This week’s rundown of new products from companies offering services to ecommerce merchants includes rollouts for local payments, headless commerce, ad platforms, Bitcoin, B2B commerce, retail media solutions, and parcel delivery robots.
Got an ecommerce product release? Email releases@practicalecommerce.com.
New Tools for Merchants
Ppro, a local payments platform, launches subscriptions. Local payments provider Ppro has announced the launch of Subscriptions for Local Payments, enabling merchants to accelerate development through optimized local strategies. Businesses can (i) access local payment methods such as Twint and Bancontact with native recurring functionality, (ii) deploy subscription flows with dedicated features to cut down on free trial abuse, (iii) reduce payment declines, (iv) allow flexible billing, and (v) leverage Ppro-signature enhancements.
Ppro
Fast Simon integrates with Shopify Hydrogen 2. Fast Simon, a provider of AI shopping optimization, has announced its integration with Hydrogen 2, Shopify’s headless commerce framework. The integration brings server-side rendering capabilities to Fast Simon’s AI-driven merchandising, search, and personalization suite for Shopify merchants. Fast Simon states that its integration enables merchants to capitalize on Hydrogen 2’s infrastructure, ensuring that search and merchandising components render server-side, boosting crawlability, improving time-to-first-byte, and maintaining rich content without sacrificing visibility for search engines.
Pacvue integrates with TikTok Shop and Shop Ads. Pacvue, a commerce acceleration platform, has announced its integration with TikTok Shop and TikTok Shop Ads. Brands and agencies can now manage TikTok Shop operations and advertising through Pacvue’s platform, offering a unified view of performance across channels. The integration enables brands and sellers of all sizes to manage their shoppable social campaign strategies, tap into new audiences, and optimize performance, according to Pacvue.
Amazon Ads launches Sponsored Ads and Stores in Ireland. Eligible sellers and vendors on Ireland’s Amazon.ie can now leverage Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Brand Video, and Brand Stores. Sponsored Products ads help promote individual listings. Sponsored Brands ads let sellers include multiple products, along with a brand logo and custom headline. A Store allows sellers to showcase bestsellers and collections, publish videos, or tell a brand story, all at no cost.
Amazon Ads
WordPress.org launches AI team. WordPress.org has announced the formation of a dedicated team focused on accelerating and coordinating AI projects across the WordPress ecosystem. The AI team will coordinate efforts to explore AI-powered features, publish and maintain a public roadmap of AI initiatives and canonical plugins, and collaborate closely with Core, Design, Accessibility, and other grooups to ensure strong integration and shared standards. The initial team has contributors from Automattic, 10up (web development), and Google.
Visa launches pay-by-bank platform in the U.K. Visa has launched Visa A2A, a pay-by-bank platform, in the U.K. The offering introduces enhanced consumer protections for account-to-account transfers. According to Visa, A2A provides a seamless experience for users by integrating payment management into banking apps. For businesses, A2A delivers enhanced benefits through real-time settlement via “Pay.UK” (a faster payment system), improved cash flow visibility, and enriched transaction data. Merchants also receive alerts when customers modify payment permissions.
Block to roll out Bitcoin payments on Square. Block, formerly Square, is launching Bitcoin payments on the Square point-of-sale app, enabling merchants to accept Bitcoin payments directly through their Square hardware for near-instantaneous, low-cost transactions. Square says the rollout will begin in the second half of 2025 and reach all eligible Square sellers in 2026. Square’s new Bitcoin for Businesses offering will build upon its Bitcoin Conversions feature, which automatically converts a portion of daily sales into Bitcoin.
Square
Visa deploys new AI-enabled products for the APAC region. Visa has announced a suite of AI tools in the Asia-Pacific region, providing regional partners, platforms, fintechs, banks, and merchants with a simple way to connect to the Visa network and deliver secure payment experiences. The Visa Intelligent Commerce initiative integrates APIs and a commercial partner program, allowing engineers to deploy Visa’s AI commerce capabilities at scale. Additionally, Visa is exploring partnerships with Ant International (a fintech company), Grab (a “super app”), and Tencent (the owner of WeChat) for AI-enabled checkout optimization.
Zaelab launches Portul in Europe to simplify B2B commerce on Shopify. Zaelab, a provider of digital B2B tools, has announced the European launch of Portul, a B2B app for Shopify. According to Zaelab, Portul will simplify the requirements of enterprise B2B commerce and assist organizations in modernizing selling experiences. Portul’s features include advanced account management, KPI tracking, efficient reordering workflows, account-based quoting scenarios, integration with ERP systems, and specialized solutions for search, product configuration, visualization, and content management.
Pairzon launches retail media tool to maximize first-party data. Pairzon, an AI-powered marketing intelligence platform, has launched its retail media tool to help retailers leverage first-party data. Pairzon accesses in-store and online transactional data to generate predictive audience segments in real-time. It then uses those segments across Meta, Google, TikTok, and other platforms to deliver performance at scale while maintaining data privacy. Pairzon says retailers can securely share personalized audiences with brands across in-store and online channels through precise shopper targeting.
Veho and Rivr partner on ecommerce delivery through AI-powered robots. Veho, a parcel delivery platform, and Rivr, a physical AI and robotics provider, have launched an initiative to improve the ecommerce delivery experience and efficiency through the use of parcel delivery robots. The robots will enable humans to deliver more parcels, faster, with less physical strain, while maintaining the superior delivery experience. The deployment begins in Austin, Texas, with plans to expand to additional markets later this year.
Rivr
