Tag: Shopify

Bangkok, Thailand – E-commerce enabler aCommerce announced the release of its new connector that will help data streams from Shopify to the former’s proprietary omnichannel order management platform EcommerceIQ.

The connector is aimed at helping e-commerce managers keep track of their multiple sales channels switching between marketplaces, social commerce, and direct-to-consumer dashboards to monitor their online business. 

It is also expected to enable a smooth flow of products, inventory, sales orders, returns, delivery updates, and all related data between EcommerceIQ and Shopify.

The connector is secured by EcommerceIQ’s proprietary tokenized module and will automatically consume and synchronise order information, inventory, and pricing control through a unified panel.

Upon its release, aCommerce’s existing partners will have the opportunity to be among the first to opt in and sample its capabilities with full EIQ integration. The connector will then be brought to the broader market in the next few months following the pilot.

“We are thrilled about the upcoming release of what this new connector can bring to our clients and the wider market,” said Roberto Kauffmann, aCommerce’s group chief product officer.

He added, “For our brand clients, this Shopify and EcommerceIQ turnkey integration-as-a-service allows us to simply add and operate Shopify stores as an additional channel. Likewise, brands wishing to launch a store or existing Shopify merchants, can now easily scale up their business by tapping into our fulfillment and other EcommerceIQ services almost instantly. It also provides clients with centralized multichannel monitoring and insights that are vital for professional ecommerce.”

Paul Srivorakul, aCommerce group chief executive officer, also commented, “Direct-to-consumer is a crucial piece of the puzzle. With the new public integration, our clients will have a 360 view of their operations, where they can manage and optimize their ecommerce business. This is an opportunity for brands and merchants to leverage their existing marketplace presence and create an efficient multi-channel strategy.”

aCommerce was previously tapped by Shopify Plus to be its first partner in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Japan — Pinterest is launching ads for all businesses in Japan. Businesses of all sizes now have access to multiple types of ad formats and targeting options in Japan to reach new audiences with meaningful, useful content as they discover ideas and plan new projects. Japan is the next country to launch as part of the global expansion of Pinterest’s ad program. Alongside this, Pinterest is also expanding its partnership with e-commerce company Shopify.

On Pinterest, brands are additive to the avid users of Pinterest’s or ‘Pinner’s’ experience. Because of Pinterest’s dynamics for product discoverability, advertisers are keen on the platform’s potential. With Pinterest, ads can inspire the decisions of consumers because commercial content enhances the Pinterest user’s experience. People come to Pinterest looking for products and services to plan their futures and build their lives.

Because 97% of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded and consist of 2-3 word queries, the majority of consumers are not typing a brand name into their searches, which is why Pinterest is such an effective place to reach people while they’re still considering their next purchase and haven’t decided on a brand. Pinterest is one of the platforms where it is possible for brands to engage with new customers who are intentional, open and making buying decisions.

The platform recently opened ads to a small group of Japanese businesses as early partners. Brands such as BAYCREW’S and Cowcamo have already seen success using Pinterest Ads to tap into an audience on Pinterest that is looking for what to try or buy next.

Kei Narita, country manager for Japan at Pinterest, said, “Pinterest stands out as a positive environment where consumers come to find inspiration for what to do or buy next. We give businesses of all sizes an opportunity to connect with consumers early in their decision-making journey and we’re proud to expand our global advertising program to Japan. Our advertisers play an incredible role in enabling Pinterest users to turn inspiration into action so they can create a life they love, and we’re excited to enable Japanese businesses to now connect with our engaged audience through ads.”

Pinterest is also launching new features for businesses in Japan to reach people who want to go from finding ideas to making purchases.

Via the launch, businesses in Japan can upload their full catalogue to Pinterest and automatically turn their products into shoppable Product Pins. Enriched with metadata and formatted to let people on Pinterest know that they’re shoppable, Product Pins feature the most up-to-date price, availability and product title and description from your website. By uploading their catalogue of products to Pinterest, businesses can link directly to the product page on their site so Pinners can buy one of their products in just a few clicks. Product Pins are more discoverable in places like Home Feed, search, recommendations like Related Pins, and Lens camera search results.

