#197 – Gas Savings, Salesforce Starter Stores, & Poshmark reverses course

by Shopifreaks | Oct 28, 2024 | Recent Newsletters

Hi Shopfreaks!

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I'm hosting a giveaway in celebration of my upcoming 200th consecutive weekly edition of Shopifreaks. As a thank you to my readers for your support of this newsletter for the past four years, I'm offering up a brand new iPhone 16 and a MacBook Pro as prizes!

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

Simply mention/tag Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter and/or Paul Drecksler on LinkedIn (bonus entries for both) between now and Dec 20, 2024 and you'll be automatically entered to win. That's it! You can post about the newsletter once a week for additional chances to win.

What should the posts say?

I'd greatly appreciate it if you endorsed the newsletter in your post and encouraged other folks to subscribe at https://www.shopifreaks.com — but that's not required.

Instead you can simply talk about a story of interest from this week's edition (feel free to screenshot parts of it), and add your own commentary, while mentioning the newsletter. Or even easier, you can repost one of my updates (like my weekly recap on LinkedIn) and mention the newsletter in your post.

The important thing is that the post authentic to you. Simply talking about my newsletter on LinkedIn helps me grow my readership, so I'm happy with however you choose to do so.

What's the catch?

The only catch is that I need your help growing my readership in between now and the end of the year.

Right now this newsletter sits at 12,891 readers.

If you can help me reach 15,000 readers — I'll give away the iPhone 16.

If you can help me reach 20,000 readers — I'll also give away the MacBook Pro!

I'm already adding several hundred new readers per week on my own, and I'll be continuing those growth efforts throughout the duration of the giveaway as well. So hopefully together, you can help me reach those two milestones above through this giveaway promotion.

Fine Print: Sorry, but yes this giveaway is limited to LinkedIn, as I'm not active on other networks with Shopifreaks.

Keep in mind: Realistically only a couple hundred of you (at most) are going to participate in this giveaway, so that means you've got a really good chance of winning if you do participate!

Good luck! I hope you win!

And now onto your regularly scheduled programming…

In this week's edition I cover:

Serial returners in the U.K.
Amazon Prime fuel savings
Salesforce Starter E-commerce Stores
Poshmark reverses its buyer fees mistake
Amazon price caps on its direct-from-China store
Walmart Pharmacy same-day prescription delivery
Shein's first branded credit card
YouTube brings its affiliate program to India
Amazon is testing a new app home screen
The FTC's rule banning fake reviews is in effect
Meta quietly implemented automatic adjustments
Klarna launched a Gift Card store

All this and more in this week's 197th Edition of Shopifreaks. Thanks for subscribing and sharing!

PS: Check out my recent LinkedIn post entitled “The 18 Most Important E-commerce Stories of 2024” and let me know what you would've added or removed from that list. These are the stories from this year that I believe will have the biggest impact in 2025. And yes, sharing that post counts as an entry in the giveaway. 🙂

Stat of the Week

11% of U.K. shoppers account for almost 25% of online returns in the country, according to ZigZag and Retail Economics. These ‘serial returners' will send back an average of £1,400 of products this year, totaling £6.6B. More than a fifth of non-food purchases made online in the U.K. are now returned to the retailer.

1. Amazon Prime membership now includes gas savings

I'm loving the Amazon Prime vs Walmart+ rivalry and am enjoying as each company increases the perks associated with its membership. Here's a new perk from Amazon…

Amazon announced that Prime members can now save $0.10 per gallon at approximately 7,000 bp, Amoco, and ampm gas stations across the U.S.

Amazon calculates this to be around $70 in savings per year based on average U.S. driver statistics — which is nearly half the cost of an annual Prime membership.

Amazon also wrote in its announcement that Prime members can expect even more savings on transportation-related costs next year including savings on electric vehicle charging.

To activate the $0.10 per gallon savings, Prime members can visit amazon.com/fuelsavings and connect or create their free Earnify account, which is a gas loyalty program from BP. From there they can use the Earnify app store locator to find the nearest gas station that participates in the savings.

Have you ever noticed that some gas stations are like $0.30 to $0.40 more expensive per gallon than cheaper gas stations in other parts of the city?

