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
Etsy Shares Plunge 78% as Growth Stalls and Profitability Wanes
Etsy's stock has tumbled 78% from its November 2021 high as gross merchandise sales fell 4% in 2025 and net income slumped 67% since the pandemic peak. Rising operating expenses and a slump in consumer confidence have deepened profitability concerns, prompting analysts to question the marketplace’s growth trajectory.
Amazon Shifts Ad Fees to Proceeds First, Sparking B2B Seller Backlash
Amazon announced it will start deducting advertising fees from sellers' retail proceeds before credit‑card billing, a change delayed to Aug. 1 2026 and accompanied by a $2,500 promotional credit. The move has ignited a wave of criticism from B2B sellers who say...
Flipkart Promoted Kunal Gupta, Head of Its Quick Commerce Arm Minutes, to SVP as the IPO-Bound Company Doubles Down on...
Flipkart promoted Kunal Gupta, head of its quick‑commerce unit Minutes, to senior vice president. Minutes, launched in August 2024, now runs about 750‑800 dark stores and is adding roughly 100 per month, targeting 1,200 locations by June. The unit plans...
Liège Airport Handles Over 4 Million Daily Chinese Parcels, Customs Team Stretched to 80
Liège Airport in Belgium is processing more than 4 million small parcels from China every day, far outpacing the capacity of its 80‑member customs inspection team. The surge highlights growing pressure on European logistics networks as cross‑border e‑commerce volumes spike.
Poshmark Expanded Its Resell on Poshmark Program to Include Reformation, Sezane, Farm Rio, Everlane, Mango, and Other Brands
Poshmark has broadened its Resell on Poshmark program by embedding a one‑click resale button on the websites of brands such as Reformation, Everlane, Mango, Farm Rio, Roller Rabbit, For Love & Lemons, and Theory. The feature pulls order history data...
Cleary Jewelers Reopens in Home Depot Plaza, Embracing Hybrid Retail
Cleary Jewelers reopened Saturday at a Home Depot plaza in Greenfield, moving into a 1,500‑square‑foot space after a legal dispute forced it out of its former downtown location. Owner Kerry Semaski highlighted community support and a renewed focus on in‑person...
Johnson & Johnson Joins TrumpRX
Johnson & Johnson has begun offering three branded diabetes drugs—Invokamet, Invokamet XR and Invokana—and the blood‑thinner Xarelto on the government‑run TrumpRX site and its own JNJ Direct platform. All three diabetes products are priced at $225, a 62% cut from...
How To Use Intelligent Automation in Digital Transformation? A 2026 Guide – Shopify
Shopify’s 2026 guide explains how intelligent automation can accelerate digital transformation for ecommerce brands. It reports that Shopify‑based merchants are three times more likely to stay on budget and 66 % more likely to finish projects on time versus competing platforms....
Friction‑Maxxing Tactics Target Impulse Buying on E‑Commerce Sites
Financial experts and consumer‑advocacy groups are urging e‑commerce sites to add deliberate obstacles—like removing one‑click buying and instituting waiting periods—to slow down shoppers. Studies show 14% of buyers act within a minute of an ad and 85% later regret the...
AI Personal Shopping Turns Email History Into Tailored Deals
Shopping in AI Mode with Personal Intelligence enabled is the real deal... it can browse through *all* of your past purchases, upcoming travel plans, etc. via Gmail (for me, that's 10+ years of history) to cater its shopping recommendations. See...
Free Shipping This Weekend for Indie Bookstore Day
There's free shipping at Bookshop.org this weekend to celebrate Indie Bookstore Day, if you're looking for a new read https://bookshop.org/p/books/metallic-realms-a-novel-lincoln-michel/0a3abce8348fccc4?ean=9781668058671&next=t
How Securing Downloadable Content Works: Best Practices
Digital product sales surpassed $124 billion in 2025 and are forecast to reach $157 billion in 2026, underscoring the sector’s rapid expansion. However, the ease of copying makes these assets vulnerable to piracy, which not only erodes revenue but also exposes customers...
