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A suite of new AI-powered tools and secure transaction protocols is transforming online shopping, advertising, and logistics, with major industry players expanding capabilities and integrating advanced technologies.
This week in ecommerce technology reveals a suite of innovative tools and services designed to enhance advertising, streamline payments, and personalise shopping experiences. Central to these developments is the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) across various facets of the sector, from marketing automation to secure transaction protocols and AI-powered shopping aids.
GoDaddy has expanded its AI-powered digital advertising platform, GoDaddy Airo, to encompass nine new English-speaking international markets including Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. This platform empowers small business owners and entrepreneurs to create, launch, and manage professional-grade Google Ad campaigns with ease, bypassing traditional barriers of time and expertise typically necessary for effective advertising. Selina Bieber, GoDaddy’s Vice President of International Markets, emphasised the importance of such tools in helping small businesses grow by connecting with new customers online more efficiently.
In another stride toward AI integration, Visa has introduced its Trusted Agent Protocol, a pioneering framework intended to facilitate secure and seamless interactions between AI agents and merchants during digital transactions. Created in collaboration with Cloudflare, the protocol aims to tackle consumer concerns around AI-driven commerce, such as ensuring the authenticity of agentic interactions and safeguarding against malicious bots. The protocol is accessible via the Visa Developer Center and GitHub, underpinning the emerging ecosystem of agent-based commerce where AI autonomously searches, compares, and executes payments on consumers’ behalf.
Adding further depth to AI’s role in commerce, Adobe has launched AI agents specifically targeted at business-to-business (B2B) sales and marketing teams. These agents, embedded within Adobe’s Experience Platform, streamline buying cycles and offer actionable engagement insights. Enterprise applications like Adobe’s Journey Optimizer B2B Edition and Customer Journey Analytics B2B Edition integrate these agents—Audience, Journey, and Data Insights—to optimise campaign effectiveness and decision-making in B2B marketing.
Complementing these AI advancements is the introduction of Commercetools’ preview of Cora, an AI-native, multimodal shopping companion designed to maintain continuous and context-aware user experiences across multiple channels including web, mobile, and messaging apps like WhatsApp. This tool aims to provide enterprises with control over the branded shopping journey, allowing consumers to transition seamlessly between devices without losing progress.
Retail giant Walmart is also deepening its AI partnership with OpenAI, enabling customers to shop via ChatGPT with features like Instant Checkout. Walmart is concurrently enhancing its workforce’s AI capabilities through company-wide OpenAI Certifications and deploying ChatGPT Enterprise to support internal teams.
On the logistics front, Veho, a parcel delivery platform, has expanded its operations by 50% in key U.S. markets, including Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Atlanta. This expansion includes increasing distribution centres and collaborations with third-party logistics providers to meet rising delivery demands efficiently.
Payment systems are seeing innovation as well, with Checkout.com launching Flow Remember Me, an extension for one-click payments that stores shoppers’ card details securely for use across Checkout.com’s global merchant network. This service supports 35 payment methods and operates in 194 countries, simplifying cross-border transactions.
Shippo, a shipping software platform, now integrates with TikTok Shop to automate order imports, shipping label creation, and tracking updates. This integration helps merchants comply with TikTok’s rapid dispatch requirements while offering consolidated management of orders from multiple marketplaces in one dashboard.
The acquisition of Area 6 Marketing by Canopy Management signals a strategic move to enhance marketing services for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands across platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok. This consolidation broadens expertise in scaling brands within categories such as fashion, beauty, health, and wellness using Meta and Google advertising.
Splitit’s launch of a Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) partner program targets agentic commerce, enabling autonomous shopping agents to offer card-linked installment plans directly during checkout. This initiative aligns with emerging industry standards such as Google’s AP2 and OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, highlighting the industry’s forward-looking approach to integrating AI with financial services.
Additionally, Ordoro’s partnership with Zing aims to support merchants in launching ecommerce stores and managing operations more effectively through integrated inventory, shipping, and order management solutions.
In cryptocurrency and local commerce, Block has introduced Square Bitcoin, integrating Bitcoin payment and wallet management for local businesses. This enables sellers to convert a portion of daily sales into bitcoin automatically and manage cryptocurrency alongside traditional finances within the Square platform.
Finally, Nosto has introduced Huginn, an AI agent embedded in its personalisation platform. Huginn facilitates a range of digital commerce functions from product suggestions to search optimisation, working to reduce manual workload and accelerate revenue growth through a specialised network of AI agents.
Together, these announcements illustrate a growing ecosystem where AI, secure commerce protocols, integrated payment solutions, and enhanced logistics management converge to transform the ways merchants engage with consumers and streamline their operations in an increasingly digital marketplace.
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Source: Noah Wire Services
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