Sendlane announces the launch of Sendlane Reviews, a fully integrated reviews product available to all Sendlane customers at no additional cost.  This new release is the most recent product addition to the company's unified email, SMS, and marketing automation functions.

Sendlane's free reviews tool delivers a simple and effective solution to fully integrated review collection, management, and dynamic display without additional platforms or costs. The new tool enables merchants to automatically collect, monitor, respond, and dynamically display reviews on-site and within marketing messages—all within Sendlane's unified platform.

"Our mission here at Sendlane is simple, more tech, less stack. The latest addition of our Reviews product is only just the next step," said Jimmy Kim, CEO & Founder at Sendlane. "We listened to our clients and are committed to providing eCommerce brands with a powerful tool that's easy to use, saves money, and helps generate more revenue. Our Reviews launch drives that message home."

Sendlane's behavior-based email, SMS, and Reviews platform helps eCommerce brands deliver unique online shopping experiences on BigCommerce, Shopify, and Shopify Plus. The new Reviews tool is available to all Sendlane customers, regardless of plan, enabling them to collect, monitor, and leverage customer review content to reach more customers and sell more products.

"We're excited to release our third extension of unification, Sendlane Reviews, allowing our customers to leverage dynamic user-generated content to improve their marketing," said Caitlin Hutchinson, Head of Marketing at Sendlane. "In addition to unifying merchants' tech stacks and solving for data disparity, we're working to minimize costs by adding our new Reviews product 100% free for all users."

Sendlane Reviews Key Features:

• Quickly Collect Customer Feedback: Automatically collect customer reviews via email within post-purchase funnels
• Easily Showcase Your Reviews: Leverage the display widget to showcase reviews on-site within product pages
• Respond and Manage: Moderate reviews to keep a constant pulse on customer feedback and protect your online reputation
• Unite Reviews and Email Marketing: Dynamically display reviews and ratings in campaigns or create automations and segments based on customer rating

Unveils Operators Consortium with Industry Giants Maersk, DHL Supply Chain, SCI, Ryder System Inc., and More to Propel Global Adoption of Recommerce Management Technology

Arrive Recommerce, Inc., the technology company that powers Returns to Recommerce™ for brands and retailers, announced today that it has raised $16M in Series A funding. The funding will be used to expand the platform to more brands and operators as Arrive Recommerce continues to grow in the booming recommerce industry.

Additionally, Arrive Recommerce is announcing the launch of the Arrive Recommerce Operators Consortium, a group of top operators and retailers interested in recommerce. Maersk, DHL Supply Chain, SCI, Ryder System, Inc, and others have joined the consortium, which will help promote and expand the use of recommerce management technology worldwide.

A sophisticated recommerce solution is becoming an essential component of a brand or retailer's ecommerce strategy and reverse logistics technology solution. Arrive's modular and easy to implement Recommerce Management Technology allows brands and retailers to launch a profitable, branded and sustainable resale channel in less than 8 weeks.

The Series A funding was co-led by Javelin Venture Partners and Climatic VC, with participation from other funds including Maersk Growth, Sidekick VC, Cosmic Venture Partners, 444 Capital, Freestyle VC, Animo VC, Banana Capital, Alpaca VC, Regeneration VC and Wedbush Ventures. The total funding for the company now stands at $25.1M.

Arrive Recommerce is leading the resale market with a profitable, sustainable and scalable branded resale channel. Returns to Recommerce™ focuses on turning a cost center into a profit center by helping brands and retailers direct their products such as non-new returns, excess inventory, and damaged inventory into a fully-branded revenue generating resale channel.

Arrive Recommerce powers recommerce for brands and retailers ranging in size and industry and is live with brands offering apparel, outdoor products, and hard goods. Arrive continues to expand with additional brand, retail, and operator partners in 2023. The company recently launched a partnership with YETI to offer their non-new returned products for resale (YETI.Rescues.com).

"Recommerce should be a core pillar of a brand or retailer's strategy," says Rachelle Snyder, CEO & Co-founder of Arrive Recommerce. "Our investors and brand partners share our enthusiasm about the evolution of this space, and this funding will allow us to expand our platform, continuing to lead this space with innovation and brand protection."

