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
Priority Payables Rockets 36% as Enterprise Giants Join
Priority Technology Holdings reported Q1 2026 revenue of $249.6 million, up 11.1% year over year. Its Payables segment led growth, surging 36% to $32.4 million as larger enterprise customers increased both buyer‑funded (up 37%) and supplier‑funded (up 31%) revenues. Treasury Solutions grew 17% to $58.8 million, adding 20% more billed clients for a total of 1.1 million, while Merchant Solutions rose 7% to $161.8 million, driven by modest organic growth and recent acquisitions. The company reaffirmed full‑year guidance for 6‑9% revenue growth.
Complete Guide to Image File Types
Choosing the right image file type is crucial for ecommerce sites to balance visual quality with page speed. The guide breaks down core considerations—vector vs raster, resolution, lossy vs lossless—and outlines the strengths of ten common formats, from JPEG and...
A Practical Guide To Hosted ERP for Commerce Leaders (2026) – Shopify
Shopify’s 2026 guide clarifies the distinction between hosted, cloud and on‑premise ERP for commerce brands, outlining how a hosted model runs on dedicated servers in third‑party data centers while retaining license ownership and configuration control. It highlights that a quarter...
What Really Happens when States Add Delivery Fees to Online Orders
U.S. states are mandating small delivery fees—typically under $1—on online orders, prompting concern among retailers about price sensitivity. New research published in the Journal of Business Logistics shows that shoppers are far more likely to accept these fees when they...
EY: Consumer Brands Jostle for Position in E-Com Marketplaces
EY’s "State of Consumer Products" report finds consumer brands are now battling for shelf‑space inside e‑commerce marketplaces as much as for consumer attention. More than 77% of surveyed executives say strategic partnerships with retailers, platforms and digital channels are essential...
What Is Generative Engine Optimization and Why Every Business Needs It Now
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a new discipline that prepares businesses for AI‑powered search platforms such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot. It shifts focus from traditional ranking positions to earning citations within AI‑generated answers. The framework...
Top 10 Shopify Bundle Builder Apps (2026)
The 2026 guide ranks the top ten Shopify bundle‑builder apps, highlighting Fast Bundle as the highest‑rated all‑in‑one solution with AI‑driven recommendations and native checkout integration. Easy Bundle Builder is praised for its advanced multi‑step BYOB flows, while Mix and Match...
Consumer Use of Augmented Reality Is Influencing Purchases
A Clutch Research study shows 60% of U.S. consumers have tried AR or VR, and 58% say they’ve purchased after using AR features. Regular use sits at 35%, but 54% plan to increase immersive tech usage over the next two...
The Hidden Cost of Automation: Managing Liability in the Age of AI
Retailers are accelerating AI and third‑party platform adoption to stay competitive, but the rapid rollout is creating a liability blind spot. When an AI tool misprices a product or leaks data, legal responsibility often falls on the retailer, not the...
VIDEO: Mack Trucks Redesigns PartsASIST Online Platform
Mack Trucks has unveiled a full redesign of its PartsASIST online parts‑ordering platform, originally launched in 2021. The upgrade features a modern, responsive interface, faster load times, and advanced search tools that let users filter by VIN, chassis series, and...
Best Retail POS Systems
Ecommerce Fastlane’s May 11 2026 guide compares five retail POS platforms—Vibe Retail, Lightspeed, Shopify POS, KORONA, and Erply—specifically for merchants expanding from one to two physical stores. It breaks down multi‑location capabilities, real‑time inventory sync, and the true cost of operating two...
To Make the Most of Retail Media, Brands Need to Break Out of Its Silos
Retail media networks (RMNs) have become a go‑to channel for brands because they tie ad impressions directly to purchases, offering clear bottom‑funnel results. However, most campaigns are run in isolation, relying solely on retailer‑owned shopper data that only reflects existing...
E‑commerce Giants Redesign Supply Chains for 2026, Targeting Faster, More Resilient Delivery
Leading e‑commerce brands are abandoning just‑in‑time models for just‑in‑case networks, adding regional fulfillment nodes and 3PL partnerships. A 2,400% surge in shipping reroutes and 86% of firms planning new centers underscore the urgency.
