Retail and eCommerce highlights last week include: BigCommerce has reported its customers experienced another year of increased Cyber Week sales. Salesforce have also released data based on its global shopping data from more than 1.5 billion consumers powered by Commerce Cloud. Meanwhile, new data from Adobe reveals that after spending £1.04 billion on Black Friday, UK shoppers spent an additional £2.41 billion over the remainder of Cyber Weekend. Research from FullStory sheds light on the key challenges and contradictions in the world of website and mobile app optimisation.
VTEX selected to power Hearst’s eCommerce businesses
VTEX, the composable and complete commerce platform, announced it has been selected by Hearst, a global, diversified media, information, and services company. This partnership will enable Hearst to transform the buying experience of its consumer media businesses, which collectively reach 165 million unique users each month, according to Comscore. VTEX will support a digital commerce marketplace across fashion, Do-it-yourself (DIY) and home improvement, lifestyle publications and bring a unified shopping experience to users.
This collaboration is a significant testament to the VTEX platform, which was chosen by Hearst due to VTEX’s wide breadth of native capabilities, multi-site architecture, and VTEX IO development platform to support custom features. The platform brings integrated marketplace and core digital commerce to support multi-vendor business models. With VTEX, Hearst will be able to create a seamless customer experience between its publications and shoppable interfaces, allowing the purchase of featured products with ease.
With VTEX’s composable and complete digital commerce platform, Hearst aims to revolutionize the way consumers engage with its publications while offering a seamless, streamlined shopping experience. The new business model represents a crucial part of Hearst’s strategy for embracing the digital economy in 2024 and beyond. Valtech, the experience innovation company, is partnering with VTEX and Hearst to support this digital transformation.
eCommerce fulfilment provider Huboo raises £29m to pay the way to profitability
Huboo, the full-stack, software-driven eCommerce fulfilment provider, has raised £29 million from existing investors, including Ada Ventures and Maersk plus additional support from lenders HSBC and Blackrock on the back of a seventh successive year of strong growth.
The new investment will be used to propel Huboo to profitability, market expansion and sustainable long-term growth, and marks a pivotal milestone in Huboo’s journey to becoming the leading eCommerce fulfilment provider in Europe, bringing the total investment to date to £122 million.
The Bristol-headquartered company recently announced 100% growth over the past 12 months, raking in more than £25 million worth of new business and adding 800 new clients to its rapidly expanding portfolio, which includes leading UK drinks brand AU Vodka and sports clubs West Ham FC and Bristol Sport.
At the same time, the company has consolidated this strong performance by streamlining costs and reducing overheads by approximately half over the same period, as tough economic conditions continue to impact pan-European eCommerce.
Huboo’s European presence, which includes Netherlands, France, Spain and Germany, has also grown in 2023, with the Dutch operation passing £5M ARR for the first time earlier this year.
While many businesses find it hard to access efficient, cost-effective fulfilment to support their eCommerce aspirations, Huboo utilises software to drive smarter, more productive and human-centric warehouses. The company’s software provides a complete end-to-end fulfilment proposition – including transaction management, stock control, order tracking, billing and integration with popular sales channels and marketplaces, such as TikTok, Amazon, eBay and Shopify, enabling the company to directly receive and process retailers’ orders in real-time.
Square launches Tap to Pay on iPhone across the UK
Square has launched Tap to Pay on iPhone across the UK. The launch makes it the third market globally where Square will offer the technology to its sellers. Available within the Square Point of Sale, Square for Retail, and Square Appointments iOS apps, Tap to Pay on iPhone lets sellers of all sizes accept contactless payments directly from their iPhone. There is no additional hardware required and at no additional cost.
Through Tap to Pay on iPhone, Square makes it easier for new sellers and established businesses to conduct in-person commerce. Any Square merchant with a compatible iPhone can accept contactless payments by simply opening the Square POS, Square for Retail, or Square Appointments app, making a sale, and presenting their iPhone to the buyer. The buyer completes the payment by tapping a contactless payment method, such as a contactless credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or other digital wallet, directly onto the seller’s iPhone. Tap to Pay on iPhone also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.
Tap to Pay on iPhone uses built-in features of the iPhone to keep the business’ and customers’ data private and secure. When a payment is processed, Apple doesn’t store card numbers on the device or on Apple servers.
Powered by Square’s elegant, intuitive software, Tap to Pay on iPhone gives sellers a flexible, mobile solution that can adapt to any environment while meeting evolving consumer preferences for contactless payments. Together with Apple’s contactless payment technology, Square’s software creates a smooth, straightforward checkout experience that provides shoppers with all the information needed to help them complete their purchases with confidence.
AuguStar life selects iPipeline to strengthen its digital transformation Journey
iPipeline announces a partnership which will help AuguStarSM Life accelerate and strengthen its digital transformation with innovative solutions from iPipeline that are designed to improve the agent experience.
These solutions will automate and simplify the application process while providing agents with instant quotes and illustrations, all to increase speed and efficiency, helping AuguStar Life expand its third-party distribution footprint. Effective immediately, AuguStar Life’s top-tier product, Virtus IUL II, is now available on the iPipeline solutions below (AuguStar Life’s indexed whole life product will follow shortly):
iGO, one of the industry’s leading intelligent digital e-Application solutions that can be accessed on any device, at any time, and from anywhere, making the application process faster, more efficient, and ensuring 100% of e-Apps are “in good order.”
iSolve, iPipeline’s one-stop illustration solution that provides access to illustrations across multiple scenarios and provides product comparisons, as well as personalised, customisable, and compliant illustrations.
This partnership supports AuguStar Life’s strategic commitment and recent expansion into the brokerage channel. AuguStar Life is a Constellation Insurance Inc. company.
Retail and eCommerce news from the week beginning 20 November 2023