"Recommerce is a trend that is exploding with demand from both the brand and consumer side. By providing a profitable sustainable program with our returns based resale offering we have hit a sweet spot in the market," says Ross Richmond, COO and Co-founder. "It's great to be solving a problem that brands have been unable to solve effectively to date and create an opportunity for consumers to buy like-new products directly from the brands they love."

Jed Katz, Managing Director at Javelin Venture Partners, said, "We are excited to co-lead this round and support Arrive Recommerce in their mission to power the recommerce industry. The growth around recommerce is undeniable, and Arrive's technology is at the forefront of this trend."

The resale market provides a profitable new revenue stream for brands, and implementing sustainable practices will reduce waste and operational costs and help companies achieve their net zero goals. Recommerce is becoming a staple of every brand and retailer's product offering.

"Arrive's focus on sustainability and technology that enables brands to reduce waste and drive profitability aligns with the growing importance of resale and sustainability in today's market. Consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable practices from the brands they support, and investing in recommerce and sustainability can help brands meet these demands while improving their bottom line," said Josh Felser, Partner at Climatic VC.

Arrive Recommerce has also garnered the attention of and established relationships with operators and logistics partners as Arrive's Recommerce Management Technology allows them to easily implement and launch recommerce to their existing brand and retailer clients.

"As a company committed to sustainability and responsible business practices, Maersk Growth is proud to invest in Arrive Recommerce's mission to reduce waste. Arrive's technology offers a profitable solution for brands to manage their non-new returns while also reducing their environmental impact. By supporting Arrive Recommerce, we are driving innovation and positive change in the retail industry," said Peter V Jorgensen, Partner at Maersk Growth.

One of the Largest Portfolios of Owned and Operated Streaming Channels & Platforms Joins Amagi's FAST Marketplace Allowing for Quicker Monetization and an Easier Discovery Process for Platforms Around the World

Cineverse Corp, a global streaming technology and entertainment company with one of the world's largest portfolios of streaming channels and content libraries, announced today that it is expanding its strategic partnership with Amagi to leverage Amagi CONNECT, the premiere end-to-end FAST marketplace with global reach.  As part of this partnership, Amagi will provide its portfolio of hundreds of FAST channels to the flagship Cineverse streaming service as well as add Cineverse's portfolio of streaming channels to the Amagi CONNECT marketplace. The partnership aims to bring more third-party content to Cineverse and expand Cineverse's reach internationally by allowing more streaming platforms the ability to discover the large breadth of streaming content the Company has to offer.

Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, continues to grow its end-to-end FAST marketplace, Amagi CONNECT, to facilitate the discovery, connection, and monetization of streaming content around the world.

Amagi CONNECT has become the preferred choice for many FAST platforms, including LG Channels, Plex, TCL, VIDAA Free, Rakuten TV, Xiaomi, Redbox, Canela, Netgem, and more, as they seek to offer their viewers the highest quality content available in global markets.

"Cineverse's existing presence as a Top 10 provider of AVOD catalog will be further bolstered by this partnership, positioning us as major player in the $18 Billion FAST space," said Erick Opeka, President & Chief Strategy Officer of Cineverse. "Additionally, it establishes Cineverse as a top competitor in the rapidly expanding high-growth arena of streaming offerings."

"Expanding our relationship to leverage Amagi CONNECT is an important step in our plans to expand the availability of channels on Cineverse while also fast-tracking our ability to establish a FAST business internationally," stated Tony Huidor, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer at Cineverse. "Amagi's marketplace and industry-leading reach will allow us to expand our growing FAST markets outside of the U.S.  This will aid easy discoverability of Cineverse's FAST channels by Connected TV manufacturers, virtual MVPDs and many emerging international OTT platforms seeking access to quality streaming content while allowing both sides of the ecosystem to rapidly launch new FAST channels across new territories easily. Furthermore, we aim to enhance and refresh Cineverse's FAST channels on a regular basis through strategic content acquisitions that cater to diverse audiences and drive viewership on a global scale."