The U.S. has almost 200k gas stations, but this $0.10 savings only works at 7,000 stations (or around 3.5% of gas stations). I wonder if it only works at the expensive ones, and if customers will still be better off filling up at their favorite low-cost gas station, even if it doesn't offer the $0.10 off.

I'm not in the U.S. right now, so I can't test it out myself — but for my Prime members out there, let me know what you discover. Does the $0.10 off work at the cheaper gas stations too? Or is this fuel savings a bit of a non-perk? Shoot me an e-mail and let me know.

Amazon Prime has some catching up to do in regards to 3rd party perks. In previous months, Walmart has partnered with Burger King to offer 25% discount on digital orders and a free Whopper every 3 months, and partnered with Pawp to provide free veterinary telehealth services to pet owners.

I'm patiently waiting for my Amazon Prime / Chick Fil A partnership…

2. Salesforce introduces free e-commerce storefronts on lower tier plans

Salesforce introduced its e-commerce storefronts on its Starter and Pro Suites, which begin at $25/user and $100/user per month respectively. Previously e-commerce storefronts were only available on higher tiers, like its Commerce Cloud offering.

With the addition of digital storefronts in Starter and Pro Suites, customers now have access to e-commerce capabilities, in addition to Salesforce's sales, service, and marketing features, in a single, unified interface.

Salesforce wrote in its press release, “Unlike fragmented standalone solutions, Salesforce ecommerce storefronts are built directly into a complete suite of CRM tools to improve business efficiency and enhance the overall buyer experience.”

Currently, only customers in the United States are eligible for e-commerce storefront capabilities.

Rick Watson criticized the move, saying that Salesforce was “aiming at the wrong target” and that Salesforce CRM users didn't need D2C stores. (B2B, maybe.)

However I think a better question is — do D2C storeowners need advanced CRMs?

I think that the answer is — yes, especially for stores with higher end products (like custom jewelry or furniture) that require a mix of e-commerce and direct sales. Shopify doesn't provide much in the way of a CRM beyond a customer profile with order history, whereas Salesforce can blend the two worlds efficiently.

Salesforce actually has a fairly impressive e-commerce offering, and I've mentioned in previous editions that I feel the worlds of enterprise and small business commerce are blending — meaning small businesses are beginning to expect the same features and capabilities as larger stores. So it only makes sense that Salesforce brings its commerce offering to the smaller businesses it already serves with its CRM.

However I'm no Salesforce expert, so you tell me… Is this a smart move by Salesforce or like Rick said, are they “aiming at the wrong target?” Hit reply and share your thoughts.

3. Poshmark reverses its shift towards buyer fees

In recent months, I've reported that marketplaces including eBay U.K., Mercari, Poshmark, Depop, and Delcampe have shifted fees from sellers to buyers.

And last week I reported (story #5) that some of those companies are beginning to realize the error of their ways, including Mercari which is currently testing adding buyer fees back into the item price.

I also noted last week that Poshmark was rethinking its new fee structure as well, but it wasn't clear at the time whether it would revert back to its old structure or make a revision to its new buyer fees instead.

Flash forward one week…

Poshmark officially reverted back to its original fee structure, effective Oct 24, 2024.

The company wrote in its press release, “We made the recent fee change with the goal of helping you, our sellers, grow and earn more by balancing fees between sellers and shoppers. However, over the past few weeks we have seen that shoppers spent less on purchases as they shifted their spending from orders to fees, leaving our sellers with less cash in their pockets—despite the seller fee reduction.”

Kudos to Poshmark for its decisive action! Granted, it never should have made the switch in the first place, but at least they didn't double down on the mistake.

The company also wrote in its press release, “We’ve spoken with many of you and listened closely to your feedback. The outcome of the change did not meet our expectations and I sincerely apologize for the disruption and impact that this has had on you.”

I'm just wondering where that listening was prior to the change? Let this be a lesson to all marketplaces moving forward: Your sellers are willing to provide you feedback ahead of changes. You've just got to ask!

Poshmark will be returning to its original fee structure of 20% seller fee on sales over $15 and $2.95 for sales $15 and under.

4. Amazon imposes price caps on its Temu-rival store

Amazon is imposing price caps on what merchants can charge for their products on its upcoming Temu-rival low-cost storefront. Price limits include $8 for jewelry, $13 for guitars, and $20 for sofas, according to Amazon's messages to merchants, which included a list of 700 items and price caps.

