Today's Ecommerce Pulse
Target launches Circle Deal Days to challenge Amazon Prime Day
Target is launching its Target Circle Deal Days from June 23‑26, positioning the free‑to‑join program as a direct rival to Amazon Prime Day. New members who enroll between June 14‑22 receive a 15% discount on their first purchase, plus a free Starbucks coffee or Bullseye cookie on launch day, and a 50% discount on the first year of Target Circle 360.
Also developing:
By the numbers: FirstClub raises $55M Series B
The U.S. Consumer in 2026: Why Relevance, Not Reach, Is Driving Growth
The episode explains that U.S. consumer growth in 2026 will come from relevance, not reach, as eCommerce stabilizes and shoppers—especially Gen Z and Millennials—demand fast, personalized, cross‑device experiences while older buyers seek clarity and confidence. Mobile is now a baseline, and brands must ensure seamless transitions across devices, delivering fewer but highly targeted messages, with email trusted most and paid retargeting least favored. AI‑driven personalization is welcomed only when transparent, timely, and under consumer control, prompting a shift from campaign‑centric to identity‑led, relationship‑focused strategies that prioritize trust and restraint.
Razorpay Secures RBI PA-P Licence, Expanding Fully Regulated In-Store Payments Across India
Razorpay has been granted the Reserve Bank of India’s Payment Aggregator‑Physical (PA‑P) licence, allowing its point‑of‑sale solution to function as a fully regulated aggregator for in‑store transactions. The approval comes as physical retail remains the dominant purchase channel in India,...
Waterstones Enjoys Healthy Sales Both In-Store and Online
Waterstones reported a 7% sales increase to £565.6 million for the 53 weeks ending 3 May 2025, with like‑for‑like sales up 5%. Growth was broad‑based across regions and channels, driven by strong fiction titles and higher demand for stationery and children’s educational toys....
7 High-Impact Marketing Strategies for Ecommerce
The episode outlines seven high‑impact marketing tactics for ecommerce—buzz, experiential, interactive, gamification, AR, influencer, and co‑marketing—emphasizing the need to focus on one strategy at a time to drive measurable results. Each tactic is explained with its primary goal, key tactics,...
Luxury Briefing: Inside Burberry’s Outerwear-Led Recovery
Burberry’s latest fiscal third‑quarter results show a clear rebound driven primarily by outerwear sales, rather than a sweeping brand reinvention. After years of repositioning under the Burberry Forward framework, the company shifted focus from scarves—used to boost store traffic—to high‑margin...
Fabletics Is Turning Its Stores Into Membership Growth Hubs
Fabletics is repurposing its 120‑store footprint as a primary engine for VIP membership acquisition, with roughly half of in‑store shoppers signing up. The VIP program now accounts for more than 95% of the brand’s revenue, supporting a $1 billion revenue milestone...
How First Thing Built a Defensible Position in a Noisy Market
First Thing, an Australian intimates brand founded by Georgia Gazal, has carved a defensible niche by focusing on comfort‑first, everyday wear rather than high‑glamour marketing. Its flagship strapless bra, sold out six times and purchased every 34 minutes, solves long‑standing...
Amazon to Cut 14,000 Corporate Jobs in Second Round of Layoffs
Amazon announced a second round of corporate layoffs, targeting roughly 14,000 employees as early as Jan. 27. This follows an initial cut of 14,000 staff in October and brings the total planned reductions to 30,000, about 10% of its corporate...
USPS Warns of Disruptions Due to Weekend Storm
The United States Postal Service announced a temporary suspension of its Priority Mail Express guarantee and a nationwide halt to Live animal shipments from 00:01 EST Friday January 23 through 00:01 EST Monday January 26, 2026, citing Winter Storm Fern. The storm is projected to bring Arctic‑vortex temperatures,...
Affirm and Esusu to Launch Flexible Payment Option for Renters
Affirm and fintech platform Esusu are piloting a rent‑payment option that splits monthly rent into two interest‑free installments with no late fees. The service will be available to Esusu members, adding to the recently launched Esusu Pay tool. Esusu’s platform...