Streaming linear channels from Cineverse, beyond its flagship service of the same name include  AsianCrush, The Bob Ross Channel, RetroCrush, Comedy Dynamics, Midnight Pulp, Crime Hunters, The Dove Channel, Fandor and Screambox TV and many more. These channels are available now on the Amagi CONNECT marketplace for platforms to add to their line-ups.

A workforce poised to take charge of energy evolution must advance in unison with technology

Enverus, the most trusted energy-dedicated SaaS company, has launched a Learning & Development (L&D) program aimed at helping energy professionals enhance their skillsets around data-focused job functions that improve career growth opportunities. Energy is always changing, and today, many companies rely on technology that provides advanced data, analytics and technical workflows to make data-based decisions about their business.

According to the International Energy Agency, energy employs 65 million people worldwide and accounts for 2% of global employment, relatively evenly distributed across fuel supply, power sector and end uses. Energy employment spans several sectors, with manufacturing and construction of new projects dominating today's energy workforce, and employment in new sectors already rivals levels in conventional energy sectors. Also, 45% of the energy workforce requires some degree of tertiary education, from university degrees to vocational certifications.

The energy evolution also means replacing a generation of industry experienced, seasoned experts and veterans scheduled to retire. As the energy industry evolves, so too must the people and technology that power it. Professionals need to adjust to these changes by learning new skills and techniques or they risk everyday inefficiency at their jobs or career stagnation. Also, new graduates with less work experience might find it difficult to find a job in this constantly evolving industry without training that helps them navigate the complexity of the business. All these factors lead to the same conclusion – an urgency to train around professional development.

"The scale and complexity of the energy industry means today's businesses need to do a tremendous amount of research before capital and operating decisions are made. Enverus' software solutions and intelligent connections make it easier to make decisions quickly and recognize value faster. Asset teams, executives, investors, business development teams and geologists rely on Enverus' current market data and analytics to improve resource allocation, optimize asset performance and increase the speed of operations. The Learning & Development Program gives Enverus users the knowledge they need to find these critical answers faster and helps companies realize tremendous value from their investment," said Manuj Nikhanj, president of Enverus.

Employee training also benefits leaders. Professional development programs increase employee retention, engagement, technology adoption and productivity, helping a company realize maximum value from technology investments.

To date, Enverus has certified nearly 50 companies, awarded 300 certificates to individuals and fostered a L&D learning community of almost 10,000 users.

Enverus has also co-launched three Learning Sites, customized locations created for energy businesses looking to invest in companywide employee education and professional development. Certifications offer paid courses for individuals to deepen their knowledge of Enverus products.  

Dash Hudson, a leading social media management platform, announces the release of its bi-annual Social Media Trends Report. The comprehensive research includes Dash Hudson's proprietary data from more than 6,000 social media handles to empower social marketers as they navigate the ever-changing trends that will accelerate their social media growth and impact their business.

The report highlights that entertainment-focused content strategies — especially those that leverage creators — play a pivotal role in building a community and driving revenue. In fact, 97% of the time, creators experience a higher Engagement Rate when they post in collaboration with a brand, as opposed to the Engagement Rate a brand receives when posting their own content.

With the advancement of modern content-driven algorithms, the traditional notion of "following" has diminished in significance. Consequently, establishing and nurturing a social media community has become increasingly difficult. Brands that effectively create entertaining content and connect with their communities are reaping substantial rewards, such as increased engagement and notable upticks in positive sentiment.

To underscore the importance of creating entertaining content, Dash Hudson conducted an exclusive study, in partnership with NielsenIQ, on the impact of social media marketing on brand sales. The study revealed the direct correlation between entertainment-based social content and sales growth –– a finding that could significantly impact how brands approach consumer marketing. In the study, beauty brands that held the highest Entertainment Scores and Engagement Rates –– including Laneige, Kylie Cosmetics and more –– experienced an average of 100% growth in sales.

"The Social Media Trends Report offers in-depth analysis and key takeaways for marketers across various industries. By leveraging primary data collected from social media channels, Dash Hudson has identified emerging trends that can help businesses optimize their marketing efforts," said Dash Hudson's Chief Marketing Officer, Kate Kenner Archibald. "With these insights, marketers can make informed decisions and tailor their strategies to drive engagement, increase brand awareness, and ultimately, boost business growth."

