Tealium, a provider of data orchestration software, has raised $96 million in a new funding round, landing the company in the unicorn territory of a $1.2 billion valuation as it looks to accelerate its product development, customer and sales teams. The total raised to date is $231 million.
Fabric, a provider of cloud-based headless commerce architecture, has raised $43 million in a Series A round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with additional participation from Redpoint Ventures and Sierra Ventures, coming months after its $9.5 million seed round. Funds will be used to expand its engineering, product and sales teams.
Discount retail chain Family Dollar is jumping on the same-day delivery bandwagon through a national partnership with last mile leader Instacart, covering 6,000 of its stores in the U.S., the companies announced. They ran a successful pilot program in late 2020 at 275 Family Dollar stores and are now expanding it nationally.
In the midst of posting another blockbuster quarter, Amazon dropped the bombshell news that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping out of the top role in Q3 to become executive chairman. He will be replaced as CEO by AWS head Andy Jassy. Bezos started the $1.6 trillion company as a bookseller on the nascent internet in 1994.
It seems nearly all workers in retail had their job roles expanded in 2020 as the pandemic forced thousands of stores to close even more rapidly as ecommerce exploded, creating demand in new areas as the industry drastically reset, a new survey found. Despite a difficult year, there was a good deal of optimism about 2021.
Walmart is taking another huge leap forward in its attempt to dominate grocery sales, launching an aggressive plan to increase the number of stores using micro fulfillment via automation and robotics to speed orders to local customers as it builds on the digital legacy of the departing Marc Lore. Dozens of such locations are planned.
Vertex, a provider of tax technology and services, has acquired Tellutax, a Portland, OR-based edge computing technology startup that designs technology utilizing a container architecture for business customers to deliver tax solutions. This is Vertex’ first acquisition since going public in 2020 and will help it compete with Avalara.
Fast, a startup that provides one-click checkout for ecommerce sellers a la Amazon and has expanded into identity and other areas, has raised $102 million in a series B round led by major payments provider Stripe and Addition, bringing the company’s total raise to $124 million. The COO and co-founder from Uber described the business.
The past year has redefined how Americans shop. Ecommerce, BOPIS and curbside are table stakes, and free shipping is expected. What exactly does that mean for ecommerce fulfillment operations? Now more than ever, they must be strategic, sophisticated and responsive. Here are 10 key areas to pursue in 2021.
Interactivity, fun, engagement, education and commerce are all tied together in the phenomenon of livestreaming commerce, the digital equivalent of a direct selling television channel but with a hip extreme makeover, executives from Estée Lauder and ShopShops told attendees at NRF 2021’s Chapter 1 virtual event.