Headless commerce makes it easier to deploy custom ecommerce front-ends by providing the underlying processing technology. It’s an important trend but there’s too much happening to cover in depth.  So here are some headlines to give you a flavor: Shopistry has integrated with the Square payments platform and joined its App Marketplace.  Fast Simon has expanded its Shopify integration with  a new shopping optimization tools.  OneView Commerce has made its transaction engine available on Microsoft Azure.   You get the idea.

Messaging platforms are also hot, although I have just one item today: Netherlands-based Trengo has raised a $36 million Series A. Trengo combines customer and employee communications across multiple messaging channels, so it also plays in the equally-hot collaboration platform space.

Greater public attention to privacy has reduced trust in all tech providers, including those like Apple and Google that have positioned themselves as privacy-friendly.  Apple’s rank in Jebbit’s annual Consumer Data Trust Index fell from 17 to 43, while Google fell from number 4 to 89.  Amazon fell just slightly, from first to fourth place, while Facebook actually improved a bit from 97 to 88.