Additionally, the report uncovered that Coterie grew its positive sentiment on Instagram by +700% by listening and interacting with its audience in real time. Further, Summer Fridays' focus on community engagement resulted in an Instagram Engagement Rate +100% higher than the Beauty industry benchmark, proving the importance of fostering a community on social media.

The inaugural Green Quadrant: ESG Reporting and Data Management Software report shows Sphera differentiating itself with top scores for voluntary reporting and regulated and mandated frameworks, as well as high scores for vision and strategy and ESG and sustainability performance management

Sphera, a leading global provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services, has been named a Leader in the ESG reporting and data management software market by Verdantix, an independent analyst firm, in its inaugural Green Quadrant: ESG Reporting and Data Management Software 2023 report.

The newest Green Quadrant report aims to help organizations better understand the market evolution of the ESG reporting and data management software ecosystem by taking a deep dive into the current software platform offerings. The benchmark report, based on the proprietary Verdantix Green Quadrant methodology, assessed 15 capability and 11 market momentum categories. The analysis was also based on a two-hour, live brief and product demonstration, vendor responses to 115 questions and customer interviews. This report is a follow-up to the January 2023 Verdantix Smart Innovators: ESG Reporting and Data Management Software that provided a high-level overview of capabilities on the market in which Sphera was named a featured vendor.

Sphera tied for the highest score for vision and strategy, which assesses how vendors address and achieve target market opportunities and meet target customer needs, as well as ESG reporting and data management product strategy. Sphera's vision of Operational ESG where everyday activities feed real-time ESG metrics is a robust, future-proof solution for customers' ESG ambitions. Operational ESG is delivered on SpheraCloud, which is an end-to-end ESG and risk management solution on a single, scalable SaaS Platform. It breaks down information silos to help companies make better business decisions and mitigate risk at the enterprise, operational and product levels. Additionally, as companies face heightened scrutiny on corporate ESG performance, Sphera's solutions help businesses prepare for regulatory reporting requirements.

Sphera achieved the highest score in the voluntary reporting category. The report shows that Sphera offers additional value in this area through "pre-defined configurations and templates for numerous voluntary frameworks, including CDP, GRI and SASB." Sphera also received the highest score for regulated and mandated frameworks for its tools that enable companies to comply with regulations such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), EU Taxonomy, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the German Supply Chain Law.

"We are proud to be recognized by Verdantix as a Leader in ESG reporting and data management," said Paul Marushka, Sphera's CEO and president. "Sphera is committed to helping customers operationalize ESG throughout their organization to have a holistic view of their ESG performance. In an ever-evolving global regulatory landscape, it is essential for companies to have tools that enable them to prepare for reporting requirements, set science-based net zero targets and disclose ESG performance based on data that is transparent, actionable and auditable. Bringing innovative ESG and sustainability performance measurement tools to market is critical to our mission of creating a safer, more sustainable and productive world."

Additionally, Sphera earned high marks for ESG and sustainability performance management. The report highlights the Targets and Actions feature in SpheraCloud Corporate Sustainability software for enabling "customers to develop targets for any ESG metric at different levels within their organization" and allowing "customers to create reduction action plans to manage and track improvement projects related to these targets." Sphera helps companies to operationalize their ESG programs through solutions that go beyond traditional ESG reporting to provide insight into operational data across the enterprise and improve ESG performance. Sphera received the highest score for user interface. The criteria assesses interface usability, support of enhanced user adoption, number of interface languages provided out of the box and cost and time to add an additional language.

Jessica Pransky, principal analyst at Verdantix, said, "The growing number of regulations and increased pressure from stakeholders have made reporting on ESG and sustainability metrics for environmental topics, as well as social and governance issues, an absolute necessity. ESG data management is also now crucial for companies in decision-making on how to drive sustainability performance across their businesses and value chains. As a result, ESG reporting and data management software has shifted from being a nice-to-have to a must-have for many corporates."

