Today's Ecommerce Pulse
Updated 44m agoAmazon automation offers semi‑passive income but demands disciplined oversight
Amazon automation can generate profitable, semi‑passive income in 2026, but success hinges on disciplined execution and seasoned oversight. Modern automation relies on advanced software for research, pricing, inventory and ad optimization, while strategic decisions remain human‑driven. Investors now expect transparent reporting, compliance and sustainability.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Edeka raises €430M to increase stake in Picnic
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
EBay Sellers Report Promoted Listings Glitches After Policy Update
eBay sellers are encountering widespread glitches in the Promoted Listings tool after a policy update on January 13 changed attribution rules. Automated rule‑based campaigns are failing to promote new inventory and are incorrectly marking existing items as eligible. The issue creates data mismatches between the mobile app and desktop site, leaving merchants uncertain about ad status. These technical problems threaten seller visibility and campaign effectiveness on the platform.
By Shopifreaks
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
Reduce Ecommerce Account Takeovers: Where a VPN Actually Helps
The episode explains how e‑commerce businesses can curb account takeovers by integrating a dedicated IP VPN into their admin workflows. It outlines an access‑control playbook that routes all Shopify and financial dashboard logins through an encrypted VPN tunnel, reducing false...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
Your Guide To GPSR Compliance Services: What You Need To Know About The Eu’s New Product Safety Regulation
The episode breaks down the EU's General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and why online sellers must become GPSR‑ready to keep their listings active on European marketplaces. It outlines the compliance workflow: appoint an EU Responsible Person, gather safety documentation, embed...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
What Are AI Algorithms? Types of AI Algorithms + Use Cases
The episode breaks down what AI algorithms are, how they differ from traditional programming, and why data quality, model architecture, and validation are critical to success. It walks listeners through the four main types—supervised, unsupervised, semi‑supervised, and reinforcement learning—highlighting real‑world...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
A 2026 Retailer’s Guide to the Best People-Counting Systems
The episode walks listeners through the importance of accurate people‑counting for modern retailers, outlining how precise foot‑traffic data drives better staffing, conversion‑rate calculations, marketing attribution, and store layout decisions. It evaluates key criteria for selecting a system—accuracy, privacy‑friendly sensors, intuitive...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
NiceSMMPanel Best SMM Panel – Cheapest and Easiest Social Media Panel
The episode breaks down NiceSMMPanel, positioning it as the leading affordable SMM panel for 2026. It explains how the platform’s low‑cost, reliable engagement services—followers, likes, views, and drip‑feed delivery—help boost visibility and satisfy algorithmic ranking while keeping growth looking natural....
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
Dollar General Expands Delivery to 17,000+ Stores, Concentrates on Rural Areas
Dollar General has expanded its MyDG same‑day delivery service to more than 17,000 stores, targeting traditionally underserved rural markets. The rollout leverages existing partnerships with DoorDash, which covers 18,000 stores, and a new Uber Eats integration now available at 17,000...
By Retail TouchPoints
Social•Jan 26, 2026
Purpose over Features: Simpler Product Drives Massive Sales
Bombas made $100M selling socks with ONE differentiator: donate one pair per purchase. Meanwhile you're adding 15 features nobody asked for. That's the gap.
By Kamil Sattar
News•Jan 26, 2026
Temu Becomes Local-Only in Türkiye
Temu has halted cross‑border sales in Turkey, limiting the marketplace to products offered by domestic sellers after a recent inspection by the Turkish Competition Authority. The shift follows the company’s 2025 establishment of an Istanbul office and a regulatory push...
By Ecommerce News Europe
News•Jan 26, 2026
Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol: Why the Future of Agentic Commerce Depends on Security
The episode examines Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open‑source standard designed to unify AI‑driven shopping across retailers and payment providers. It highlights UCP’s advantages—single‑point integration, leverage of Google Merchant Center, modular flexibility, and merchant‑first control—while noting the competitive landscape...
By Security Boulevard
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
Core Best Practices For Effective eCommerce Web Design
The episode breaks down core eCommerce web design best practices, emphasizing clear navigation, fast page performance, and trust signals to boost conversions. It outlines a design checklist—consistent layouts, visual hierarchy, accessibility, mobile‑first thinking, high‑quality product visuals, and a frictionless checkout...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
There’s a New Standards War Brewing Around Identity, Data and Payments
The article warns of a brewing standards war as major players roll out new protocols to unify identity, data, and payments. Google’s Agentic Unified Commerce Protocol (UCP) and Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), the industry‑wide ISO 20022 upgrade, and Visa’s Commerce Enablement...
