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
Air Cargo Market Set to Reach $420 Billion by 2035, Fueled by E‑Commerce Surge
Future Market Insights forecasts the global air cargo market will expand from $250 B in 2025 to $420 B by 2035, a 5.3% compound annual growth rate. The surge is driven by booming e‑commerce, cross‑border trade, and digital logistics innovations that are reshaping the industry.
SPS Commerce Posts 16% Q3 Revenue Rise to $189.9M, Highlights B2B Platform Strength
SPS Commerce announced Q3 2025 revenue of $189.9 million, a 16% year‑over‑year increase, driven by strong recurring revenue and a 20% jump in its fulfillment business. The company also flagged a $3 million shortfall in its revenue recovery segment due to Amazon...
The Idea that the Internet Is Built for People Is Crumbling. That Has Huge Implications for Your Business
Companies have long built the web for human visitors, but a new wave of AI agents is changing that premise. Protocols such as Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, Google’s Agent‑to‑Agent and Universal Commerce Protocol, and OpenAI’s Operator are creating a standardized...
E640: How Much Money Can You Sue Competitors For on Amazon for IP Infringement?
In this episode, Dave interviews Alan Lee of Copycatch.ai, which helps Amazon and Shopify sellers identify and sue competitors for IP infringement using Schedule A group lawsuits on a contingency basis. Alan explains the types of infringement they encounter—trademark, copyright,...
Iarnród Éireann Travelers Can Now Pay with PayPal
Iarnród Éireann has integrated PayPal into its website and mobile app, allowing travelers to buy rail tickets using PayPal balances or linked funding sources. The move serves the operator’s 55 million annual passengers and targets both domestic and international customers. PayPal...
Indie Retailers Thriving Globally as Share of Orders Grows, JOOR Data Survey Shows
Independent fashion brands are increasingly turning to independent retailers, which have posted a 27% year‑on‑year order increase since 2020, while enterprise retailers fell 4% over the same period. Nearly half of brands now cite payment terms as a decisive factor...
AI Shopping Generates Unattributed Conversions, Skewing Attribution
AI shopping is sending buyers to your store but NONE of them show up in your attribution. 39% of consumers already use AI for product discovery, and 23% of Americans bought something via AI in the past month. These are the...
Why TikTok Is the New Battleground for FMCG Sales
TikTok Shop is emerging as a dedicated social‑commerce channel for fast‑moving consumer goods, leveraging its discovery‑led format to turn viral videos into purchases. Ninety‑three percent of users engage with the shop feature and 88 % discover new brands, while a two‑click...
Say Yes to the AI: David’s Bridal Introduces Chatbots to Help with Wedding Dress Shopping
David’s Bridal has integrated its wedding‑dress catalog into ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot using Shopify’s agentic storefronts, allowing brides‑to‑be to describe style, budget and size and receive instant recommendations with images, pricing and ratings. The AI‑driven experience lets shoppers save favorites...
Commentary: FedEx and UPS Need to Move up the E-Commerce Food Chain
Legacy parcel carriers FedEx and UPS are under unprecedented pressure as their biggest retail customers build private residential delivery networks. B2C shipments now represent about 70% of the parcel market, up from 10% in 1985, forcing carriers to rethink a...
Shoplazza Launches AI Store Builder, Delivering Ready-to-Sell Storefronts Through a Single Agent
Shoplazza, the global DTC commerce platform, unveiled its AI Store Builder, an AI‑driven agent that lets merchants generate a complete online storefront from a simple natural‑language prompt in minutes. The tool automatically creates homepage layouts, product pages, collections, policy content,...
Grüns' DTC Surpasses AG1, Validating Omnichannel Strategy
Grüns built a successful omnichannel distribution network on the way to its acquisition by @Unilever for a reported $1.2 billion, with more than 7,000 retail doors in addition to Amazon. But its DTC site has also grown rapidly, and is about...
Instacart Acquires Colombia‑Based Instaleap to Expand Enterprise Fulfillment Globally
Instacart announced the purchase of Colombian fulfillment‑tech firm Instaleap, a deal whose financial terms were not disclosed. The move gives the grocery‑delivery giant a ready‑made enterprise platform that serves retailers in nearly 30 countries, accelerating Instacart’s push into international B2B...
