marketing Creation Platform. The funding round was led by Sageview Capital. The company will use the monies to increase investment in product development, including deepening AI capabilities launched earlier this year. Stensul has raised over $57 million to date.

Zubale secures capital to help retailers scale ecommerce in Latin America. Zubale, a Mexico-based provider of tools for retailers to scale their digital channels, secured $25 million in a round led by QED Investors, along with NFX and investor Kevin Efrusy. Through FlexiFleet, its freelancer marketplace, Zubale uses a network of independent workers who pick and pack items and then deliver them. The new investment brings Zubale’s total venture capital raised to $73 million.

Zubale

CGI announces All Payments is available in AWS Marketplace. CGI, an information technology consulting firm, has announced All Payments, its flexible cloud-ready enterprise payments service, is available through the AWS Marketplace. Per CGI, All Payments helps banks accelerate benefits for their global customers and ease payment processes. The service is scalable, deployable across multiple IT ecosystems, and supports multiple currencies, languages, and payment channels, according to CGI.

Amazon Web Services announces new supply chain capabilities. AWS Supply Chain has announced four new capabilities. First, AWS Supply Chain helps customers forecast, plan, and replenish components and finished goods. Second, Supply Chain’s N-Tier Visibility streamlines communication between customers and multiple tiers of suppliers. Third, Supply Chain Sustainability enables customers to request, collect, and audit sustainability data in a central location. Finally, Amazon Q in AWS Supply Chain provides a generative AI assistant.

Kismet Commerce opening workspace facility for SMB ecommerce entrepreneurs. Kismet Commerce, a flexible workspace provider, is launching a facility in March 2024 for small businesses and ecommerce entrepreneurs in Greater Boston, featuring customizable workspaces and storage, on-site fulfillment services, and support staff. This is Kismet’s first facility, with plans to expand throughout the U.S. in markets with a high concentration of small businesses and ecommerce entrepreneurs.

Kismet Commerce