What Shopify Merchants Need to Know About AI Generated Fakes in 2026
Shopify merchants generating $500 K‑$20 M in sales are now facing a surge of AI‑generated fraud, with Pindrop reporting a 1,210% rise in AI‑driven attacks by December 2025. The threat spans five distinct forgery types—fake reviews, fabricated damage photos, synthetic testimonials, brand impersonation,...
Dairy Queen’s AI‑Only Drive‑Throughs Prompt Customer Backlash
Dairy Queen is rolling out drive‑through lanes that operate without human staff, relying solely on artificial‑intelligence ordering systems. The move has provoked backlash from customers who find the experience frustrating, underscoring the tension between efficiency drives and consumer expectations in...
I’ve Made Hundreds Selling My Clothes Online: Here Are 5 Tips for Getting Started
The author shares how selling personal clothing on resale apps like Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari generated a few hundred dollars from 37 items. Five actionable tips are outlined: selecting the right platform, researching comparable listings, providing detailed measurements, photographing items...
Amazon Sticks to No‑Price‑Match Policy While Rivals Offer Refunds and Guarantees
Amazon does not provide price‑matching or price‑protection, citing its constantly adjusted pricing engine. Competing retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy maintain formal price‑match guarantees, forcing consumers to weigh return policies and refund options when hunting for the lowest price.
My Mom Has Shopped Nearly 1,000 Instacart Orders — Here Is Exactly How Much She Makes in a Day
Ali Domrongchai spent a day shadowing his mother, a veteran Instacart shopper with nearly 1,000 completed orders, to reveal what the gig looks like from the inside. Over a five‑hour shift across Costco, Publix and Food Lion, she fulfilled five...
AI Agents Successfully Negotiate Marketplace Deals, Opus Leads
Agent-to-Agent Commerce. Interesting experiment from Anthropic -> Anthropic details Project Deal, a marketplace experiment where Claude models bought, sold, and negotiated personal belongings on behalf of Anthropic employees "The first thing to say is that our experiment worked. It is...
Color‑coded Buttons Reveal Surprising Shopping Cart Choices
Red/blue button thingy is the new shopping cart experiment, and it is enlightening to see people's responses.
Joybuy and STABILO Draw up a Colourful New European Partnership
Joybuy, JD.com’s new European online marketplace, has teamed up with German stationery leader STABILO to sell the brand’s highlighters and fineliners in the UK and France. The partnership leverages Joybuy’s rapid "Double 11" delivery promise—same‑day service for orders placed before 11 am...
Accidental $1k Ad Spend: E‑commerce Founder Rite
You're not an 'ecom founder' until you've accidentally spent $1,000 on an ad set you forgot to turn off. It's a rite of passage.
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Hits Record-Low Amazon Price
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra have just hit a record-low price at Amazon once again. https://t.co/vyfDrBq64v
The Boxery Mulls Fast‑Ship Packaging Service to Speed Up E‑commerce Fulfillment
The Boxery, a multi‑warehouse e‑commerce packaging supplier, is reviewing a fast‑ship program that would provide warehouse‑backed, in‑stock boxes with same‑day processing for eligible orders. The proposal targets marketplace sellers who need rapid replenishment during sales spikes, seasonal surges or unexpected...
Boost Profits by Doubling Conversion, Not Traffic
Most founders think they need more traffic. They don't. They need to fix their conversion rate. Doubling your CVR from 1% to 2% has the same impact as doubling your ad spend, but it's free.
Google's UCP Wins as Tech Giants Join
🚨 JUST IN: Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Salesforce, and Stripe just joined Google's UCP. The protocol war for agentic commerce is over. Google's UCP won Here's why 🧵 https://t.co/0LRX7k6RxD
Amazon to Acquire Globalstar for $11.6B, Targeting Starlink Rivalry
Amazon announced a $11.57 billion deal to buy Globalstar, securing spectrum, satellites and global licenses. The move is aimed at building a next‑generation Leo network that can compete with SpaceX’s Starlink and extend Amazon’s e‑commerce logistics into remote areas.
