March 31st, 2025: Shoptalk Recap
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It’s March 31, 2025 and this is the Watson Weekly - your essential eCommerce Digest!
Today on our show:
Shoptalk Recap
- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.
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BUT FIRST in our shopping cart full of news….
Well it was Shoptalk week, that’s all we are going to speak about today
Let me start with gratitude. For all those I was able to speak with even for a brief minute, grab a coffee with, or break bread with, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I swear as I get older, my memory keeps getting worse. I think it might have something to do with getting old. Even if it takes me a moment to jog my memory, please take it easy on me.
Now, I will now go to trust. I have been going to trade shows for what feels like 23 years at this point, all the way back to eBay Live and Internet Retailer. If you have just entered the field of Commerce, you might be tempted to think it’s a transactional world. You setup a booth, you sell to a prospect, and you make your commission.
Nothing could be further from the truth. If you make a claim on a slide or at a booth, better be able to back it up.
The entire community is a fishbowl. Anyone who has been in the space for 10 years can see false claims coming a mile away. That’s because they probably know better than you even do what you can actually deliver. With how fast communication is, as soon as you put a logo slide in your presentation, the prospect has already fact-checked that presentation by the time you have even moved onto the next slide. You may have already lost the sale without even realizing it if you are overselling what you did with any of it.
In other words, pay attention to what claims you make — even if they were given to you by someone on your Marketing team.
As far as what I noticed most about Shoptalk.
First, I heard mixed things about traffic. Some people thought traffic was slightly down. Others thought the show was extremely productive and busier than last year.
I do think the number of people at the show was slightly down from my perception. And enough people told me that high-level retail contacts were down this year that I believe them.
Still, so much business was done.
Second, the badge situation at Shoptalk has gotten completely out of control. It has gotten to the point that I wonder if Shoptalk is too big for its own good now, or they are trying to control things too much, in the name of not allowing people to pass badges.
Now we have a wristband which was required, and a badge that is required. I am pretty sure next year there will be an RFID locator device. Tell me I’m wrong. I dare you.
To get to the brand portion of the concert, you needed two MORE badges and even a fake gold chain.
Still, more people than ever came to Shoptalk this year without a badge. And didn’t care.
Which brings me to my next point. The main content at Shoptalk has become extremely watered down, except for a few bright spots. It’s inevitable. As a moderator of a panel or giving a presentation each year, especially if you work with big retailers, it becomes very hard to separate the signal from the noise.
Agentic is the new AI. It seems the investor community has just decided generative AI or chatbots are not a cool enough word, and so agentic.
Every booth is the first agentic version of everything in the world. However, if you listen carefully to the booth conversation. “What is this agentic stuff”. If you can hear someone answer without using the word chatbot, I will send you one thousand dollars.
This is not the future of eCommerce folks. Instead it’s lipstick and earrings on a pig just trying to attract attention. I even had conversations with trusted friends at these sometimes very large enterprise companies that were rolling their eyes at their own booths.
Authenticity matters, and if everyone else is doing it — the easiest and best way to stand out is to have a little courage. Poke fun at the world we are in, and be clear and honest with prospects you are speaking with.
Shoptalk is one of the goto events in the digital commerce world. Hard to miss it.
Furthermore, the more organized you are going into the show, the more you will make out of it.
It’s a great event, and I wanted to thank everyone again for being a part of it.
It’s That Time Friends, for our Investor Minute. We have 5 items on the menu today.
First
B2B Food and Beverage Platform Odeko Raises $126M in Series E Funding
Independent food B2B platform Odeko raised $126 million ($96 million in equity led and a $30 million credit facility) in Series E funding, which will be used to acquire companies, drive growth through new services and cost-savings, and hire management talent. The company also announced that it acquired Butter Insurance, which will enable Odeko to offer its customers comprehensive, cost-effective insurance solutions. In the end, startups use fintech solutions such as insurance as another way to generate revenues from premiums in sectors with low margins. Honest question - how long is it before Odeko IPOs?
Second
Agentic Marketing Platform Auxia Raises $23.5M in Seed and Series A Funding
Agentic marketing platform that enables personalized customer journeys, Auxia has raised $23.5 million in Seed and Series A funding that will be used to hire engineering, sales, and marketing talent as well as product development and further US expansion. AI enables companies to use technology to offer one-to-one customer journeys rather than rules-based systems, which are suboptimal and highly manual.
Third
Sales Tax Compliance Platform Numeral Raises $18M in Series A Funding
Sales tax compliance platform for e-commerce and SaaS companies, Numeral, has raised $18 million in Series A funding that will be used to build solutions for SaaS companies, hire engineering talent, and expand internationally. Sales tax compliance is a highly complex and complicated problem that can potentially close e-commerce businesses due to tax thresholds that can lead to large bills or potential penalties. Numeral building solutions for SaaS companies are interesting as more States will start collecting sales tax on software sales.
Fourth
Customer Journey Platform For B2B SaaS Companies MaxIQ Secures $7.8M in Seed Funding
Customer journey platform for B2B SaaS companies, formerly known as Gyaan AI, MaxIQ has raised $7.8 million in Seed funding that will be used to further product development and hire talent. The company also announced a new CEO and a CRO as part of the funding announcement. MaxIQ aims to create an end-to-end solution that unifies sales, customer success, and revenue operations for B2B SaaS sales teams rather than using multiple solutions to manage the customer journey.
AND FINALLY …
Content Optimization Platform Copley Raises $4.8M in Pre-Seed Funding
Content optimization and experimentation platform, Copley, has raised $4.8 million in Pre-Seed funding, which will be used in product development and hiring talent in engineering, sales, and customer success. AI-based tools to analyze advertising or content for marketers are a hot sector with agent-based solutions currently receiving interest from investors. Interesting to note that the Klaviyo co-founders are part of the investors, as the Copley founders are ex-Klaviyo and ex-Salesforce.
Link: https://www.finsmes.com/2025/03/copley-raises-4-8m-in-funding.html
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Did you know that RMW Commerce has another podcast? Check out The Watson Weekend for an unfiltered and lively eCommerce chat each week with me, Rick Watson, my co-host Jess Lesesky, and an array of interesting guests and topics. All focused on eCommerce. You can find the Watson Weekend by searching for it on iTunes, Spotify, or Youtube.
That’s all for this week! Till next time Watsonians.....
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Hi, I’m Rick Watson, CEO and Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting and host of the Watson Weekly podcast - your essential eCommerce Digest.
Our production partner for the series is Podcast on the Fly. This podcast is produced by RMW Commerce.
To hear new episodes of the show every Monday morning, subscribe now at rmwcommerce.com/watsonweekly and wherever you get your podcasts.