Guzman Y Gomez Sides with Uber Eats as Exclusive Delivery Partner
Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) has signed a multi‑year exclusive agreement with Uber Eats, making the platform the sole delivery channel for its Australian outlets from February 22. The deal includes joint investment aimed at enhancing value, choice and convenience for...
Why Sa Sa’s Recovery Is Not a Return to the Old Tourist Retail Model
Sa Sa International posted a 12.5% rise in quarterly turnover to HK$1.16 billion, driven by both brick‑and‑mortar and online channels. Offline sales in Hong Kong and Macau grew 11.8% year‑on‑year, with same‑store sales up 14.7%, while average transaction value rose 9.4%....
Amazon Upgrades RFID Lanes
Amazon announced a next‑generation RFID lane system that is fully portable and can be installed in a matter of hours rather than weeks. The new lanes retain the high‑accuracy scanning capabilities of earlier models while shedding the need for permanent...
Web3 AI Powers Low‑Fee, Global Crypto E‑Commerce
How is Web 3.0 (blockchain and decentralized Web) and AI mixing to make new kinds of businesses possible? I sat down with the founders of @BasaltHQ to learn about its new store (Shopify competitor) that uses blockchain-based cryptocurrencies to reduce...
How to Bootstrap a Business: Strategies From Founders Who’ve Done It
The episode explores how founders of Larroudé, Dapper Boi, and Province of Canada built successful brands on shoestring budgets by prioritizing speed, early validation, and DIY branding. Ricardo Larroudé leveraged tight capital allocation and in‑house production to secure wholesale orders...
How to Manage Social Media Content Across Multiple Platforms
The episode explains how to efficiently manage social media content across multiple platforms by turning a single core idea into platform‑specific formats rather than reposting identical material. It outlines a workflow that starts with a central content plan, creates a...
Temu Challenges Amazon’s Cross-Border Ecommerce Market Share in 2025
Temu captured roughly 24% of cross‑border ecommerce sales in 2025, matching Amazon as the leading seller in that segment. The surge follows a sub‑1% share in 2022 and a high‑profile Super Bowl campaign in early 2023. IPC data shows shoppers...
Global Baby Furniture Suppliers List: Standards, Materials & Certifications
The episode outlines how importers and brands can secure a market edge by partnering with top baby‑furniture manufacturers such as DaVinci, Babyletto, Bugaboo, Clafbebe, Peg Perego and UPPAbaby, emphasizing their blend of high‑design aesthetics, scalable production, and strict safety compliance. It...
Rank Tracking In 2026: 10 Tips For The AI-First Era
The episode explains how rank tracking has become a strategic, data‑driven asset in the AI‑first search landscape of 2026, where zero‑click results and AI Overviews dominate. It highlights the need to monitor new metrics such as citation status, visual rank,...
15 Email Marketing Metrics That Really Matter In 2026
The episode breaks down the 15 essential email marketing metrics—ranging from deliverability (delivery, bounce, spam complaint rates) to engagement (open, click‑through, CTOR, engagement rate) and revenue impact (conversion, revenue per email, ROI) and list health (unsubscribe, growth) and attribution. It...
Can AI Truly Provide Emotional Value? Decoding the Emerging Spectrum of Digital Personas
The episode explores how AI is shifting from pure efficiency to delivering emotional value, urging brands to evolve into AI personalities that foster trust and companionship. It outlines a spectrum of digital personas—from night‑time healers offering psychological support to career...
Ecommerce Trends: Why AI Choices, Charges and Friction All Matter for Returns
The FedEx‑Morning Consult 2025 holiday‑season survey shows online retailers expect higher return volumes in 2026, with 40% of merchants now charging return fees—a jump from 25% in 2024, especially among small businesses. Consumers are sensitive to these fees; 59% say...