Did I read that correctly — a $20 sofa?!?!

The price caps would represent a shift in strategy for Amazon, which historically has not set strict pricing limits for sellers on its platform — other than of course to demand that they sell their items at the lowest price on Amazon (compared to other marketplaces they might sell on).

Amazon plans to ship orders to U.S. customers directly from its facility in Guangdong, China, while offering reduced seller fees on these direct-from-China orders. Shipping will take approximately 9 to 11 days, and sellers will be charged between $1.77 and $2.05 for shipping a four to eight ounce item. In comparison, domestic sellers pay between $2.67 and $4.16 to ship items of the same weight from local warehouses using FBA.

“Thanks for nothing” — says all 3rd party Amazon sellers in the U.S.

Lori Barzvi, whose brand Pupiboo sells washable pee pads for dogs, told Modern Retail, “This new storefront could significantly impact U.S. sellers’ ability to compete. Amazon customers are already price-sensitive, and a dedicated discount section could further erode our market share.”

She noted about the slew of new fees that Amazon introduced earlier this year, “The combination of these fee increases and the pressure to lower prices to compete with the new discount platform could make it unsustainable for many small businesses to continue operating on Amazon.”

5. Walmart Pharmacy offers same-day prescription delivery

Walmart is now offering same-day prescription delivery in six states — Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina, and Wisconsin — with plans to expand to 49 states by January 2025.

Customers can bundle prescriptions with other items like groceries for a delivery fee of $9.95, or for free with a Walmart+ membership. The service allows customers to order both new prescriptions and refills directly from their local Walmart or online with multiple delivery options available that can deliver prescriptions as quickly as 30 minutes. Insurance discounts will be applied to the shopper’s transaction, just as they would when picking up a prescription in-store.

Medications are securely packaged, and customers can track the orders in real-time and receive confirmation upon delivery.

Kevin Host, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy at Walmart U.S., said, “Health is not a one-size-fits-all solution. This new offering allows us to serve customers while freeing up our pharmacies for high-touch health services.”

Amazon has been selling prescription drugs online since 2020, and this month, the company announced plans to expand its same-day pharmacy delivery to 20 new states in 2025. In March, Amazon started offering same-day pharmacy delivery in New York and Los Angeles.

6. Shein launches its first branded credit card

Shein is launching its first branded credit card worldwide through a partnership with Mexican fintech Stori. The Shein Mastercard will offer 250 “Shein welcome points” and double points on all purchases made on Shein Mexico's website, plus points on all purchases outside of Shein, both nationally and internationally.

Shein's choice to debut its first global credit card offering in Mexico underscores its commitment to the Latin American market, where Shein has exploded in popularity in recent years. The company is currently weighing plans to build a plant in Mexico and build out a distribution network in Brazil.

I can confirm Shein's popularity in Latin America. Down here in Ecuador, there's a big business of ordering Shein clothing and reselling it in brick-and-mortar retail stores, or at private house parties (like the old Tupperware parties, but with Shein clothing).

Stori launched in 2018 with a mission of offering credit card products to underserved communities in Mexico. The company has onboarded more than 3M clients in Mexico in the last four years.

The Shein card will only be available to new Stori clients and not existing ones, according to Stori's website.

7. YouTube partners with Flipkart to bring its affiliate program to India

YouTube brought its affiliate program to India, letting creators tag products in their videos and earn referrals with select retail partners. The program is initially partnering with Walmart-owned Flipkart and fashion retailer Myntra, which will be opening up their product catalogs for video creators to tag within their videos, Shorts, and live streams.

To be eligible for the affiliate program, creators must have their channels listed in the partner program and have at least 10,000 subscribers. India is YouTube's biggest user base with over 476M users.

YouTube has made several advancements with their affiliate program in the US during the past few years:

In 2022, YouTube started testing affiliate links in shorts.
In 2023, the company launched a feature to let creators tag products in bulk across their video library to monetize older videos.
In Aug 2024, YouTube expanded its partnership with Shopify to get creators access to thousands more products. The company also launched features to let creators make shopping collections, as well as a new affiliate hub.