Analyst Says Shopify Set to Outpace Amazon in Investor Returns
A recent Fool.com analysis compares Amazon and Shopify, concluding that Shopify’s rapid revenue growth and the expanding direct‑to‑consumer market could generate richer returns for investors than Amazon’s massive but slower‑growing platform.
AppDirect Acquires PartnerStack to Create Unified Partner-Led Growth Platform
AppDirect announced the acquisition of Toronto‑based PartnerStack, its sixth deal in a year, to merge PartnerStack’s 138,000‑partner network with AppDirect’s marketplace. The deal, terms undisclosed, is positioned as a step toward a single subscription‑commerce platform for partner‑led growth and a...
Shopify’s Full‑Stack Merchant Moat Fuels Double‑Digit Margins
Founder-led software names with strong economic moats to watch 👇 $SHOP | Forward P/S 10.46x Shopify is monetizing the full merchant stack. Not just storefronts. Payments, credit, cross-border, logistics. Merchant solutions now drive ~75% of revenue. Take rate expands with every transaction layer...
Live Shopping Boosts Snack Sales 30% Monthly, 2.5× Transactions
On @Whatnot, the live shopping platform, snacks and candy sales have grown ~30% m/m since last July, while transactions grew 2.5x. @garyvee sold out 1,055 units of “Heat Wave” gummies in minutes. More in the Live Shopping Update, presented by Whatnot: https://t.co/0lxFmMttn9...
SubscriptionX 2026: Why Recurring Revenue, Membership and Loyalty Are Converging
SubscriptionX 2026, held on 17 June at Convene in London, spotlights the convergence of recurring revenue, membership and loyalty as a unified growth engine for retailers. The agenda shifts focus from rapid sign‑ups to retention, margin and lifetime value, with...
Scale Faster: Test 5‑10 Creatives Weekly, Not One
I've seen inside 50+ ad accounts. Here's the pattern: Accounts that tested 1-2 new creatives a week stagnated. Accounts that tested 5-10 new creatives a week scaled. Your assumption that you'll find a winner eventually is wrong. You find winners...
ShopMy’s New Personal Shopping Service Is Powered by Actual Humans
ShopMy launched Noir, a human‑curated personal shopping service, on Wednesday. The free perk is currently limited to gold and black tier members, who can text prompts and receive hand‑picked selections within about 30 minutes. Noir taps ShopMy’s network of over...
UK Subscription SMEs Lose £160k a Year to Failed Payments, New Study Shows
An Access PaySuite‑commissioned study of 250 UK subscription‑based SMEs finds they lose an average of £159,500 (about $204,000) each year due to failed payments, abandoned renewals and checkout friction. Transaction failures occur in 3.4% of attempts, with 55.8% never recovered,...
Enopoly Highlights Operational Systems Driving E‑Commerce Scale, Boosting Orders 3‑fold
Enopoly announced that structured picking workflows and automated sorting can raise a warehouse’s daily order count from 300 to more than 1,000 without expanding space. The company says logistics coordination, supply‑chain management and fulfillment systems are the hidden engines of...
Trussardi Completes Full Exit From Russia, Shutting All Stores and Online Operations
Italian luxury label Trussardi has closed its remaining Russian retail outlets and dissolved its e‑commerce platform in early April 2026, completing a phased withdrawal that began in 2022. The exit follows a 2024 acquisition by Miroglio and reflects mounting financial...
Spotify Launches the Ability to Purchase Physical Books in the US and UK
Spotify has rolled out a new feature that lets users buy physical books through its app in the United States and United Kingdom. The service, powered by a partnership with Bookshop.org, is live on Android now, with iOS support slated...
AutoTrader in AI Push as Fuel Prices Drive EV Shift
AutoTrader is accelerating its AI push with the November 2025 launch of AutoTrader Intelligence, an in‑house platform that analyses three decades of market data to auto‑generate listing insights and personalised vehicle recommendations. The South African marketplace reports diesel enquiries down 18%...
Consumers Turn to Experience-Led Loyalty UK Shoppers Want Experiential Perks
UK shoppers are moving away from discount‑only loyalty schemes toward experience‑led perks, according to Retail Technology Show research of over 1,000 consumers. 55% want retailers to do more than offer discounts, and the appetite for experiential rewards climbs to 66%...
