Highlights:

  • Rithum facilitates access to a catalog of products housed in various suppliers’ logistics facilities.
  • Rithum plans to leverage Cadeera’s software to develop tools for generating shopping recommendations and creating E-commerce marketing content automatically.

CommerceHub Inc. has revealed its recent acquisition of the UK-based startup Cadeera to enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities in online retail software.

The acquisition announcement coincided with a significant rebranding effort by the company. After over two decades under the name CommerceHub, the company has decided to rebrand itself as Rithum Holdings Inc.

Rithum Holdings Inc. offers a platform that approximately 40,000 retailers and product manufacturers utilize to oversee their E-commerce operations. The company reports that its platform processes over USD 50 billion in online purchases annually. In addition to its e-commerce operations, Rithum manages an annual advertising spending of over USD 500 million for its customers.

Retailers leverage the company’s platform for dropshipping, a business model involving the sale of merchandise without the retailer needing to stock items in their warehouses. Rithum facilitates access to a catalog of products housed in various suppliers’ logistics facilities. A retailer can identify items that complement its current product catalog, list them on its website, and entrust Rithum to oversee the delivery process.

The software maker’s platform also pledges to simplify logistical tasks for merchandise suppliers. Moreover, these companies have access to a tool known as a product feed management tool. It automates the process of synchronizing product details and availability information from a supplier’s backend inventory database to E-commerce websites.

In addition, Rithum provides various other features, including an AI-powered tool that can initiate E-commerce ad campaigns and identify strategies to enhance their effectiveness. The recently revealed acquisition of the startup, announced alongside its rebranding, aims to expand its AI capabilities.

Cadeera, a UK-based startup specializing in machine-learning software tailored for furniture and interior design retailers, is the target of the acquisition. The technology enables the creation of interactive and shoppable marketing images. Leveraging Cadeera’s software, retailers can effortlessly generate a comprehensive list of items featured in a photo, allowing customers to place orders with just a few clicks.

Its AI models are designed to generate shopping recommendations, enhancing the overall customer experience. Cadeera’s models analyze the style of furniture images viewed by consumers while browsing an online store, presenting similar items to enhance the shopping experience.

The third area of focus for the company is metadata management. Retailers often enhance product images with metadata to facilitate organization. This metadata typically includes details like the product type depicted in an image and its corresponding price. Cadeera’s AI models can autonomously incorporate such information, alleviating the workload for inventory management teams and enhancing efficiency.

Rithum’s Chief Technology and Product Officer, Aarthi Ramamurthy, said, “With this new platform, AI will accelerate Rithum’s disruption of commerce by automating a number of processes across the e-commerce lifecycle – enabling retailers and brands to meaningfully reduce operating expenses and increase speed-to-site for new products.”

Rithum plans to leverage Cadeera’s software to develop tools for generating shopping recommendations and creating E-commerce marketing content automatically. The company mentioned it will “continue to invest in this area significantly” to expand its platform’s AI capabilities further. This development opens up the possibility that Rithum, known for its multiple acquisitions in recent years, may pursue further partnerships with AI providers to accelerate its development roadmap.