There was a time when selling products online was simple. You had a product, you had a spec sheet, and if you were a retailer, you paid a company like CNET Content Solutions or Etilize a handsome subscription fee to fill your webshop catalog. Then the world changed. First, Icecat flipped the script with Open Icecat, charging brands instead of merchants and giving standard specs away for free. The legacy players got swallowed up by enterprise conglomerates, PE-funded PXM platforms moved in with six-figure SaaS price tags, and everyone settled into a new normal. Fast forward to today. The "new…
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of e-commerce logistics, but some of the biggest opportunities lie beyond online storefronts. Warehouse operations, inventory handling, and returns processing remain among the most complex and labor-intensive parts of retail. Zalando's latest investment in robotics startup Sereact reflects how retailers are looking to use AI to improve these behind-the-scenes processes. Zalando has joined Sereact's ongoing Series B funding round as a strategic investor, increasing the round to $116 million. The investment aims to accelerate the development of AI-powered robotics to automate warehouse tasks, particularly the handling of returned products. For Zalando, where…
