Hurricane Commerce launches “game-changing” Zephyr
Hurricane Commerce has launched a “game-changing” data enhancement solution to support the exponential growth in cross-border eCommerce.
The e-commerce technology company said its Zephyr API has been created to help businesses and their customers comply with a swathe of new regulations and laws.
Failure to do so will mean shipments being held at customs resulting in huge delays, the return of consignments, extra costs and administration, according to the company. Among those potentially affected are postal operators, express delivery services, freight forwarding logistics companies and transport carriers.
The UK-based company pointed out that major regulation changes include ICS2 (Import Control System 2) which comes into force in March 2021 and requires entry summary declarations on all parcels and packets entering the EU.
In addition, the US STOP Act, which is fully implemented from January 2021, requires full advance electronic data on all parcels arriving in the US.
The main functions of Hurricane’s Zephyr API:
- Identifies invalid descriptions
- Returns a status code for each imported consignment
- Includes a product description, HS6 code and, if required, 8 and 10-digit import and export codes
- Can process over 700 million requests per day with 85% accuracy
- Achieves average response times of 100 milliseconds
The launch of Zephyr complements Hurricane’s other industry-leading solutions. Its Bluestone AI engine powers its auto-classification function, while its Aura API provides real-time calculation of duty and taxes and the identification of prohibited and restricted goods and denied parties.
Martyn Noble, CEO of Hurricane Commerce, said: “When we started Hurricane Commerce four years ago, our aim was to become the go-to provider for cross-border eCommerce solutions.
“Zephyr is our latest piece of game-changing technology to deal with a real-world problem, enabling the efficient checking and completion of cross-border shipment pre-advices. It is easy to integrate and offers phenomenal speed times and unrivalled accuracy.”
He added: “The introduction of Zephyr means we are the only company able to provide a complete and modern set of solutions covering our four pillars of data enhancement, duty and tax calculation, prohibited and restricted goods screening and denied parties screening.
“Our solutions are helping our customers meet their compliance requirements while also creating new opportunities for international growth.”
The genome-based technology utilised in Zephyr will also be used to drive the next generation of Hurricane Commerce’s Artificial Intelligence Bluestone classification service and enhancements to its Denied Parties solution.
Hurricane Commerce, operating from offices in the UK, US, Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, includes global expertise in tech, logistics and compliance. Key clients include Magento, International Postal Corporation, Escher, Royal Mail, Australia Post and SEKO Logistics.