The Green Quadrant report notes that "Sphera combines its software platform and data content with its consulting branch to help companies navigate and improve their sustainability programs, such as by supporting customers in setting net-zero targets, performing double materiality assessments and providing guidance on corporate sustainability strategies." The report also highlights Sphera's history of serving large global firms in high-risk industrial sectors and expansion to consumer services, financial services, and technology. According to the report, this all makes Sphera particularly well-positioned to serve "firms across a variety of industries seeking sustainability software and consulting from one provider."

Sphera empowers companies on their ESG journeys by aggregating enterprise, operational and product-level data. The report points to strong Scope 3 emissions capabilities, Sphera's Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) database and Sphera's AI-based Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) solution as reasons that "firms looking to improve sustainability throughout their supply chain should consider Sphera on their shortlist."

Marketplace features partner apps that extend the functionality of Infor ERP systems and Infor content that leverages Infor platform technology and ChatGPT

Infor^®, the industry cloud company, today announced the continued momentum of Infor Marketplace, which now showcases more than 150 solutions. These include partner-developed applications that extend the functionality of Infor ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems and Infor content that leverages Infor platform technology and OpenAI's ChatGPT language model.

"The Infor Marketplace showcases Infor's large and growing partner network, with more than half of the solutions now consisting of partner-developed apps," said Massimo Capoccia, chief innovation officer at Infor. "This expanding enterprise software ecosystem provides users with the convenience, flexibility and confidence to deploy solutions that make their businesses more successful."

Infor Marketplace now features several new partner solutions, which enable users to extend the capabilities of Infor's M3 and LN ERP systems serving the manufacturing, distribution and services industries. And new Infor solutions leveraging Infor platform technologies (Infor OS, Coleman AI) and generative AI (artificial intelligence) models such as ChatGPT will help improve the user experience with Infor CloudSuite solutions.

Partner solutions deliver fast time-to-value & integration with Infor ERP systems

Infor partner Accure AB offers a complete output suite for M3. The Accure Cloud for M3 is a natural extension of the Infor M3 output solution. It helps users monitor and maintain the process and distribution of all documents, forms, labels, and reports, etc. — in printed or electronic format.

It is a complete CloudSuite, delivered as a service, which manages all output management from M3, including a unique transformation process for a safe and fast move to the M3 Cloud Edition. 

"The Accure Cloud for M3 enables not only a safe and fast journey to the cloud for any M3 customer, it also offers a sustainable business model for the design, creation, distribution and monitoring of documents and reports for all steps in the output process," said Henrik Billgren, senior advisor for Accure AB.

LeaseQuery also offers a new cloud-based solution on Infor Marketplace, which simplifies lease accounting and facilitates compliance for organizations across all sectors. The solution transfers accurate journal entries, disclosure reports, and accounts payable reports seamlessly into an Infor customer's instance.

This integration simplifies lease accounting for users, maximizes time savings and eliminates mistakes.

"LeaseQuery makes accountants' lives easier by simplifying the complex with technology," said Joe Gruca, chief revenue officer of LeaseQuery. "By partnering with Infor, we bring the expertise and technology of two leading solutions to facilitate complex lease accounting compliances and help drive customers through their unique digital transformation plans."

The Foreign Exchange (FOREX) for Infor – LN Edition solution, available on Infor Marketplace from Infor partner PCG (Providence Consulting Group), brings the power of accurate international budgeting, purchase and sales orders, invoices, reporting, financial consolidation, employee expense reimbursement, and treasury management to Infor-based businesses.

FOREX for Infor provides customers with analytics tools so they can track trends, develop predictive forecasts, and make better, data-driven decisions on currency-related issues.

"Our solution looks at the broader FP&A (financial planning & analysis) picture," said Richard Lacombe, VP of Infor software and IP at PCG. "This helps customers take advantage of changes in the exchange markets."

Infor apps leveraging platform tech & ChatGPT enhance CloudSuite solutions

One of the new solutions that Infor offers on Infor Marketplace is an Ask ChatGPT Widget, an intelligent tool that combines the advanced capabilities of ChatGPT, a cutting-edge language model by OpenAI, with the business context information in the Infor cloud environment, to help Infor customers effectively ask specific questions of ChatGPT.

