Today's Ecommerce Pulse
Target launches Circle Deal Days to rival Amazon Prime Day
Target announced its Target Circle Deal Days running June 23‑26, positioning the free‑to‑join program as a direct competitor to Amazon Prime Day. New members who enroll between June 14‑22 receive a 15% discount on their first purchase and a free Starbucks coffee or Bullseye cookie on June 23. Additional perks include 50% off the first year of Target Circle 360.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Howdens to acquire DIY Kitchens for $495M
Comment: Overlook Older Shoppers at Your Peril
Retail and hospitality firms are overlooking older shoppers, even as the over‑65 population is set to double to 1.6 billion by 2050 and control a majority of discretionary spend. Older consumers are increasingly active on platforms like TikTok, where they favor social, story‑driven buying experiences rather than static transactions. The article cites examples of live‑commerce events that dramatically lift conversion rates among 60‑65‑year‑olds. It urges businesses to adapt communication, staffing, and digital tactics to capture this high‑value segment.
Knoops Boosted by Strong Christmas Sales Growth
Knoops reported a 12% increase in UK store‑for‑store sales over its six‑week Christmas trading window, keeping annual revenue on track to surpass £20 million. The retailer also announced a new production and warehousing facility and the appointment of former Game Group...
DFS Sales Increase Despite Market Uncertainty
DFS Furniture reported a strong first‑half performance, with underlying profit before tax rising to £30‑31 million – a £13‑14 million year‑on‑year increase. Order intake grew 2.3 % across the DFS and Sofology brands, and gross sales recognised on delivery are expected to be...
Unpacking 2025 Engagement Ring Trends & Data Ft. StoneAlgo
In this episode, StoneAlgo CEO Devin Jones explains how their human concierge service converts website traffic into verified, high‑intent appointments for jewelers. He also reveals the 2025 engagement‑ring trends report, highlighting shifts between lab‑grown and natural diamonds, including rising consumer...
Music Magpie Partners with Timpson on In-Store Smartphone Trade-Ins
Music Magpie, AO World’s recommerce arm, has teamed up with Timpson to roll out in‑store smartphone trade‑ins across more than 1,300 UK locations after a four‑month pilot. Customers can hand over their device, watch a live assessment and receive cash...
Lacoste’s Next Serve: Inside the Brand’s Big Australian Push
Lacoste is transitioning its Australian presence from wholesale to a direct‑to‑consumer model under distributor Accent Group. The partnership leverages Accent’s 25‑year relationship with Lacoste and its expertise scaling global footwear brands to build a bespoke retail footprint, beginning with a...
Reminder: Trading Restrictions for Retailers on Australia Day
Retailers are adjusting operating hours for Australia Day on January 26 after the National Retail Association, Australian Retailers Association and Shopping Centre Council released joint guidance. While all states allow trading, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia impose specific hour limits. Queensland permits...
Why China’s Wedding Dress Sellers Are Pinning Their Hopes on More Marriages
China’s marriage rate jumped 8.5% in the first nine months of 2025, reversing a decade‑long decline. A May 2025 policy allowing couples to register marriages anywhere in the country has spurred demand at Suzhou’s Huqiu Bridal City, home to over...
John Lewis Tops UK Retail Customer Satisfaction League Table
John Lewis topped the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) for retailers with an 86.4 score, placing second overall behind First Direct’s 87.0. The index, published bi‑annually by the Institute of Customer Service, shows all 13 sectors improving satisfaction year‑on‑year. Overall...
MPE 2026 – Europe’s Home for Merchant Payments
MPE 2026 is set to be Europe’s premier merchant payments conference, drawing more than 1,600 attendees, including 500 global merchants, 170 speakers and over 90 sponsors. The agenda spans AI‑driven payment solutions, fraud mitigation, stablecoins, account‑to‑account transfers and the upcoming...
Albertsons Is Putting Digital Screens for Ads in More than a Third of Its Stores
Albertsons Media Collective is rolling out an in‑store digital screen network to 800 of its more than 2,200 locations in 2026 after a successful pilot in 80 stores. The expansion follows the onboarding of over 50 advertising partners and a...