EBay Bans Illicit Automated Shopping Amid Rapid Rise of AI Agents
eBay has revised its User Agreement to expressly forbid third‑party “buy‑for‑me” agents and large‑language‑model (LLM) chatbots from placing orders on its platform without explicit permission. The new clause, effective February 20 2026, expands the previous ban on generic bots to specifically target...
Procter & Gamble Says Data and Technology Will Support Company’s Reinvention
Procter & Gamble’s new CEO Shailesh Jejurikar announced that data and technology will underpin the company’s near‑term performance boost and long‑term reinvention. The latest quarter showed flat organic sales overall, with beauty up 4% and health care up 3, while grooming,...
Scaling International GTM for B2B SaaS eCommerce Products
The episode outlines how B2B SaaS eCommerce firms can scale internationally by first establishing a stable global positioning spine and then tailoring emphasis to regional buyer priorities. It stresses redefining the ideal customer profile with regional filters and using inbound...
Consistent, Realistic AI Video Ads Transform Ecommerce
How To Create Viral AI Video Ads In 2026 (this feels illegal) Watch Here 👉 https://t.co/W58gL5fDW9 In this video, I break down how to create freakishly realistic AI video ads using Kling 2.6 Motion. This is a game-changer for ecommerce because it...
What Do Successful AI Startups Do Differently From the Start?
The episode explains that successful AI startups win by building diverse, inclusive teams that can spot design flaws and market needs, validating real, painful user problems before coding, and treating AI as the core engine of their business rather than...
5 Reasons Online Shoppers Prefer CPAP Machines Over In-Store Purchases
The episode outlines why CPAP buyers are turning to online retailers, highlighting five key advantages: a vastly larger selection and easy side‑by‑side comparisons; significant price savings of 25‑35% plus bundled deals and subscription programs that lower long‑term costs; abundant user...
Dr. Phone Fix Expands to 44 Stores After Rapid Late-2025 Growth, Reports Higher Same-Store Revenue
Dr. Phone Fix Canada Corp. expanded its retail footprint from 35 to 44 stores by the end of 2025, a 26% increase driven by acquisitions and organic openings. The company reported same‑store revenue growth, with average annualized sales climbing to...
How to Build a Personal Brand on Instagram From Scratch
The episode breaks down a step‑by‑step method for building a personal brand on Instagram, emphasizing the importance of a narrow, clearly defined niche and the use of a few recurring content formats to create familiarity and reduce burnout. It highlights...
Nordstrom to Move Downtown Seattle Rack Store to Historic Building
Nordstrom is relocating its downtown Seattle Rack store to a nearby historic building, creating a 39,000‑square‑foot off‑price space that will open in spring 2027. The move highlights Rack’s role as a growth engine within Nordstrom’s broader strategy, contrasting with rivals that...
CEOs Know AI Is Important. But What Should They Do with It?
A Virtuous AI and Chief Executive Group survey of over 300 mid‑market CEOs shows 98.5% believe AI adds value, yet only 7% have a company‑wide AI strategy. More than half are still in pilot phases and a third have merely explored...
Store Openings Slowed in 2025
Retail store openings stalled in fiscal 2025, expanding only 0.7% year‑over‑year, according to Telsey Advisory Group. The slowdown follows tighter capital‑expenditure plans and macro‑economic uncertainty. Forecasts show a rebound in 2026 with net openings rising 1.4%, driven by beauty, off‑price...
Own Your Money: Monthly Spot-Checks Prevent Financial Disasters
Financial Commandment #1: Your money, your responsibility. Running @ecomfuelco for 12+ years, I've watched hundreds of store owners behind the scenes. The ones who blow up often have one thing in common: they're mentally checked-out financially. Not the work. The ownership. Big...
Shopify Partners Record In‑person Podcast Episode Next Month
Two smart @Shopify partners coming to the studio next month to record in person for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. IRL hits different. https://t.co/F9J0BU4qre
Print on Demand Quality Control Tips for 2026
Print‑on‑demand (POD) sellers must treat quality control as a core business function, not an afterthought. The guide stresses regular sample orders, high‑resolution design files, and matching each product to a specialist provider. It also recommends systematic review of customer feedback,...