By PYMNTS
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
GreenScale: Multi-Objective Autoscaling for SLA, Cost, and Energy Efficiency in Cloud-Native Systems
The episode introduces GreenScale, a Kubernetes‑based autoscaling framework that simultaneously optimizes service‑level agreement compliance, cloud cost, and energy efficiency through Pareto‑optimal decision making. It explains how GreenScale gathers real‑time telemetry, estimates energy usage via utilization‑based proxies, and selects scaling actions...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
Private Label Sales Set Another Record in 2025
Private‑label sales in the United States reached a record $282.8 billion in 2025, climbing 3.3% from the prior year. The growth rate was nearly three times faster than that of national brands, which only rose 1.2%. Refrigerated items led category gains...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
Levi’s Claims ‘Home Turf’ Advantage with Super Bowl Pop-Up Activations
Levi Strauss & Co. is leveraging the Super Bowl spotlight in its hometown with "Home Turf," a series of immersive pop‑up activations across Bay Area stores and a flagship event at 1 Montgomery in San Francisco. The program features exclusive...
By Retail TouchPoints
News•Jan 26, 2026
Payment Outages Cost $44B in Lost Sales Annually
A new study by Dynatrace, FreedomPay and Retail Economics estimates U.S. retail and hospitality lose $44.4 billion annually due to payment system disruptions. Outages average two hours, yet shoppers abandon purchases after just seven minutes, costing $1.2 billion per minute in the...
By Payments Dive
Social•Jan 26, 2026
AI Fashion Tools Must Cut Returns, Not Just Show Off
NRF is drowning in “AI for fashion” demos, from styling assistants like Ask Ralph to one-click shopping via Copilot/Gemini/ChatGPT. Do customers want this… or is it just retail tech cosplay? If AI doesn’t reduce returns or improve trust, it’s innovation theater. https://t.co/Lym3BLrso4
By Armando Roggio
News•Jan 26, 2026
De Minimis’ End, Tariffs Spur Headwinds for Aritzia
Apparel retailer Aritzia faced higher import costs after the U.S. de‑minimis exemption ended, prompting it to shift all U.S. e‑commerce fulfillment to its expanded Ohio distribution center. Despite a 410‑basis‑point pressure from tariffs and the exemption loss, the company’s gross...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
Retail’s Risky AI Commerce Bet
Retailers are increasingly embedding their product catalogs into external AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Google Bard to capture shoppers where they spend time. This shift promises instant, conversational commerce but forces brands to hand over transaction data and customer...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
German Ecommerce Grows Beyond Expectations
German online product spending reached €83.1 bn in 2025, growing 3.2% year‑over‑year and surpassing the 2.5% forecast. For the first time since the pandemic, every quarter posted higher sales than the same period a year earlier, driven by pharmaceuticals, groceries and...
By Ecommerce News Europe
News•Jan 26, 2026
Digital Transformation and the Challenge of Differentiation for FIs
The episode explores how digital banking’s rapid expansion—driven by AI, AI‑powered search, and an ever‑growing suite of services—makes it harder for banks and credit unions to stand out. Guest Dylan Lerner critiques the current “door” approach to embedding wealth‑management tools...
By PaymentsJournal
News•Jan 26, 2026
How Smarter Restaurant Tech Is Powering Loyalty Even as Dining Frequency Declines
Restaurant operators face declining visit frequency and rising menu prices in 2026. To retain diners, they are adopting customer data platforms that unify guest data across ordering channels. Real‑time, segment‑level insights enable behavior‑based, spend‑band, and predictive segmentation, delivering offers at...
By Retail TouchPoints
Podcast•Jan 26, 2026•39 min
$240,000/Year In-Office Job or the $120,000/Year Fully Remote Job?
In this episode of Tea with GaryVee, Gary discusses the trade‑off between a high‑paying $240k in‑office role and a lower‑paying $120k fully remote position, emphasizing that compensation is just one factor in career decisions. He argues that execution, adaptability, and...