Pinterest is expanding its partnership with Shopify to Japan. Now, Shopify merchants in Japan have an easy way to bring their products to Pinterest and turn them into shoppable Product Pins that are discoverable across the platform.

The Pinterest channel on Shopify provides frictionless access to Pinterest shopping features including tag deployment, catalogue ingestion, and advertising buying interface, without the need to edit code or deploy resources on their own site.

Small-to-medium-sized businesses with shops on Shopify will have easy set-up and access to distribution across Pinterest either organically or through ads, as well as reporting and results to maximize reach. Thanks to this integration, SMBs will save time to set up shop on Pinterest and will be able to showcase their products to a global monthly audience of more than 400 million people, many of whom come with the intent to shop and discover new products.

Makoto Tahara, country director and head of Japan at Shopify, shared, “By expanding our global partnership with Pinterest, Japanese merchants can now access the Pinterest channel to create targeted, audience-building campaigns all without leaving Shopify. This is particularly important for Japan’s small and medium-sized merchants to help them thrive by creating new opportunities for discoverability among Pinterest’s 400M+ users around the world.”

With the launch of ads in Japan, Pinterest is continuing the global momentum of its advertising program.

Sydney, Australia – Global commerce platform Shopify and global audio streaming platform Spotify have entered a strategic partnership that allows music artists to expand beyond music and traditional merch to build fully realized brands, all with the capabilities of both platforms in their own specialities.

Using the Spotify channel, artists can introduce products to the place where listeners and fans are already engaging with their music most. By connecting their Spotify for Artists accounts with their Shopify online stores, artists can sync their product catalogues and seamlessly showcase products of their choice directly on their Spotify profiles, making it easy for fans to browse and purchase. 

Said feature period is currently in beta testing, and is available to users across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.

“Shopify is already powering the online stores of local and international acts, and the Spotify integration will further empower Aussie and Kiwi artists to showcase their unique talent, brand or creativity, and engage their fans even more effectively,” said Shaun Broughton, managing director for APAC at Shopify.

With Shopify, artist-entrepreneurs have access to an all-in-one commerce platform to manage their brands across multiple touchpoints that not only include leading social and entertainment channels and marketplaces, but now one of the most popular audio streaming services in the world.

“For new artists, Shopify is an easy-to-use, all-in-one commerce platform to start, grow and manage their brands. For artists with large followings and pre-existing businesses, Shopify’s world-class infrastructure effortlessly handles high volumes of traffic, key sales moments, and highly anticipated product drops,” Shopify said in a press statement.

Sydney, Australia – Global commerce company Shopify in Australia aims to encourage businesses and consumers to view the brands that have reimagined retail in their own business operations through Shopify’s latest out-of-home (OOH) advertising, made in partnership with creative content agency Chello and media agency iPROSPECT.

Titled ‘Reimagine Retail’, the OOH campaign is best considered as a celebration of Australian brands that have disrupted retail with innovative products and cutting-edge e-commerce strategies – while doing it all on Shopify.

The campaign comes to life when users scan an inbuilt QR code functionality on all assets, giving users an opportunity to ‘meet’ Australian brands who have reimagined retail, and then shop their stores — from anywhere on any device.

“We wanted a campaign which celebrates and showcases local, independent businesses, who are the backbone of Australia’s entrepreneurial economy,” says Robin Marchant, head of marketing for APAC at Shopify.

Initially intended for a pre-lockdowned Australia, Shopify was keen to proceed as a show of support for its more than 100,000 merchants in Australia. Some of Shopify’s customers featured in the visual assets of the campaign include Go-To Skin Care, frank green, MAAP, and Who Gives a Crap.

“At Shopify, we power more than 100,000 Australian retail businesses to launch, run and grow by making it possible to sell to anyone, anywhere. Every day, we’re inspired by our merchants as they reimagine the possibilities of retail, and we can’t wait to see what the next generation of budding entrepreneurs will do with the exciting, evolving retail space,” Marchant added.

Speaking about the campaign, Tristan Velasco, creative director and co-founder at brand and content agency Chello, shared, “Working with Shopify made two things clear to us. One, that they’re merchant obsessed, and two, they help a long list of innovative, Australian brands redefine retail. It was a no-brainer that these brands would be the heart of our campaign.”