Independent Bookstore Day: Bookshop.org Founder on How Small Retailers Are Taking on Amazon
Independent Bookstore Day returns on April 25, highlighting a surge in small‑shop resilience. Founder Andy Hunter of Bookshop.org notes a 70% increase in U.S. independent bookstores over the past six years, reversing a two‑decade decline. The pandemic and rising cost‑of‑living...
Flood of Small Parcels From China Pushes Belgian Airport’s Capacity to Limit
More than 4 million small parcels from China have been arriving each day at Liège freight airport in Belgium since early 2026, overwhelming the facility’s handling capacity. The airport’s customs team consists of just 80 inspectors, far fewer than needed to...
15 Single-Product Website Examples To Inspire Your Own
The article showcases 15 Shopify-powered single‑product websites, illustrating how a focused "hero" offering can launch a successful ecommerce brand. It categorises examples into three SKU strategies: single SKU, multiple SKUs, and hero‑plus‑accessories, highlighting stores like Rocco, Tushy, and BlendJet. Each...
Modernization of Technology in Ecommerce: How To Simplify Your Stack (2026) – Shopify
Shopify’s 2026 guide warns ecommerce firms that legacy tech stacks are hampering speed, cost control, and AI adoption. While 88% of organizations have deployed AI in at least one function, only 1% consider themselves AI‑mature, and 84% struggle with cloud‑spending...
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Understanding Backorders: Definition, Causes, Examples
Backorders occur when demand outpaces available inventory, allowing customers to place orders for items not immediately in stock. Companies use backorders to keep inventory levels low, reduce storage expenses, and signal product popularity, but prolonged backorders can expose supply‑chain weaknesses....
How Mobile And Social Commerce Are Reshaping Where Products Get Found
Mobile devices now generate roughly 77% of retail ecommerce traffic, and their revenue share topped 56.4% during the 2025 holiday season. Social commerce is expanding rapidly, with US sales projected to exceed $100 billion in 2026 and TikTok Shop alone forecast...
Overstock.com Boosts Personalization with 500% Faster Data Science Velocity
Overstock.com disclosed that its new analytics platform has increased data‑science velocity by more than 500% and halved the cost of moving models into production. The changes enable the retailer to deliver personalized product recommendations across its catalog of nearly 5 million...
WPP Launches WPP Commerce Unit to Drive Two‑Year Turnaround
WPP announced the formation of WPP Commerce, a global unit that consolidates media, creative, enterprise and production services for ecommerce. Brent Taylor, formerly head of Barrows, will run the unit as part of the Elevate28 two‑year turnaround that seeks $635 m...
MarketGenics Projects Global DTC Market to Hit $1.12 Trillion by 2035
MarketGenics Global Research estimates the worldwide direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) market will expand from $414.2 billion in 2025 to $1,124.2 billion by 2035, a 10.5% CAGR. The projection highlights subscription commerce and omnichannel growth as primary drivers, underscoring a fragmented landscape where the top...
OroCommerce Teams with Blue Yonder to Launch Unified B2B Commerce‑Fulfillment Platform
OroCommerce announced a partnership with Blue Yonder to integrate its B2B commerce platform with Blue Yonder’s AI‑powered fulfillment suite. The collaboration aims to give enterprise sellers a single, data‑driven system for order management, inventory optimization and delivery, though specific financial...
Banks and Retailers Deploy AI to Turn Call Centers Into Revenue Engines
Banks and retailers are repurposing contact centers as profit centers by embedding AI‑driven voice agents that resolve issues in seconds and close sales on the call. Home Depot’s pilot cuts resolution time to 10 seconds and speeds service fourfold, while...
