Retail and eCommerce highlights this week include: Centric Swap (CNS) payments are now available through South Africa’s “fastest growing online marketing platform.” Sensor Tower Data suggests Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) apps have reached a record 10 million installs in H1 2022. MarqVision Raises $20 Million Series A and adds several luxury brands to its client roster while experiencing client retention. Peak Technologies and Supply Chain Services announces merger. The new combined company will create leading systems integrator in AIDC Market.
Centric online marketing platform partners with DigitalFlyer
Centric’s COO Tommy Butcher announced a new partnership with DigitalFlyer, an online marketing platform based in South Africa. DigitalFlyer makes it easy for customers to find services they are looking for, and for businesses to be found effortlessly. DigitalFlyer calls itself the “business directory 3.0.” The platform allows customers to find and purchase products, services, and tickets to events. Users can also contact vendors directly through the platform, book appointments, and contact companies through social media channels like Twitter, WhatsApp, and Telegram.
DigitalFlyer offers a web-based version and an app available on both Google Play and Apple’s App Store. The company operates in South Africa and has plans to expand soon into other markets around the globe. The back office allows business owners to track views, customer inquiries / messages, booked appointments, and reviews. Businesses can also post new products for sale, FAQs, links to social media, and more.
DigitalFlyer now accepts Centric Swap (CNS) payments from businesses for their annual subscription fees. CNS payments are also available for opt-in by each of the 600+ and growing vendors on the platform.
Buy Now Pay Later surges say report
Research by Sensor Tower suggests Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) apps have reached a record 10 million installs on the App Store and Google Play during H1 2022. The apps are popular in the UK and Germany where users have been quick to adopt them. Installs of BNPL apps were up 339% in H1 2022 in Europe compared to 2019. Klarna takes the highest market share at 70% ahead of Clearpay. And although this is a mild decline in market share compared to 2019, Klarna still ranks 60 percentage points ahead of Clearpay.
Apple introduced its Apple Pay Later feature earlier this year to American consumers. While the feature is not available in European markets just yet, Apple’s acquisition of fintech startup Credit Kudos signals a potential for a U.K. market expansion.
In Q2 2022, iPhone accounted for 40% of Klarna’s downloads across 35 European countries. Based on the share of iPhone versus Google Play downloads of Klarna, some markets such as Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, the U.K., and Germany could be the most valuable markets for Apple Pay Later in the near future.
In the past few months, Neobanks including Monzo Bank and Revolut have launched BNPL products, making its apps a one-stop hub for personal finance and BNPL purchases. In Q1 2022, Android retention rates of leading BNPL apps show Neobanks have significantly higher app retention rates. Particularly, when compared to Traditional BNPL and other fintech BNPL apps. With higher app retention rates, Neobanks may be able to turn this into an opportunity of providing new BNPL offerings.
MarqVision raises $20 Million Series funding for its Operating System for Intellectual Property
MarqVision, makers of the world’s first AI-powered platform designed to protect human creativity and innovation in a digital world, today announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. DST Global Partners and Atinum Investments joined existing investors Softbank Ventures, Bass Investment, and Y-Combinator in recognition of the enormous issues created by the counterfeiting and theft of digital assets. With the funds, Marqvision continues to advance product development beyond its brand protection platform. The company plans to create a new IP operating system that also allows companies to create, manage, protect and monetize IP rights. All in one place.
Counterfeiting has become a massive problem, affecting all corners of the globe, and it is expected to grow another 50% this year to reach nearly $3 trillion in 2023. The magnitude of the problem, coupled with MarqVision’s innovative technology, is what attracted DST Global Partners and Softbank, both among the largest and most influential investors in the world. The participation of global investors in this round shows confidence in MarqVision’s ability to build a single platform for IP and attests to the huge market opportunity in this space.
Brands spend millions of dollars developing innovative and coveted products, then millions more on digital campaigns and online shopping experiences to promote them, only for counterfeiters to misappropriate such assets and create inferior copies for their financial gain. The rise of online marketplaces and third-party sellers has made this possible by lowering the hurdle for distributing counterfeits globally and increasing the volume and velocity at which counterfeit products are sold. Brands traditionally rely on law firms to deal with infringers, but it is practically impossible to take effective action against millions of counterfeits that are traded in real-time – both small and large companies often have no such recourse.
Peak Technologies and Supply Chain Services to merge
Peak Technologies and Supply Chain Services (SCS), have agreed to enter into a definitive merger agreement to combine the two companies. The combined company, which will operate under the Peak Technologies name.
Peak Technologies is one of the leading multi-national system integrators in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (“AIDC”) market. SCS is a leading full life-cycle system integrator and provider of digital supply chain, retail and mobile workforce solutions.
The new company intends to create a full-service solution provider in the large, highly fragmented AIDC market. In addition, become a true end-to-end provider of mission-critical AIDC solutions that enable supply chain automation amid increasing technological, labour market and supply chain complexity. Both Peak Technologies and Supply Chain Services are Sole Source Capital portfolio companies. The combined entities will be headquartered in Littleton, MA.
With Peak Technologies’ existing focus on large, enterprise customers and Supply Chain Services focus on small and medium-sized businesses. The newly combined company is well positioned to offer a full suite of solutions to both existing and new customers across North America and Europe. The combination provides customers a one-stop shop for their entire solutions life cycle. From design, deployment, management and onsite and break fix services. Peak Technologies CEO Tony Rivers will lead the combined company. SCS CEO Dave Green will become Executive Chairman. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
