We publish a rundown each week of new tools from companies offering services to ecommerce merchants. This installment includes updates on payment platforms, shopping assistants, advertising insights, AI chatbots, mobile services, and parcel delivery.
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New Tools for Merchants
Klarna to be default payment option for merchants using WooPayments. Klarna, a buy-now-pay-later platform, has expanded its partnership with WooCommerce wherein Klarna will become a network of choice, offered as a default payment method to WooPayments’ merchants globally, alongside traditional card payments.
Klarna
Google Ads launches Brand Report for advertiser insights. Google Ads has introduced Brand Report, a dashboard tool that gives advertisers consolidated insights into campaign reach and frequency. The tool simplifies campaign tracking campaign by providing metrics in one place rather than across multiple reports. Advertisers can filter results by age, gender, and other demographics. Brand Report is accessible directly in the Google Ads dashboard under “Insights and reports.”
Sitoo and Adyen partner on Sitoo Payments. Sitoo, a point-of-sale commerce platform, has partnered with Adyen, a financial technology provider, to launch Sitoo Payments. The new payment solution combines Sitoo’s POS functionality with Adyen’s payment processing capabilities. According to the companies, Sitoo Payments simplifies how retailers manage payments across markets and channels, unifying physical and digital shopping experiences and unlocking payments as a first-party data source.
DHL eCommerce and CTT Expresso partner to create parcel networks for Iberia. DHL eCommerce and CTT Expresso have partnered to address the ecommerce and parcel delivery market across Spain and Portugal, which, combined, form the fourth largest market in Europe. CTT Expresso will acquire the DHL eCommerce business in Portugal, ensuring CTT Expresso becomes the distributor of DHL eCommerce parcel volumes in Portugal. In Spain, DHL eCommerce will concentrate on B2B operations, while CTT Express, the Spanish entity of CTT Expresso, will cater to B2C services.
DHL Group
WeChat tests gifting feature for the holidays, sparking ecommerce potential. China-based super app WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings, has added a gift-giving feature to its embedded ecommerce platform, allowing users to send presents to friends for the holiday season. Shoppers can search for products by keywords. All gifts are priced no more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,375) and exclude jewelry and tutoring classes. After the sender completes payment, the recipient must accept the gift and submit a postal address within 24 hours.
Coralogix acquires AI observability platform Aporia. Coralogix, a data monitoring platform, has acquired Aporia, a startup focusing on tools to observe and secure AI workloads and set guardrails to avoid hallucinations or unintended disclosures. As part of this acquisition, Coralogix will launch a dedicated AI research center, Coralogix AI, which Aporia co-founders will lead. Aporia’s technology will integrate into Coralogix’s service.
Gigs raises $73 million to help companies launch mobile services. Gigs, a platform for mobile services, has raised $73 million in a round led by Ribbit Capital and investments from Google’s Gradient and Speedinvest. Gigs will use the funding to expand its geographical footprint and invest in an expanded suite of products and services for tech companies. According to Gigs, this will enable more tech brands to innovate in telecom, provide more value to customers, and tap into a recurring revenue stream.
Gigs
LXRGuide to launch Intellichat AI chatbot for small businesses. LXRGuide, an AI-powered small business growth platform developed by NetElixir, will launch in January its Strategic Growth Dashboard and Intellichat, an advanced conversational AI chatbot designed to help small businesses thrive in a competitive market traditionally dominated by larger brands with specialized marketing resources.
Fiserv enhances embedded finance capability with acquisition of Payfare. Fiserv, a provider of payments and financial services technology, has agreed to acquire Payfare Inc., a payroll management platform. This acquisition complements the embedded finance solutions of Fiserv with card program management, a white-label consumer app, and a microservices orchestration layer. According to Fiserv, Payfare offerings enhance the Fiserv solution in embedded banking, payments, and lending.
Google expands Gemini’s research mode to 40 languages. Google is expanding Gemini’s latest in-depth research mode to 40 more languages. Google launched the multi-step in-depth research mode in December, allowing Google One AI premium plan users to unlock an AI-powered research assistant. Gemini’s supported languages include Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Danish, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Malayalam, Marathi, Polish, Portuguese, Swahili, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, Thani, Ukrainian, and Urdu.
Alibaba partners with marketplace in South Korea. Alibaba is establishing an online shopping venture with South Korean retailer E-Mart, a division of retailer Shinsegae Group, to combine the assets of their online platforms, AliExpress Korea and Gmarket, in a 50-50 joint venture with the two platforms operating independently. Shinsegae Group said it expects cooperation with Alibaba to help bolster its Gmarket services and customer experience.
Alibaba