Alipay AI Pay Further Engages Its 100 Million Users With New Delegated Payment Feature on Taobao
Alipay AI Pay has launched a delegated payment feature on Taobao, allowing its 100 million users to complete purchases with AI‑driven authorization instead of manual entry. The new flow uses biometric and behavioral signals to verify transactions in real time, streamlining...
From $0 College Dropout to $50M Ecommerce, Embracing AI Mentorship
I dropped out of college with $0, zero grades, no rich parents, and no safety net at 17 Just a laptop + internet + pure desperation. 10 years later I’ve done over $50M in ecommerce revenue. Here’s why I just rebuilt...
AI-Powered OS Modernizes Grocery Stores, Fuels $22M Series B
Grocery stores do more volume than restaurants and hotels, and most of them still run on clipboards. In this episode of Founder Firesides, YC's @aaron_epstein sat down with @IamBrandonHill, the co-founder and CEO of @VoriHQ, a modern operating system for...
Shein Accuses Rival Temu of ‘Industrial-Scale’ Copyright Violations
Chinese fast‑fashion giant Shein has lodged a formal complaint accusing rival marketplace Temu of large‑scale copyright infringement. Shein claims Temu reproduces thousands of its product images, designs and descriptions, effectively copying its catalog. The dispute highlights intensifying competition between ultra‑low‑price...
Shein Accuses Temu of Large-Scale Copyright Infringement
Shein has taken Temu to the High Court in London, alleging the rival platform copies its designs on an industrial scale. Temu counters that the lawsuit is a tactical effort to suppress competition and protect its market foothold. The case...
Did My Group Chat Just Break Virtual Try-On?
Last year Alta and Doji secured $11 million and $14 million respectively to advance AI‑driven virtual try‑on solutions. Their funding helped lift the global apparel virtual‑try‑on market to roughly $7.2 billion, with forecasts of $28.6 billion by 2034. The sector is split between consumer‑facing...
Amazon Offers Non-Sellers More of Its Supply Chain Services
Amazon launched Amazon Supply Chain Services, a unified portal offering freight, distribution, fulfillment and parcel shipping to any business, not just marketplace sellers. CEO Andy Jassy likened the expansion to the growth of AWS, positioning logistics as a new revenue...
Shein Accuses Temu of Copyright Infringement on 'Industrial Scale' At U.K. Trial
Shein has launched a high‑court lawsuit in London accusing rival Temu of copying thousands of its product photographs, describing the infringement as occurring "on an industrial scale." The court granted Shein an injunction forcing Temu to pull thousands of listings...
Blackstone to Acquire Skroutz in $74 Million Deal
Blackstone’s private‑equity funds have signed a definitive agreement to buy a majority stake in Greece’s leading online marketplace Skroutz for an enterprise value of €635 million (about $747 million). Skroutz, founded in 2005, hosts over 26 million products from roughly 9,000 merchants and...
This Gen Zer Dropped Out of College to Become an Influencer—Now He’s a Millionaire From Selling Products Like Medicube and...
Logan Walter, a 21‑year‑old Gen Z creator, quit college to sell beauty and lifestyle products on TikTok Shop, amassing over $1 million in revenue within two years. His follower base grew to 250,000, and monthly earnings surged past $20,000 after a...
EV Makers Say State Franchise Laws Block Direct Sales
Rivian, Lucid Motors and Scout Motors are pressing state regulators and courts, claiming that franchise‑dealership statutes prevent them from selling directly to buyers. The companies say the laws create legal risk for employees, force convoluted purchase processes and run afoul...