YouTube currently operates an affiliate program for creators in U.S., South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and India.

8. Amazon is testing a new app home screen

Amazon is testing a new homepage for its shopping app on Android and iOS in the U.S. The redesign offers bigger, brighter graphics, more personalized product curations, and an emphasis on horizontally scrolling carousels to present various collections.

Other improvements include:

Enhanced Personalization – now utilizing AI and machine learning technology to curate products based on customer interest, previous shopping behaviors, and browsing history. For example, if the customer bought a comforter, Amazon will display matching sheets and pillow cases.
Window Display – a carousel banner at the top of the app that displays personalized recommendations, deals, new Prime Video and Amazon Music releases, and seasonal finds. Very D2C-esque. It seems that Amazon is bringing together many areas of its offering in this top window, as opposed to just featured items for sale.
Buy Again Hub – consolidates frequently purchased items into one location and allows customers to add their own go-to products. The hub also organizes products into categories like reorder soon, pet supplies, beauty, produce, etc.

Amazon is testing these new experiences with select customers, with plans to roll out to more U.S. customers in the coming months.

9. Other e-commerce news of interest

The FTC's new rule banning fake online reviews is now in effect, allowing the agency to seek civil penalties against those who knowingly violate it. Specifically the rule bans reviews and testimonials attributed to people who don't exist or are generated by AI, people who don't have experience with the product or service, or reviews that misrepresent an experience. See Edition 187 (story #3) for more details on the new rules.

Meta quietly implemented “automatic adjustments” across several advertising accounts, giving its system authority to make significant changes to ad campaigns without explicit advertiser approval. The system can pause or activate campaigns, adjust budgets up or down, consolidate ad accounts, and make other changes without notifying advertisers. Advertisers can opt-out of the changes in their advertising settings.

Wayfair launched a new customer loyalty program that work across its full family of brands including Wayfair, AllModern, and Birch Lane. Wayfair Rewards will cost $29/year with perks that include 5% back in rewards on all merchandise (with some exceptions). The rewards never expire as long as customers maintain their membership.

Klarna launched a Gift Card store in the U.K., enabling consumers to purchase gift cards from brands like Airbnb, Argos, and IKEA using Klarna's BNPL payment option. The platform includes features such as personalized notes and scheduled delivery options. The company plans to expand Gift Cards to additional EU markets this year.

Amazon is shutting down Amazon Today, a service that offers same-day delivery from mall and brick-and-mortar retailers using the company's contracted Flex drivers. Retailers that used the service include Office Depot, Staples, Petco, PacSun, GNC, Fabletics, and Kate Hudson. The bulk of the program will be shut down by Dec 2, with select partners able to continue fulfilling orders through Jan 24th.

Temu has been selling goods in Vietnam without a license since early this month. The Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency shared that it did not receive Temu's application for a license until Oct 24th. Although Temu has yet to officially announce its entrance into the Vietnamese market, local consumers can download the app and make purchases.

Meta and GoFundMe partnered up to help nonprofit campaigns standout on the Instagram feed with a “polished look” designed to build trust and credibility, including real-time progress metrics and a new donate button that directs supporters to the nonprofit's website or donation page. GoFundMe will also integrate into Instagram Stories, making it an easier sharing option for users. The new features will be available in the U.S., Australia, Ireland, Canada, and the U.K.

Amazon sellers can now filter business reports data by up to 100 ASINs at a time in Seller Central. Previously searching business reports by ASIN required sellers to download their data and filter it offline, but the new search capabilities simplifies the process and improves sellers' ability to manage ASIN analysis within the dashboard.

Square added new features designed to help beauty and wellness professionals with their sales, customer service, and back-office operations. New features include Packages, which enables clients to purchase service in bulk, a No Show Fee, and Service Costs, which enable sellers to track service costs by default spend or percentage. Other additions include customized online bookings, a text us button that helps sellers consolidate and manage client inquiries, and New Versus Returning Client Indicator labels.

Shopify's new customer accounts login page is finally branded. Previously merchants were only able to customize the page with their logo, leaving customers feeling like they'd been directed to another site. Now the page inherits the checkout editor's styles.