He added, “With so many businesses being hit hard by these latest lockdowns, it’s an exciting time to demonstrate the resilience and willpower of Australian brands on Shopify that have truly reimagined retail.”

Meanwhile, Sam Cousins, chief strategy officer at iPROSPECT, commented, “We recognize more and more in our business that every media touchpoint is a commerce opportunity. It’s great to have Shopify on board with us to help drive this forward through our partnership with Chello.”

Said campaign will run out of home, digital out of home, programmatic and digital as well.

Sydney, Australia – As e-commerce company Shopify brings to Australia its latest suite of integrated retail hardware and payments for retailers in the country, the company has recently published a study on the status quo of the local retail scene.

According to the study, despite online shopping likely to double, most Aussies still prefer to shop in-store. However, retailers are having to cater to and accommodate new ways of shopping such as contactless payments, local delivery, and click-and-collect that have been accelerated by the global pandemic.

Furthermore, Aussies are increasingly turning online to make their purchases. The research shows the number of shoppers buying mostly online will likely double post-pandemic vs. pre-pandemic, from 7% pre-pandemic to 15% now that many COVID-19 restrictions have started to ease. 

Shopify also noted that buying in brick-and-mortar stores, still tops Australia’s shopping preference with 64% of people choosing to buy mostly in physical stores post-pandemic, compared to 79% before COVID-19.

“We are experiencing a fundamental shift in how people shop following the global pandemic. This new retail renaissance is forcing retailers to adapt to new business models, as digital disruption is fueled by rocketing customer expectations for convenience, personalization, experience, and safety,” said Shaun Broughton, managing director APAC at Shopify.

The report also reveals the number of Australians buying online for click-and-collect or local delivery will continue to grow compared to pre-pandemic. The former increased from 17% pre-pandemic to 23% post-pandemic, and deliveries from online purchases grew from 37% to 43% accordingly. On the other hand, buying through social media is predicted to stay relatively low among Aussies, sitting at 5-6%.

In other data, Shopify noted that the top 3 expectations of consumers are free shipping (64%), easy returns (58%), and efficient customer service (57%). About 8 in 10 shoppers say buying local is important to them, with proximity (77%) and supporting local business owners (60%) cited as the main reasons why. 

Meanwhile, 29% of online shoppers would select pick-up from a physical store location if free-shipping is not available, and 52% expect retailers to offer ‘click-and-collect’. Furthermore, 93% have used a non-cash means of payment while shopping in-store (e.g debit card, credit card, mobile wallet).

“Australia has quickly become an important market for Shopify, so bringing integrated retail hardware and in-store payments to our Australian retail merchants is a pivotal step in future-proofing their businesses,” Broughton added.

Shopify’s hardware launch, categorized under the Shopify Point of Sale (POS) and Shopify Payments suite, aims to bring said benefits:

  • The ability for retailers to accept all major payment methods, however, and wherever they need to in order to make the sale
  • Secure and reliable checkouts for both retailers and customers when completing a sale, all through a single POS system.
  • Unified back office to track and manage sales, payments, and payouts across online and in-person retail all from a single location
  • Returns and exchanges helping retailers assist customers with purchases made online or at other locations
  • Upfront pricing with a single rate for all credit cards and no hidden fees or hardware rental fees

Singapore – Mobile-first commerce solutions for businesses, KADDRA, has announced the completion of its integration with accounting software XERO to provide a fully automated sales-to-accounting flow for SMEs to improve their productivity and have the right tools to scale.

KADDRA provides mobile-first e-commerce and marketing solutions by connecting businesses with their customers through a white label end-to-end platform. It operates under the premise of improving sales processes, marketing reach, and customer service through a subscription based model for native mobile technology catered to SMEs venturing into digitizing their operations. 

According to Quentin Chiarugi, executive chairman and CEO of KADDRA, the integration is part of a larger roadmap the company has slated for software integrations this year.

“It is a crucial step, and it will provide a huge advantage to companies using both our solutions to run their operations. With minimal cost, productivity will dramatically improve from sales to accounting,” Chiarugi stated.