Goodwill’s E-Commerce Business Hits Record Sales as Online Thrifting Surges
Goodwill’s online marketplace ShopGoodwill.com recorded a record $450 million gross merchandise value in 2025, a 22 % increase over 2024 and the highest in its 26‑year history. The platform now exceeds $3 billion in cumulative sales, though it still represents less than 10 %...
USPS Rate Increases Are Back to Once a Year
The Postal Regulatory Commission approved rules that cap USPS market‑dominant rate increases to a single fiscal‑year adjustment through 2030, effective March 1, 2026. This reverses the 2021 expansion that allowed bi‑annual hikes, restoring the predictability merchants once enjoyed. While the total pricing...
Google Denies that It Will Use Universal Commerce Protocol for “Surveillance Pricing”
Google publicly denied allegations that its new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) will enable "surveillance pricing" through AI shopping agents. Consumer watchdog Groundwork Collaborative and activist Lindsay Owens warned that the system could use chat data to personalize price hikes and...
Commercetools Dedicated NRF to Showcasing Its Agentic Experience
At NRF 2026, commercetools unveiled its AI Hub, a plug‑and‑play infrastructure that lets enterprise retailers expose product, pricing and inventory data to AI‑driven shopping assistants without custom integrations. The company highlighted JD Sports as the first retailer to run Stripe’s Agentic Commerce...
Why Headline Growth Hasn’t Translated Into a Broad Retail Rebound in China
China’s economy met its 5 % growth target in 2023, but retail sales barely rose, with December’s year‑on‑year increase of just 0.9 %. The slowdown reflects lingering effects of a property downturn, tepid wage growth and consumer uncertainty, even as inflation ticked...
JD Sports Embraces AI Shopping
JD Sports Fashion plc announced that its online and mobile channels will now incorporate AI‑driven search and purchase capabilities for footwear, apparel and accessories. The generative‑AI tool interprets natural‑language queries and instantly surfaces product recommendations, aiming to streamline the shopper...
Shopify vs Ecwid 2026: Which Is Better for Creators Selling Online?
After testing dozens of eCommerce solutions, the author concludes Shopify is the superior platform for creators who aim to grow, automate, and scale their online businesses, while Ecwid serves as a lightweight, fast‑to‑launch alternative for embedding sales on an existing...
Matalan Hails Strong Third Quarter Performance
Matalan reported a robust third‑quarter performance, with EBITDA climbing 38% to £27 million and year‑to‑date EBITDA up 53% to £61 million. Like‑for‑like sales rose 2% overall and digital sales surged 11% in the quarter, highlighted by its best Black Friday online day...
DTC Brands Falter; Dropship Black‑hats Dominate—Learn DR
Name a "cool brand" on DTC twitter in 2019-2023... Most of these brands never cracked nine figures, and most of them are really struggling. Meanwhile, in 2026, the dropship black-hat boys are blowing the doors off of everyone else. Learn DR or die.
Use 3 of 7 Persuasion Principles for High-Converting Emails
Every high-converting email I've written uses at least 3 of these. These 7 Principles of Persuasion are how humans actually make decisions. Understand them, and your marketing will feel helpful instead of pushy. Save this. You'll reference it more than you think. https://t.co/Tfv3nlT8IK
Wolt Repositions Itself as Broad Trading Platform
Finnish ecommerce platform Wolt has rolled out an app update that repositions it as a multi‑category commerce platform, shifting from store‑first to product‑first search. The redesign lets users browse and compare products across brands, with topic‑based grouping such as protein...
Prioritize Free Cash Flow Over EBITDA and Revenue
A massively underrated assessment for choosing a business model is the capacity to produce money in your pocket. FCF > EBITDA > Revenue
Thomas Rolls Out AI Search and Performance-Based Ads to Speed Industrial Sourcing
Thomas, operating under Xometry, unveiled an AI‑driven smart search that lets industrial buyers use natural‑language, multi‑attribute queries, delivering more than 15% higher supplier evaluations than its legacy tool. The platform also introduced performance‑based listings, where manufacturers pay only when buyers...