BigCommerce hired three new executive leaders: Doug Hollinger, new senior VP of go-to-market strategy, who comes from Accenture where he led B2C commerce strategy. John Huntington, senior VP of global partnerships, who comes from Siteimprove, where he was SVP of global alliances and channels. And Ryan Means, new senior VP of global services, who joins the company from Merkle, where he was SVP of technology.

Amazon's senior VP in charge of the company's worldwide grocery stores business, Tony Hoggett, is leaving the company after almost three years at Amazon. During his time at Amazon, he brought together and oversaw all of Amazon's grocery businesses, including Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and the company's grocery partnerships.

X withdrew its money transmitter license in New York this past April, according to new information provided to Arstechnica by the New York Department of Financial Services, which also confirmed that X has since not resubmitted the application. Ars noted that X could launch X Payments without New York and other states, but that users might be confused about where they can and cannot send money. As of recent, there hasn't been any updates from X about its payment plans.

Birkenstock launched its own country-specific e-commerce website in South Korea, laying the foundation for further expansion in the north Asian market. Additionally, the company introduced its ‘My Birkenstock' membership program to the Korean market, which gives members access to the latest collections, birthday vouchers, and other benefits.

USPS instituted a peak season rate hike that runs from Oct 6th through Jan 19th, but the increased fees are just now hitting eBay and other resellers who purchase postage through the USPS' Connect eCommerce program. eCommerceBytes noted that Connect eCommerce rates are often not synchronized with its regular rate hike schedules, and that USPS does not publish its Connect eCommerce rate changes externally, so sellers must be on the lookout for changes on the partner sites.

Meta struck a multi-year deal with Reuters to use its news content to provide real-time answers to user questions about current events in its Meta AI chatbot, marking the first news deal that Meta has brokered for its AI products. Answers to user queries about news will cite Reuters' stories and link out to its coverage, and Reuters will be compensated for access to its journalism.

TikTok inked a new deal with UnitedMasters, a key distribution platform for independent artists, giving it access to their full catalog of music. The partnership will provide greater exposure for UM musicians, while also providing commercial opportunities for independent artists via TikTok's Commercial Music Library. TikTok established a similar partnership with DistroKid earlier this year.

Webflow unveiled a new feature called Webflow AI Assistant, a tool that can produce content and design elements for websites based on text prompts. When users enter in a prompt, the AI assistant references the existing design and drafts suggestions that fit the brand.

X is now charging companies who access its API an additional $1 per month for each account that connects, in addition to the minimum $42,000 access fees that the platform started charging in 2023. The change is forcing companies like Publer to start charging users for each account they connect to X through the service. X already takes more than one-third of Publer's revenue each month from the $42,000 API fee, but now it wants more.

BigCommerce partnered with Nuvei across North America, Europe, and APAC, to allow merchants to access Nuvei's suite of omnichannel payment solutions. Nuvei's offering will provide BigCommerce customers with payment acceptance, pre-authorization, refund management, advanced 3DS2 technology, multi-currency support, stored credit card processing, and embedded checkout integration.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) voted to strike if necessary, with the strike mandate going into effect after November 2 unless a negotiated agreement is reached with Canada Post, over disagreements surrounding working conditions, employee benefits, and the need for modernization. Both sides are under pressure to avoid disruptions that would affect millions of Canadians this holiday season and worsen Canada Post’s financial situation.

Empire Company Limited, a Canadian food retail company and parent company of Sobeys, partnered with both Instacart and Uber Eats to complement Voilà, its existing online grocery home delivery service. The partnership will roll out at Empire brands including Sobeys, FreshCo, Farm Boy, and Longo's, starting in Ontario with plans to expand delivery across Canada.

OnBuy, a U.K.-based online marketplace exclusively for 3rd party sellers, is launching its Cashback Marketplace across 14 countries in Europe by the end of this year, with U.S. expansion planned for next year, marking its first major push beyond the U.K. since launching in 2016. The company anticipates substantial growth from its increased footprint – in excess of 10X over the next few years.

57% of small businesses have tried AI for marketing, according to a report by LocaliQ that surveyed 730 small business owners. 52% are using AI for content creation, 39% for social media management, and 34% to power chatbots. 61% of business owners indicated that they are using AI to save time, and 50% said they are using it to generate ideas.