UCP Proxy Connects Any E‑commerce System to Shopping Agents
We build UCP Proxy to take any ecommerce system and expose it via UCP to shopping agents. Make commerce better for everyone.
7 Essential Marketing Metrics You Should Actually Track
Most marketers track a lot of metrics. Very few know which ones actually matter. Here are 7 worth paying attention to, plus how to improve each one: (bookmark this) https://t.co/fPpNrpzoB1
Safeguarding Autonomous AI Agents: Accertify’s Conrad Kennington Discusses Issues, Opportunities
Accertify’s AI chief Conrad Kennington warns that autonomous shopping agents erode traditional fraud signals, creating new vulnerabilities. As agents automate purchases, token‑based transactions strip away behavioral context, making fraud detection harder. Kennington stresses the need for fresh data points, device...
400+ Tax Rate Changes Demand New Compliance Checklist
The first week of 2026 brought over 400 sales tax rate changes across the U.S. That alone should tell you something: whatever setup worked last year probably isn’t enough anymore. Here’s the checklist I’d use to make sure compliance doesn’t become a...
Agency's Year-Long Shopify Migration Finally Completed
The cobbler's children have no shoes. Our agency site re-migration to Shopify has taken over a year because client work keeps jumping the queue. Finally crossing the finish line. https://t.co/Gq4c1fQJKU
CFO Summit: How to Get Your Forecast Back on Track
In this episode, the hosts dissect why forecasts inevitably miss the mark and emphasize the speed of response as the true metric of success. They outline a three‑step process: early detection of variance, tightening the signal‑to‑action loop with daily accountability,...
TikTok Offers European Fulfillment for Asian Sellers
TikTok is extending its Fulfilled by TikTok service to Europe, offering Asian merchants warehousing, order fulfillment and returns through facilities in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The move positions TikTok not only as a marketplace but also as a logistics...
Francesca’s Reportedly Prepping to Shut Down Stores, Liquidate Inventory
Francesca’s, the women’s specialty retailer, is preparing to shut down operations and liquidate its inventory, with liquidation slated to begin on Jan. 16, 2026. The move follows abrupt staff layoffs announced without warning, as confirmed by former buyers and a customer‑service...
Popular European Resale Platform Vinted Makes U.S. Debut
European resale platform Vinted, founded in 2008, is launching in the United States with an initial rollout in New York. The company posted €813.4 million in revenue for 2024, a 36% increase year‑over‑year, and aims to reach €1 billion in 2025. Unlike...
Tesco Trials Crime Reporting Platform
Tesco will pilot the Auror crime‑reporting platform in 40 stores across Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire for a ten‑week trial starting 26 January. The system centralises incident data, enabling faster reporting, case management and police collaboration while trained staff review CCTV footage for...
OpenAI Builds Secret Robotics Lab to Train Household Agents
OpenAI has quietly opened a secret robotics laboratory in San Francisco, reviving a hardware division it shut down in 2020. The facility employs about 100 contractors who train Franka robotic arms to perform everyday household chores. Data collection runs 24‑hour...
Shopify Cuts Partnerships Staff in Division Restructuring
Shopify announced a restructuring of its partnerships division, cutting a significant number of staff. The move, led by VP of Partnerships Atlee Clark, is intended to align the unit more closely with product teams and prioritize agentic commerce initiatives. While...
Kasada Launches AI Agent Trust to Secure Agentic Commerce
Kasada, a bot management and fraud protection company, unveiled AI Agent Trust, a solution designed to secure automated traffic on digital commerce sites. The platform provides a searchable directory that verifies AI agents and lets brands apply policy‑based controls to...
Hibbett Partners with DoorDash for On-Demand Sneaker Delivery
Hibbett Sports has teamed up with DoorDash to launch same‑day sneaker delivery across its 1,000 U.S. stores. Customers can order Nike, Adidas and other brands through the DoorDash app, with orders fulfilled from the nearest retail location. The service integrates...