Six Proven Copywriting Formulas for Better Ads
Marketers, Here’s a table with 6 copywriting formulas for writing effective ads: Bookmark this 🔖 https://t.co/peT25TnbwV
Six Reasons Your Tax Bill Is Bigger than Expected This January
Retail owners filing their 2024‑2025 Self Assessment this January often see a larger tax bill than expected. The spike usually stems from payments on account, which bundle the current year’s liability with an advance for the next year. Additional factors...
WD-40 Ecommerce Sales Jump 22% in Q1
WD-40 reported a 22% year‑over‑year jump in ecommerce sales during Q1, making digital its fastest‑growing channel. Total revenue edged up 1% to $154.4 million, while net income slipped 8% to $17.5 million due to higher operating costs and softer distributor shipments. Sales...
Scale Your Systems to Match Business Stage
I see founders running their $50k business with $5M systems while others try to run $5M operations with $50k hustle. Both businesses will die if they don’t change. Make sure you know your stage and stay in your lane.
Universal Commerce Protocol: Open Standard for Agentic Commerce
Agentic Commerce should be a open and consistent standard. And I think the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is the proper start. • Open Standard for Agentic Commerce • Interoperable • Customizable • Compatible with A2A, AP2 What else? https://t.co/YJZlqapnxn
Blue Monday 2026: What It Means for Online Retail
Blue Monday, falling on 19 January 2026, is dubbed the year’s most depressing day and coincides with a sharp dip in consumer spending and a surge in post‑Christmas returns worth over £1.5 bn. Retail analysts warn that January acts as a stress...
Global eCommerce Isn’t Just Changing. The Rules Are Being Rewritten
Over the past year, major markets have overhauled low‑value import rules, ending the US $800 de‑minimis exemption, phasing out the EU’s €150 duty‑free threshold, and removing Thailand’s import relief, while Saudi Arabia now requires exact address data for customs clearance....
Inaugural eBay Climate Transition Plan
eBay released its first Climate Transition Plan, outlining a roadmap to achieve net‑zero emissions by 2045 while expanding its recommerce model. The plan highlights a 40% recommerce contribution to sales, new electric‑van delivery pilots in the UK, and the fulfillment...
Just One in Four Retailers Are Ready for AI-Driven Commerce
Only 27% of UK retailers report fully connected, scalable tech stacks, leaving most unprepared for AI‑driven, agentic commerce. Deloitte and Gartner predict autonomous AI agents will dominate retail interactions by 2025‑2030, demanding real‑time, clean data. Patchworks’ survey of 200 retail...
Show HN: AskUCP – UCP Protocol Explorer Showing All Products on Shopify
AskUCP, launched on January 11 2026, is a global AI shopping search built on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). UCP, an open standard co‑created by Google and Shopify, lets applications query product data across e‑commerce platforms without traditional APIs or integrations. At...
Amazon’s New Review Rules Could Strip Listings of Their Social Proof
Amazon will tighten its review‑sharing policy on February 12, 2026, allowing reviews to flow only between variations that are functionally identical, such as color or size changes, while stopping sharing for variations that alter performance, flavor, or model. This shift...
How Target Is Pioneering Agentic Commerce in Retail
Network International has signed a processing agreement with Saudi Sudanese Bank to expand digital payment services across Sudan. The partnership will provide acquiring, issuing, and fintech solutions, enabling merchants to accept card payments and facilitating cross‑border transactions. By leveraging Network...
Speed and Transparency: The New CX Imperatives for 2026
Humii’s 2024‑2025 data shows e‑commerce speed is stagnating while shoppers demand clearer timelines. Mismanaged expectations—not slow service—are the primary cause of churn, especially around dispatch, live‑chat, and return authorisations. Young‑fashion retailers outperform the industry with five‑day refunds, whereas segments like...
How to Scale Your Shipping Strategy in 2026 to Meet Customer Demand
Australian e‑commerce sales are projected to hit $87 billion in 2026, driving retailers to upgrade shipping, inventory, and returns processes. ShipStation’s 2025 benchmark shows 43% of shoppers now expect two‑day delivery, and 69% would switch brands for better fulfillment options. Integrated...
