B2B commerce solution provider Intershop Communications has bought 80% of the shares in software provider Sparque, according to a Wednesday (March 16) press release.
As part of the deal, Intershop will also gain the rights to use Sparque’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B eCommerce technology for personalized searches and product recommendations.
In addition, Intershop will be integrating the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution from the Microsoft Azure Cloud into its own eCommerce platform. It will offer it to enterprises that don’t use the Intershop Commerce platform, which the release noted will add a new business field for Intershop Group by blending Intershop’s eCommerce with AI technology.
While Sparque’s shareholders and incumbent management will retain the remaining 20% of its stock, Intershop will reportedly get the rest of the shares in 2026, per the release.
PYMNTS wrote that eCommerce has been changing the way things work with warehouses, with New York now having the largest amount of digital shoppers while also being the nation’s warehouse capital.
See also: eCommerce Booms, Warehouses Transform New York Neighborhoods
The pandemic has boosted the number of people working from home, which consequently has added to the amount of eCommerce going on.
New York City reportedly has 2.4 million packages a year delivered among its 20 million residents, and with that, digital retailers and delivery companies have been adding to their warehouse space.
Amazon has reportedly bought more than four dozen warehouses in the Greater New York area, and UPS is also building a bigger facility than Madison Square Garden on the New Jersey waterfront. In New York’s Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods, there are 14 new warehouses under construction to bolster eCommerce.
While Amazon and other big companies have controlled the warehouses, smaller companies are also looking to get more control of their supply chains.
Rob Kossar, vice chairman with JLL, told The New York Times he’s “never seen” things this way even in 30 years of doing business, with tenants having to negotiate space with multiple landlords — sometimes for space not even available.