By The GaryVee Audio Experience
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
What Is a Website Integration? How Integrations Expand Functionality
The episode explains website integrations as connections between a site and external apps or services that enable data exchange and expanded functionality. It outlines four main categories—ecommerce data, marketing, analytics, and chatbot integrations—highlighting how each can streamline operations, personalize experiences,...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
KAST Launches Earn Vaults Combining Stablecoin Yield with Institutional-Grade Risk Management
KAST has introduced Earn Vaults, a new suite of stablecoin yield products that combine high‑interest returns with institutional‑grade risk controls. The vaults support USDC, USDT and DAI, offering up to 12% annual percentage yield while employing audited smart contracts and...
By PaySpace Magazine
News•Jan 26, 2026
How New ‘Concept to Commerce’ Event Helps Move Product Teams From Idea to Execution
Retail TouchPoints reports the inaugural NHS Concept to Commerce trade show launching March 31‑April 2, 2026 in Las Vegas. The event expands the National Hardware Show with over 400 exhibitors, including Global Manufacturing, Brand, and Inventor pavilions, and introduces an AI‑powered matchmaking tool...
By Retail TouchPoints
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
What Is Bulk SMS? A Complete Guide To Mass Texting
In this episode, Simonas Svegzda explains what bulk SMS is and how it differs from automated messaging, outlining the steps to run a mass texting campaign—from choosing a platform like Omnisend and importing a compliant contact list to crafting concise...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
How Payment Processing Works
The article breaks down payment processing into its core components, detailing the six key players—from cardholder to acquiring bank—and the four-stage transaction flow of authorization, authentication, clearing, and settlement. It explains the distinct roles of acquirers, processors, and gateways, then...
By Banking Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
Why Your ESP Alone Won’t Carry You Into 2026
Retail marketers still rely heavily on email and SMS, but traditional ESPs only reach customers they already know. With up to 95% of website traffic remaining anonymous, the gap between known and unknown shoppers is widening and eroding engagement. Adding...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
4 Challenges Growing eCommerce Businesses Often Overlook — and How to Address Them
Elavon outlines four common challenges that fast‑growing eCommerce firms often overlook: reaching the right customers, seamless payment processing, fraud protection, and scaling without overburdening systems. The company recommends integrated, all‑in‑one solutions that combine payment, marketing and analytics to reduce administrative...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
Payments for Retail: How Membership-Style Saves Money
Retailers are squeezed by rising costs and thin margins, and payment‑processing fees are a hidden drain on profitability. Traditional tiered, flat‑rate, or interchange‑plus models tie fees directly to sales volume, penalising growth. Membership‑based pricing swaps per‑transaction markups for a predictable...
By Retail Dive
News•Jan 26, 2026
Digital Wallets vs Traditional Payments: Which Drives Faster Checkouts?
UK payment habits in 2026 show digital wallets now used by 57% of adults, overtaking cash for everyday purchases. Contactless and mobile payments account for over half of in‑store card transactions, delivering faster checkout through biometric and tokenised authentication. Traditional...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
Nexi Joins Agentic Commerce Alliance
Nexi Group announced its membership in the Agentic Commerce Alliance, a global initiative focused on establishing open standards for autonomous, AI‑driven commerce. The alliance aims to create vendor‑neutral protocols that enable agents to operate securely and interoperably across platforms. Nexi...
By Finextra
Social•Jan 26, 2026
Data Beats Confidence: Test Everything, Scale Fast
I've run 300+ ad campaigns. Here's the pattern: Campaigns I thought would 'crush' died day 2. Campaigns I 'threw together' scaled to 6 figures. Your confidence doesn't matter. The data does. Test everything. Trust nothing.
By Kamil Sattar
News•Jan 26, 2026
SportsShoes.com to Open Flagship Experiential Store in Shoreditch
SportsShoes.com will launch its flagship experiential store, House of SportsShoes, on Shoreditch High Street in early March. The 5,000‑square‑foot venue blends digital‑first retail with a “no bags, no hassle” model, allowing shoppers to try over 100 running shoes and complete...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
Beauty Bay Appoints Advisors to Undertake Strategic Review
UK‑based online beauty retailer Beauty Bay has engaged advisory firm Interpath to conduct a strategic review. The review aims to explore fresh capital options, including attracting an investment partner or pursuing a sale. Sources say the process to secure new...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
French Connection Announces New US Licensing Partnership
French Connection Group has signed a long‑term licensing agreement with G‑III Apparel Group to develop and distribute its menswear, womenswear and accessories across North America, effective 1 February 2026. The partnership leverages G‑III’s design, sourcing and distribution capabilities and its established retail...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
ClearScore Enters Mortgage Market with Acquisition of Acre Platforms
ClearScore, the UK fintech known for free credit‑score checks, announced its entry into the residential mortgage market by acquiring Acre Platforms. The undisclosed deal equips ClearScore with Acre’s underwriting engine and cloud‑native loan‑origination system, enabling instant mortgage offers after a...