Discover If Your Emails Make You Copywriter or Strategist
Are your email skills positioning you as a copywriter… or a strategist? 👀 Take the eCommerce Email Strategy Quiz and find out: https://emailsdoneright.com/quiz
Tariffs Cut Sales—Raise Prices, You’ll Likely Benefit
60% of stores saw their income decrease because of tariffs. Which means there's a great chance your prices are/were too low. Price hikes are scary. It's almost always worth it. And if not? Easy to roll back. #chartoftheweek https://t.co/V2QeFlqS3e
Good News About Takealot 30-Minute Deliveries in South Africa
South African logistics startup Shiprazor has secured a partnership with Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS) to enable 30‑minute deliveries for merchants on its platform. The deal follows a R44 million investment from venture fund Norrsken22, which will fund the expansion of Shiprazor’s...
Shopify Launches Official llms.txt Support for Easy Overrides
Looks like @Shopify has added official llms.txt support. No more hacky workarounds. You can override it with a `llms.txt.liquid` file, similar to how robots.txt works now. Example: @AdamsPolishes Hat tip: @IlanaDavis https://t.co/MGH35fddba
Country Road Group Partners with Shopify to Launch Unified Commerce Platform Across Five Brands
Country Road Group announced a partnership with Shopify to implement a unified commerce platform across its five Australian brands, aiming to streamline online and in‑store experiences. The move reflects a broader shift among legacy retailers toward modern, integrated e‑commerce solutions.
How One Brand Made TikTok Shop Their #1 Sales Channel in 6 Months
Clean‑eez, a family‑owned cleaning products brand, turned TikTok Shop into its top sales channel in six months, delivering a 180× revenue surge and capturing 53% of its Shopify earnings. The growth was driven by 600+ affiliate creators, 8,099 new customers,...
India Emerges as a Global E-Commerce Fulfilment Hub
India is rapidly transforming from a manufacturing sourcing base into a global e‑commerce fulfilment hub. Grade A warehousing, expanded airport cargo capacity and multimodal corridors are enabling higher outbound parcel volumes to North America, Europe and the Middle East. Logistics operators...
Superbalist Founders Turning a 102 Year-Old South African Retailer Into a Serious Temu and Shein Rival
The Foschini Group’s online platform Bash, built by former Superbalist founders, posted a 40% year‑on‑year sales jump to R1.4 billion and a 52% surge in gross profit to R521 million in the six months to September 2025. Its share of TFG’s total sales...
EBay Launches Curated Directory of Approved Seller Tools
eBay announced a new, publicly accessible directory of vetted third‑party providers on May 8, promising to simplify inventory, listing, fulfillment and advertising workflows for its marketplace sellers. The rollout arrives as the inkFrog listing tool prepares to close, prompting questions about...
Academy Sports and Outdoors’ Omnichannel Definition Includes AI Platforms
Academy Sports and Outdoors is expanding its omnichannel strategy to include AI platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. CIO Sumit Anand says the retailer is maturing product feeds, using AI to enrich attributes and enable conversational, agentic search...
Made In Uses Its Cast Iron Launch to Land in Williams-Sonoma
Made In announced a new cast‑iron cookware line that will debut exclusively at Williams‑Sonoma before reaching its direct‑to‑consumer site on June 1, timed for Father’s Day. The retailer will also carry the brand’s American‑made stainless‑steel collection, expanding Made In’s presence alongside...
6 Ways Retailers Are Augmenting the In-Store Experience with AI
Retailers are extending AI beyond online chatbots to transform brick‑and‑mortar stores. Iceland deployed real‑time inventory analytics to cut stockouts, while M&S equipped 11,000 employees with Microsoft 365 Copilot to speed up reporting and scheduling. Tesco is beta‑testing an AI shopping...
Online Storefronts RIP? Why the Rumors of Death Are Greatly Exaggerated, According to Shopify's Harvey Finkelstein
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein says AI is now the platform’s native language, with artificial‑intelligence generating more than half of the company’s code. The AI‑driven workflow has enabled 300 new products and features in the past year and sparked an 8‑fold...
Peak Season Fulfillment Has Changed — What Today’s Retailers Must Do Differently
Retailers are shifting peak‑season fulfillment from a pure capacity challenge to an operational discipline focused on flexibility, standardization, and cost control. Customers now demand affordable, reliable, and visible shipping even during the busiest weeks, while labor shortages and volatile parcel...
