Commerce
Retail, online shopping, e-commerce, and social commerce are a huge and ever-changing industry. Our commerce news covers everyone from Amazon, Shopify and Walmart to all the newest and hottest DTC brands, as well as influencers making the shift into selling products online.
Zepto, an Indian quick commerce startup, has more than doubled its valuation to $3.6 billion in a new funding round of $665 million.
LTK (formerly LiketoKnow.it and RewardStyle), the influencer shopping app with 40 million monthly users, announced on Thursday the launch of a free direct message tool for creators to instantly share…
Daydream rakes in $50M seed funding to build an AI-powered search engine suited for e-commerce
Online shopping trends are expected to stay strong this year, but e-commerce is more fragmented than ever. With brands selling on so many platforms — from TikTok Shop, to established…
Amazon is bringing its generative AI listing smarts to more sellers, revealing today that those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. can now access tools designed to improve…
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Can quick commerce leapfrog e-commerce in India?
Even as quick commerce startups are retreating, consolidating or shutting down in many parts of the world, the model is showing encouraging signs in India. Consumers in urban cities are embracing the convenience of having groceries delivered to their doorstep in just 10 minutes. The companies making those deliveries —…
Apple announced at last week’s WWDC 2024 that users would be able to access loans through third-party app Affirm through Apple Pay.
From sperm freezing to accounting tools, Finaloop scores $35M to solve e-commerce retailers’ bookkeeping headaches
Finaloop’s solution is a platform that uses automation in the background to track transactions covering three different functions in one.
Care/of, a company offering personalized subscription vitamin packs, says it will be canceling all subscriptions as of Monday, June 17 and will no longer be accepting new orders. The news…
YC grad RetailReady raises $3.3M for an AI warehouse app that hopes to save brands billions
RetailReady targets the $40 billion compliance market to help reduce the number of retail compliance losses that shippers incur annually due to incorrectly shipped packages.
Sources: Wasoko-MaxAB e-commerce merger faces delays amid headwinds in Africa
The merger has yet to close due to extended due diligence amid ongoing restructuring and macroeconomic headwinds across multiple countries.
Meta rolls out Meta Verified for WhatsApp Business users in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Colombia
Meta launched its Meta Verified program today along with other features, such as the ability to call large businesses and custom messages.
The British retailers association also takes aim at Amazon’s “Buy Box,” claiming that Amazon manipulated which retailers were selected for the coveted placement.
True Fit leverages generative AI to help online shoppers find clothes that fit
True Fit, the AI-powered size-and-fit personalization tool, has offered its size recommendation solution to thousands of retailers for nearly 20 years. Now, the company is venturing into the generative AI…
How a couple of former Pinterest search experts caught Biz Stone’s attention
Lance Riedel and Nigel Daley both spent decades in search discovery, but it was while working at Pinterest that they began trying to understand how to use search engines to…
Commerce platform Shopify has acquired Checkout Blocks, allowing Shopify Plus merchants to make no-code customizations in their checkout to enhance customer experience and potentially boost sales. Checkout Blocks, which debuted…
Temasek, Fidelity buy $200M stake in Lenskart at $5B valuation
Temasek has previously invested in Lenskart, and this new funding follows a $500 million investment by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority last year.
Chinese e-commerce marketplace Temu faces stricter EU rules as a ‘very large online platform’
Temu is to face Europe’s strictest rules after being designated as a “very large online platform” under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
YoLa Fresh, a GrubMarket for Morocco, digs up $7M to connect farmers with food sellers
YoLa Fresh works with over a thousand retailers across Morocco and records up to $1 million in gross merchandise volume.
Pinterest announced today that it is evolving its Creator Inclusion Fund to now be called the Pinterest Inclusion Fund. Pinterest teamed up with Shopify’s Build Black and Build Native programs…
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More neobanks are becoming mobile networks — and Nubank wants a piece of the action
Nubank is taking its first tentative steps into the mobile network realm, as the NYSE-traded Brazilian neobank rolls out an eSIM (embedded SIM) service for travelers. The service will give customers access to 10GB of free roaming internet in more than 40 countries without having to switch out their own…
Adani looks to battle Reliance, Walmart in India’s e-commerce, payments race, report says
India’s Adani Group is in discussions to venture into digital payments and e-commerce, according to a report.
Remark trains AI models on human product experts to create personas that can answer questions with the same style of their human counterparts.
The changes are designed to enhance the consumer experience of using Google Pay and make it a more competitive option against other payment methods.
A Singapore High Court has effectively approved Pine Labs’ request to shift its operations to India.
Expedia says two execs dismissed after ‘violation of company policy’
Expedia says Rathi Murthy and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, respectively its CTO and senior vice president of core services product & engineering, are no longer employed at the travel booking company. In…
Kudos lands $10M for an AI smart wallet that picks the best credit card for purchases
Kudos uses AI to figure out consumer spending habits so it can then provide more personalized financial advice, like maximizing rewards and utilizing credit effectively.
Poshmark’s ‘Promoted Closet’ tool lets sellers boost all their listings at once
Poshmark, the social commerce site that lets people buy and sell new and used items to each other, launched a paid marketing tool on Thursday, giving sellers the ability to…
Temu accused of breaching EU’s DSA in bundle of consumer complaints
Consumer protection groups around the European Union have filed coordinated complaints against Temu, accusing the Chinese-owned, ultra low-cost e-commerce platform of a raft of breaches related to the bloc’s Digital…
Restaurant365 orders in $175M at $1B+ valuation to supersize its food service software stack
Restaurant365, which offers a restaurant management suite, has raised a hot $175M from ICONIQ Growth, KKR and L Catterton.
Uber to acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan unit from Delivery Hero for $950M in cash
Uber Technologies announced Tuesday that it will buy the Taiwan unit of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda for $950 million in cash. The deal is part of Uber Eats’ strategy to expand…