Meanwhile, Will Beattie, CTO & COO of KADDRA, said, “Xero, like KADDRA, is an easy-to-use, plug-and-play solution used by forward-thinking businesses. Their rapid global expansion is proof that back-office operations want to streamline and evolve. With this integration, sales orders can seamlessly be created as invoices in Xero, reducing manual work, data-entry errors and ultimately saving time for the whole operation.” 

Last month, KADDRA has also integrated e-commerce service Shopify in its platform to amplify its stance for business support for SMEs.

Singapore – KADDRA, a local-based commercial technology company, has announced the conclusion of its first phase of integration with e-commerce platform Shopify in a move to offer a comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem for SMEs on both mobile app commerce and web-based digital stores.

The new integration enables businesses to cover both digital sales channels, while increasing sales, widening marketing reach, and improving customer satisfaction and engagement.

“With its user-friendly accessibility, Shopify is an ideal partner for KADDRA to integrate with, and give both Shopify and KADDRA clients the opportunity to sell their products on both mobile and desktop seamlessly,” KADDRA stated in its press statement.

The local-based tech company provides mobile app commerce and marketing solutions, connecting businesses with their customers through a white label end-to-end platform. This then improves sales processes, marketing reach and customer service to partner SMEs through a subscription-based model.

“We have developed the most advanced mobile solution to date, offering native app commerce technology on a subscription model which fits perfectly with the SaaS model of web solutions like Shopify. E-commerce companies have been instrumental in the last 10 months to transform SMEs digitally and we are now looking at 2021, offering a synchronized mobile and web storefront, to help businesses reach the largest number of customers,” said Quentin Chiarugi, executive chairman and CEO of KADDRA (pictured left).

Meanwhile, Will Beattie, COO & CTO of KADDRA (pictured right) commented, “Our integration will make the sales process seamless and user-friendly. Businesses will be able to use either their Shopify back office or KADDRA back office to run both mobile and web stores simultaneously. Traditional web-based eCommerce has advantages in attracting new customers whereas native mobile app commerce is perfect to keep them close and engaged. Combining the two, will give SMEs the most powerful omni-channel eCommerce ecosystem to date.”

Manila, Philippines – Philippine installment payment platform BillEase has announced new partnerships with four ecommerce platforms namely Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and Prestashop to bring payment installment schemes for merchants and retailers in the country

Merchants that use any of these platforms can now integrate with BillEase and activate ‘Pay Later’, ‘Pay in Installments’ and ‘Pay with Down Payment’, which will provide customers with flexibility in payments and smoother shopping experience.

The multi-platform partnership is in response to retailers doubling their efforts in ‘moving’ their businesses online in the mid of the pandemic. Furthermore, as many Filipinos are still unbanked and uncarded due to signup processes, BillEase provides both merchants and customers ease of service. 

BillEase, which is developed by SEA-focused fintech company First Digital Finance Corporation (FDFC), enables customers to spread the cost of their purchases over time at a low interest rate, giving them flexibility and increased purchasing power. It also allows customers to afford big ticket purchases beyond their credit limit with a down payment solution. 

On the other hand, the payment platform benefits merchants by paying them in full, absorbs all credit and fraud risks through its proprietary credit decisioning technology. BillEase also lifts conversion rates in the online space to accommodate payment with less friction and faster approval time.

“With this integration, we’re bringing our financial product closer to consumers by making it easier for merchants to add our point-of-sale financing option. Installment purchase is already a very popular option for most Filipinos when they shop in malls. But these offline offerings often don’t translate well to the online world and the payment experience is not seamless,” said Georg Steiger, CEO and co-founder of FDFC. 

He added, “Our goal is to help merchants improve their conversion rate by making the online buying experience a pleasure for customers. Spreading payment over monthly installment with extremely affordable rates makes their shopping experience lighter. For merchants, they can enjoy an increase in basket sizes and more conversion as we also support 0%-APR plans with no cost to customers. Over 90 percent of Filipino consumers are disenfranchised when it comes to credit cards. In contrast, BillEase is a simple, safe and transparent cardless alternative to revolving credit lines for online shoppers who primarily use debit cards and are usually underserved.”