Declining Fraud Rates Don’t Mean Declining Fraud Risk
Payment fraud attack rates dropped 14% year‑over‑year and manual reviews fell 17%, yet chargeback losses surged 56%. The decline reflects tighter AI‑driven defenses, but fraudsters are now targeting high‑value, credential‑rich accounts, leading to more costly account‑takeovers. Traditional volume‑based metrics miss...
How Regional Beauty Movements Are Reshaping Fulfilment and Logistics Strategies
Regional beauty movements—from K‑beauty and J‑beauty to US wellness‑driven trends—are accelerating cross‑border purchasing, especially via TikTok and creator platforms. The surge in viral demand is straining traditional fulfillment networks, forcing retailers to rethink inventory placement, packaging compliance, and return processes....
Why DoorDash CEO Tony Xu Is in a Hurry to See More Grocery E-Commerce, but Pragmatic About AI's Speed to...
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu says grocery e‑commerce should soon eclipse restaurant delivery, arguing the current online experience still lags the offline one. The company is expanding its DashMart Fulfillment Services with a handful of grocers to tighten inventory control and...
Nintendo Renaming My Nintendo Store to Nintendo Store in Multiple Regions
Nintendo announced that its My Nintendo Store will be renamed Nintendo Store, taking effect on May 27, 2026. The rebrand initially covers Japan, Australia and New Zealand, with other territories expected to follow. No official rationale was provided, but the move...
Naspers Unit Offloads Stake in Food Giant for R6.5-billion
Prosus, the consumer‑internet arm of Naspers, agreed to sell a 5% stake in German food‑delivery leader Delivery Hero to Aspex Management for roughly €335 million (about $369 million), equivalent to R6.5 billion. The deal prices the 15.2 million shares at €22 each, a 10% premium...
Swiggy Drops as Quick-Commerce Slowdown Clouds Quarterly Results
Swiggy reported a fourth‑quarter loss of ₹800 crore (≈ $84 million), an improvement from the ₹1,065 crore loss a quarter earlier. The decline in its quick‑commerce arm Instamart, which posted 68.8% gross order‑value growth, lagged rival Blinkit’s 95.4% rise, prompting concerns over market‑share erosion....
Is Agentic Commerce An Oasis Or Mirage?
Agentic commerce—AI‑driven shopping assistants that can complete purchases—has moved from concept to pilot across Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, Instacart and Criteo. Recent earnings calls reveal that Amazon’s Rufus prompts 20% of engaged shoppers for brand details, Walmart’s Sparky lifts order values...
Is Agentic Commerce An Oasis Or Mirage?
Large ecommerce platforms—including Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, Criteo and Instacart—are betting heavily on agentic commerce, where AI agents can browse, recommend and purchase items on behalf of shoppers. Recent earnings calls reveal strong early signals: Amazon’s Rufus prompts 20% of users...
How Roller Rabbit Became TikTok’s Favorite Sleepwear Brand
Roller Rabbit, founded in 2003, has reinvented itself as a direct‑to‑consumer brand by slashing wholesale to roughly 30% of sales and embracing a frequent‑drop model. High‑profile collaborations with LoveShackFancy, Starbucks and Target have sold out within seconds, fueling more than...
Inside JB Hi-Fi’s Retail Media Rollout at Mumbrella Remade Conference
Mumbrella’s Remade conference returns on September 10 in Sydney, merging its retail media and retail marketing tracks into three focused streams. The agenda spotlights JB Hi‑Fi’s rollout of a store‑centric retail media network, with Scott Browning and Sarah Ladbury joined by...
Woolworths Launches Nationwide Online Marketplace, Expanding Its Digital Retail Footprint
Woolworths has rolled out its newly tested marketplace platform across Australia after a pilot on the Central Coast that began in July. The launch broadens the supermarket chain’s digital presence as retailers race to integrate online and offline channels.
When Business Thrives, Choose Investment over Profit Harvesting
“When your business is behaving like this, we believe the right response is not to harvest — it is to invest.” Mercado Libre Q1 2026 Shareholder Letter