For example, they can ask for ideas on how to promote the products they sell or get feedback on an item or business partner based on the information available in the general domain. They can do this even without the in-depth knowledge that typically takes years to develop. This helps decrease time-to-value for new employees, enabling them to contribute to a company's success more quickly.

Such widgets serve as a valuable resource for both seasoned professionals and newcomers alike, optimizing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of Infor CloudSuite environments.

Accessing Infor Marketplace and listing products & services

The Infor Marketplace, accessible at https://market.infor.com, currently serves as a listing marketplace, where customers can register to receive information and assets related to a wide range of Infor and partner solutions and services. Going forward, Infor plans to develop it into a real-time provisioning platform, where users can conduct frictionless e-commerce.

The marketplace serves as a one-stop shop for customers looking to source unique and innovative software solutions — including analytics, AI and machine learning apps — and find value-add extensions to Infor products that deliver even greater industry-specific capabilities.

Anviz, a leading provider of professional and converged intelligent security solutions, recently announced the launch of IntelliSight, its latest video surveillance offering that harnesses the power of distributed cloud and 4G technology to create an all-in-one security solution that delivers unmatched versatility, security, and data analytical capabilities. Now, User can enjoy One-year free cloud storage (7-day event-based video retention).

The Anviz IntelliSight cloud video surveillance management solution combines Anviz's proprietary cloud-based distributed video surveillance management platform with its iCam series artificial intelligence (AI) cameras to provide customers with a comprehensive and flexible surveillance performance. Equipped with best-in-class video analytics and classification, the solution is an ideal option for small and medium-sized companies across various industries, including logistics, education, healthcare, and retail.

"The birth of the IntelliSight solution marks a milestone in our years of effort to provide reliable and versatile security systems for global users," said Mike, Product Manager of IntelliSight. "We believe the solution, whose development is built on our industry-leading security solutions that have proven successful in the global market, will fill the market gap where customers are seeking an all-in-one cloud-based video surveillance system that can safeguard their properties without adding unnecessary costs to their budgets."

Built for Simple Deployment and Scalability

The IntelliSight solution greatly benefits both small to medium sized business installations by eliminating the need for redundant, complex on-site hardware that is traditionally used for setting up a CCTV system, streamlining deployment steps, and keeping costs to a minimum for users. While customers can simply connect the cameras directly to the internet for effortless and fail-safe surveillance, the solution also allows them to easily scale their surveillance system without the extra process of storage and network device installation and debugging.

Immediate Access from Mobile Devices

IntelliSight's cloud-based architecture means that users have the freedom to easily access the surveillance system from anywhere, at any time. Via the Internet and the efficient P2P transmission protocol developed by Anviz, users have the option to view real-time video monitoring and manage devices at home and the office without any restrictions, coupled with a purpose-built mobile that allows for effortless remote access and on-the-go control, keeping users connected 24/7 and giving them peace of mind with greater convenience and easier operability.

Expanded Storage with Cloud Data Backup

IntelliSight enables users to store important event footage securely in cloud servers that provide expandable and flexible storage options, removing the need for extra hardware installation for media data. Additionally, IntelliSight's cloud-based storage reduces the risk of data loss in case of local device failures, with features such as data redundancy and disaster recovery offering an added guarantee for data security.

Advanced Video Analytics Powered by AI

Leveraging the state-of-the-art AI capabilities of Anviz surveillance cameras, the IntelliSight system can deliver advanced data analysis functionality to greatly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of security systems. The smart features of the systems can identify and categorize suspicious activity, categorize objects, and provide critical, timely information that enables users to quickly identify and respond to potential risks, streamlining their security operations while providing all-around protection for their assets.

"One of the biggest differentiators that sets Anviz apart from its competitors is its product's technological and architectural advantages, which also allows us to pioneer the development of a new generation of security systems powered by AIoT and cloud technology. Having been encouraged by the early adopters of the IntelliSight solution who have said it has exceeded their expectations in terms of costs, quality, and simplicity, we hope this solution will pave the way for our entry into the North American market, which is another springboard towards the global $30 billion surveillance system market,"Mike added.