UBS Forecasts Over 40,000 U.S. Store Closures in Next Five Years
UBS analysts project that more than 40,000 U.S. retail stores will close by 2029, driven by accelerating e‑commerce, AI‑enabled shopping, and tariff pressures. The forecast follows a recent drop of 5,000 stores between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025 and signals a shift...
19‑Year‑Old Berkeley Dropout Raises $7.3 M to Launch Africa’s First Super‑App From Lagos
Aubrey Niederhoffer, a 19‑year‑old former UC Berkeley sophomore, secured a $7.3 million seed round to fund Swoop, a Lagos‑based startup aiming to become Africa’s first super‑app. Backed by a mix of Silicon Valley and Africa‑focused investors, Swoop launched its food‑delivery service...
Instacart Teams Up with Claude to Power AI‑Driven Grocery Cart Creation
Instacart has integrated its grocery platform with Anthropic's Claude conversational AI, allowing U.S. users to assemble shopping carts directly within a chat interface. The feature taps Instacart’s real‑time inventory across more than 2,200 retail banners and a catalog of over...
Shopify‑Kit Integration Stumbles on Marketing Consent Sync
The Shopify integration with Kit looks really promising, but boy is the marketing consent issue a mess. Once they've not consented, a tag is added in Kit. If they consent on a future purchase, it doesn't change. Then on Shopify Thank You...
VF Corporation Adds Inventory Visibility Technology From Nedap
VF Corporation announced a partnership with Dutch tech firm Nedap to deploy its Inventory Engine across more than 1,500 global stores. The RFID‑based solution will give item‑level visibility from distribution centers to retail shelves, starting with The North Face in...
Why Supply Chain Optimization Is the New Competitive Moat for Ecommerce Brands
Episode 248 of the High Voltage Business Builders podcast argues that supply‑chain optimization has become a decisive competitive moat for ecommerce brands, using Dollar General’s recent logistics executive hires as a case study. The hosts outline three concrete actions—conducting a...
#516 - Amazon Japan, AI Ads, And Global Growth
In this episode, host Bradley Sutton chats with longtime Japan resident and e‑commerce expert Martin about the unique dynamics of selling on Amazon Japan and the broader Japanese marketplace. Martin explains how Amazon Japan has become the third‑largest Amazon marketplace...
Sony Cuts PS5 Slim Digital Price by $200 After April Price Hike
Sony has reduced the price of its PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition to $399, a $200 cut from the post‑hike $599 price. The limited‑time bundle, sold through PlayStation Direct, aims to clear inventory after the April 2 price increase that...
Rare Sales at Mejuri, Glossier, Lola, and More This Weekend
A wave of weekend sales is sweeping major retailers, with Outdoor Voices and Beyond Yoga slashing 25% off site‑wide, even on already‑discounted items. Gap is offering up to 50% off most merchandise and an additional 10% discount through its app,...
Instacart Connects with AI Platform Claude
Anthropic’s Claude AI platform has added a native Instacart integration, allowing users to browse live product inventory and build grocery carts directly within a chat. The feature syncs with users’ existing Instacart accounts and can suggest the app based on...
From Dropout to 600k: Real Results, Real Persistence
600,000 YouTube subscribers. Still doesn’t feel real. I started this channel because I was tired of seeing “gurus” selling BS… Fake results, recycled advice, and courses that didn’t actually help people. So I made a decision, if I’m going to teach this, I need...
Diversify Products, Not Just Ads, to Quadruple Revenue
Parade quadrupled revenue to $40M by launching one new product category that hit 50% of total sales in 6 months. Meanwhile you're trying to scale with one product and more ads instead of expanding your catalog. That's the gap.
American Industrial Partners to Acquire Honeywell Warehouse Automation
Private equity firm American Industrial Partners (AIP) announced it will acquire Honeywell’s Warehouse and Workflow Solutions (WWS) unit. WWS, which posted roughly $935 million in 2025 revenue and employs over 3,300 people, provides sortation, robotics and software under the Intelligrated and...