By PaySpace Magazine
News•Jan 26, 2026
N Brown Group Chief Customer Operations Officer Leaves the Business
N Brown Group’s chief customer operations officer, Clare Empson, announced her departure after two years in the role. Empson, who previously spent 24 years at Ted Baker, oversaw the launch of a new distribution centre and an enterprise‑wide efficiency system during her tenure. Her...
By The Retail Bulletin
Blog•Jan 26, 2026
How To Develop and Market Your Product Range
The episode explains what a product range is and how small e‑commerce businesses can strategically develop and market it. It outlines steps for aligning a range with brand goals, audience needs, and operational capacity, while weighing the pros and cons...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Jan 26, 2026
Gen Z Fuels Resurgence of Physical Music in Canada as Vinyl and K-Pop Sales Surge
Physical music sales in Canada have rebounded, with overall record sales rising 19.1% YoY and physical‑media purchases climbing 34% between 2021 and 2023. The surge is driven largely by Gen Z, who value tangible collectibles such as limited‑edition vinyl and...
By Retail Insider Canada
News•Jan 26, 2026
Gentle Fawn Leans on Longevity over Trends as Vancouver Fashion Brand Marks More than Two Decades
Gentle Fawn, a Vancouver‑based fashion label founded in 2003, has shifted its focus from wholesale‑only to a balanced omnichannel model, with its e‑commerce site now the largest sales channel. The brand serves roughly 600 retail partners across Canada and the...
By Retail Insider Canada
News•Jan 26, 2026
Retail’s Busiest Streets Are Booming with New Investment, Flagships
Transaction volume in North America’s high‑traffic urban retail corridors jumped 82% from 2024 to 2025, signaling renewed investor confidence. Major retailers such as Uniqlo, H&M and luxury houses are opening flagship stores, with New York, Los Angeles and Miami accounting for 60%...
By Modern Retail
News•Jan 26, 2026
The $42.8B Retail Media Playbook
Retail media generated $42.8 billion for Amazon in Q1 2025, driven by a server‑side ad serving architecture that delivers native ads without latency or privacy trade‑offs. The eBook outlines a modern retail media stack featuring sponsored products, zero‑impact loading, full reach, built‑in...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
The Future of Delivery: Key Trends Shaping 2026
Delivery logistics face a convergence of pressures in 2026, including AI-driven automation, stricter CO₂ emissions regulations, rising cross‑border demand, and the shift to zero‑emission fleets. Retailers and carriers must adapt to consumers who will abandon orders if delivery options are...
By The Retail Bulletin
News•Jan 26, 2026
Subdued Goes Bold with Global Expansion
Italian fashion brand Subdued is teaming up with its tech partner for international expansion
By Retail Technology (Magazine)
News•Jan 25, 2026
Uber and DoorDash Lose Bid to Quash NYC Tipping Law
Uber and DoorDash lost a federal bid to block New York City’s new tipping law, which forces delivery apps to present a tip option and a suggested minimum of 10% at checkout. U.S. District Judge George Daniels rejected the companies’...
By PYMNTS
Blog•Jan 25, 2026
6 Best Employer of Record Companies in Norway
The episode outlines the top six Employer of Record (EOR) providers for hiring in Norway—INS Global, Remote, Deel, Oyster, Globalization Partners, and Papaya Global—explaining how each service handles local contracts, payroll, tax, and compliance while letting companies retain operational control....
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Jan 25, 2026
B2BKing: A Powerful B2B & Wholesale Plugin for WooCommerce
The episode explores B2BKing, a comprehensive WooCommerce plugin that adds enterprise‑grade wholesale capabilities to WordPress stores. It walks through core features such as granular guest access restriction, tiered pricing tables, and a customizable business registration workflow that together enable hybrid...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Social•Jan 25, 2026
Glossier Grew on Community, Not Ad Spend
Glossier spent $0 on ads for their first 2 years. Just UGC and community. Meanwhile you're burning budget on cold traffic. That's the gap.
By Kamil Sattar