More than 84% of the dollars North American consumers spent online in 2023 were with the top 50 online retailers, with Amazon taking almost half of them at 39.3%. An overwhelming majority of online sales in North America comes from USA, which accounted for 94.3% of the $1.170 trillion in online purchases by North American shoppers last year, with Canada and Mexico roughly splitting the difference.

TikTok's EU user base grew by 8M, up to 150M, in the past six months, according to its most recent Digital Services Act disclosure. The report also showed that TikTok removed 22M pieces of content from Jan to June 2024, mostly for reasons linked to sensitive or mature themes, and that it banned more than 5M accounts.

10. Seed rounds, IPOs, & acquisitions

Ghost, a members-only B2B marketplace for excess retail merchandise, raised $40M in a Series C round led by L Catterton, bringing its total amount raised to $95M, just over a year after raising $30M in its Series B round. The brands that work with Ghost don't want the general public to know that they have excess inventory, so the platform lets sellers control who sees their inventory to ensure that it's sold in channels that don't conflict with the brand's core business.

Bluesky, the decentralized Twitter-clone that's seen tremendous growth recently, raised $15M in a Series A round led by Blockchain Capital. The funding announcement included hints at what's to come, including the possibility of subscriptions, payments, and other new features.

Arcade AI, a generative AI platform that allows customers to input their product ideas into a generator that then produces a variety of jewelry design options, raised $17M in a round led by Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures. Once a design is selected, it's assigned to one of the platform's artisans, who bring the digital concepts to life with prices ranging from $100 to over $1,000 depending on the materials used and complexity of the design.

Swiggy, the Indian food delivery giant that's headed towards an IPO, slashed its valuation to $11.3B, which is 25% below its initial goal of $15B, citing market volatility and the lackluster debut of Hyundai India as reasons for the cut. BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are planning to invest in the $1.4B IPO, which will be the country's second-biggest stock offering this year.

Passionfroot, a Berlin-based startup that's building a toolkit and marketplace for creator-brand collaborations, raised $3.8M in a round led by VC Supernode Global. The platform lets creators build a storefront for ad or brand partnership slots across different channels including newsletters, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok, as well as showcase examples of past sponsorships on their profile.

Hue Beauty, an AI platform that helps brands and retailers embed TikTok-style shoppable videos on their e-commerce websites, raised $4.5M in a round led by Fika Ventures and Underscore VC. Hue's platform has seen more than 4.1M users interacting with its video technology since launch, and plans to use the funds to further grow its reach and develop new partnerships.

One Zero, a fintech aiming to use AI in retail banking services to replace bankers for tasks like spending management and financing big purchases, is in the process of raising at least $100M, according to TechCrunch sources. So far the company has raised around $242M, and in 2023 was valued at $320M, but with its new funding round, should hit a valuation of up to $450M.

Sensei, a Portuguese startup that's built a contactless store platform that uses AI-powered sensors to automatically update the store payment system with the contents of customers' carts, raised €15M in a Series A round led by BlueCrow Capital. The company has clients in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Brazil, and plans to expand into central and northern Europe

Checkmate, a provider of unified phone and drive-thru AI ordering solutions for enterprise restaurants, raised $10M in a Series B round led by Tiger Global. The company will use the funds to accelerate the adoption of its voice AI and kiosk technologies and develop custom experiences for brands.

Cafeteria, a consumer insights and market research platform focused on collecting real-time feedback from teenagers, raised $3M in a round led by Collaborative Fund and Imaginary Ventures. Teens who join the app get paid anywhere from $5 to $20 for their feedback via surveys called Tables, which they can provide answers to in text or voice.

Finix, a San Francisco-based platform that merchants use to accept payments from customers, raised $75M in a Series C round led by Acrew Capital, Leap Global, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing its total amount raised to over $200M. The platform, which processes more than 400M transactions per day, will use the funds to hire more employees and expand into new markets.

Simbe Robotics, the makers of Tally, a six-foot-tall robot that glides through grocery stores checking prices and inventory levels, raised $50M in a Series C round led by Goldman Sachs' growth equity fund, bringing its total amount raised to over $100M. The company, which currently works with 29 retail brands, will use the funds to build out its product, engineering, sales, marketing, and customer support teams, growing from around 75 people today.