Represent Appoints Former Adidas Executive as Brand President for North America
Represent, the Manchester‑based men’s fashion label, has hired Jim Anfuso as its brand president for North America. Anfuso, who previously led commerce at Complex NTWRK and launched the Adidas Yeezy line, also held senior roles at Fox Racing and American Eagle....
How Pattern Beauty’s CEO Sets up Brand Strategy to Win in a Multi-Channel World
At the NRF conference, Pattern Beauty co‑CEO Christiane Pendarvis detailed the brand’s rapid multi‑channel expansion, launching its DTC site and adding Ulta within ten days before partnering with Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Amazon and Macy’s. She explained that each retailer is...
Comment: Direct-to-Consumer Retail in 2026
Direct‑to‑Consumer (D2C) retail in 2026 is shifting from pure transactional models to relational commerce, where AI handles scale and humans deliver high‑emotion experiences. Trust has become the primary purchase driver, with 81% of shoppers needing brand confidence and referrals delivering...
Walmart’s Fashion Push Is Resonating with More Six-Figure Households
Walmart is rapidly expanding its fashion portfolio, adding ten private apparel brands since 2020 and debuting the teen‑focused Mills line in 750 stores and online. The retailer has also partnered with resale platform Rebag to offer pre‑owned luxury accessories, while...
Avocados From Mexico Turns to AI to Advertise Around the Super Bowl Instead of a TV Buy
Avocados From Mexico is forgoing a traditional $8 million Super Bowl TV spot in favor of an AI‑driven Prediction Pit that delivers real‑time football forecasts and custom guacamole recipes. The experience features a realistic Rob Riggle avatar powered by a predictive AI...
Return Fraud, Counterfeits and Other Scams: 2025 Was a Banner Year
2025 proved a banner year for retail fraud, with the OECD and EUIPO estimating counterfeit sales near US$467 billion and Liquidonate reporting US$127 billion in fraudulent returns alone. Online returns now outpace in‑store returns three‑to‑one, creating fertile ground for tactics like wardrobing,...
NRF 2026: AI Development Gets Practical
At NRF 2026, technology vendors emphasized moving AI from hype to practical applications in retail back‑office functions and store operations. They argue that AI’s potential—automated inventory management, demand forecasting, and labor scheduling—can only be realized if retailers first modernize their...
2026 Retail Outlook: Where Smart Bets Will Pay Off
Retail leaders face a 2026 landscape shaped by lingering inflation, interest‑rate pressures and shifting consumer confidence. Companies must tighten intellectual‑property protection, especially across fast‑growing marketplaces, while private‑equity investors hunt for value in supply‑chain efficiency, data monetisation and private‑label expansion. Labor...
Ziina Executes UAE’s First Live Open Finance Payment with Lean Technologies
Ziina, a UAE‑based fintech, completed the nation’s first live open‑finance payment using Lean Technologies’ API platform. The transaction linked a consumer’s bank account to a merchant checkout in real‑time, settling instantly across multiple banks. The proof‑of‑concept demonstrates compliance with the...
EBay Identifies 3 Ways AI Will Impact Ecommerce
eBay executives outlined three AI-driven transformations for its marketplace: continuous verification to embed trust, AI‑powered tools that boost the sale of pre‑loved items, and accelerated product development through AI‑assisted debugging. By 2026, AI is expected to handle translation, compliance, payments,...
Amazon Rules Product Discovery, for Now
Amazon continues to dominate U.S. product discovery, with 56 % of shoppers starting searches on the platform in a 2024 Jungle Scout survey—still ahead of Google (42 %) and Walmart (29 %). Its edge derives from Prime’s free‑shipping guarantee, a catalog of over...
Liberty Appoints Managing Director of Retail
Liberty has promoted Lydia King to managing director of retail, effective immediately. King, who joined the iconic department store in December 2023 and became group buying and merchandising director in January 2025, brings extensive experience from senior buying roles at...