A New Product, a Hidden EU Deadline, and the Real Secret in Sales
The author accidentally built a newsletter‑analytics product that categorizes and compares publishing patterns, now ready for beta testing. A quiet EU directive will require every online retailer to embed a digital withdrawal button by 19 June 2026, turning post‑purchase flows into a...
How Livano Agency Cold Started Fryaway on TikTok Shop
Launching a brand on TikTok Shop without an existing store, creator network, or playbook creates friction that often leads to under‑performance. The article explains why traditional influencer assumptions—ample samples, simple briefs, and discount codes—fail in a commerce‑driven social platform. It...
Why Freight Forwarders Are Becoming Essential for Growing E-Commerce Brands
E‑commerce brands that scale internationally quickly outgrow parcel‑only shipping, facing complex customs, carrier coordination, and warehouse handoffs. Freight forwarders step in as single‑point partners, handling mode selection, compliance paperwork, and end‑to‑end visibility. Their services lower landed costs, accelerate transit, and...
M&S to Usher in New Era of AI-Driven Sparks Loyalty
Marks & Spencer is allocating roughly £200 million (about $254 million) to revamp its Sparks loyalty program with AI and a digital‑first architecture. The new system will issue personalized money‑off rewards each Tuesday through a digital wallet that works across food, fashion,...
Why Leo Lin’s Alison Trang Is the Quiet Architect of Digital Luxury
Alison Trang, head of e‑commerce at Australian luxury label Leo Lin, has turned the boutique into a global growth engine by marrying creative storytelling with data‑driven operations. She pre‑emptively re‑architected the US digital platform ahead of tariff changes, deploying a...
Which Amazon Sellers Are Exempt From the April 15 Ad Change
Amazon announced that starting April 15 ad costs will be deducted directly from seller proceeds, but a follow‑up email clarified the change only applies to a subset of high‑spending advertisers. Sellers who receive the notice will lose credit‑card billing and the...
B&H Photo Promo Codes and Deals This April
B&H Photo is promoting a slate of April discounts, including $300 off the new Nikon Z6III at $2,196.95 and $600 off the Nikon Z8. Additional savings feature $70 off the GoPro Hero 13 and $400 off Sony’s a7R V. The retailer also...
Forbes Creates Wine Vertical, Commerce Shop and Membership Business as AI Squeezes Traffic
Forbes is launching a wine‑focused vertical that combines a quarterly club, an e‑commerce shop, and an ad‑supported editorial site to diversify revenue as AI‑driven search cuts its traffic. The publisher saw a 37 percent YoY traffic decline in Q1 2026, while...
Retail Daily Minute | Instacart Acquires Instaleap, David's Bridal Goes Agentic & GameStop Launches Power Packs
In this episode, Chris Walton covers three major retail developments: Instacart’s acquisition of Instaleap, giving the grocery‑delivery giant a foothold in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East; David’s Bridal’s push into AI‑driven commerce by tagging its entire catalog for...
Puma’s AI Head Says the Brand Is Still Giving ‘the Keys to the Consumer’ as It Invests in Tech Like...
Puma is using artificial intelligence to revive growth, debuting a seven‑foot digital human concierge called “Dylan” in its Las Vegas flagship that speaks 100+ languages, recommends products and checks real‑time inventory. The brand’s AI push also includes an AI‑generated jersey creator...
The Dropshipping Method That Turns First-Time Sellers Into Million-Dollar Founders
AC Hampton grew a dropshipping store from $1,000 to $1.8 million in six months after a crane collapse forced him to sleep on a church floor. He later founded Supreme Ecom, a 43‑person education and software company that has helped students generate...
AI For Ecommerce: How Ecommerce AI Solutions Are Shaping The Future Of Retail
Artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to necessity in ecommerce, reshaping how retailers recommend products, enable visual and voice search, and interact with shoppers. Modern recommendation engines now analyze hover time, add‑to‑cart behavior and removal patterns to deliver real‑time, hands‑free...
For FDI, E-Comm Exports Must Be in Separate Cart
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has rolled out reforms to streamline e‑commerce exports, including lifting the Rs 10 lakh (≈ $12,000) value cap per courier shipment. The government is evaluating allowing foreign direct investment in inventory‑based e‑commerce solely for overseas...
Sezzle Launches a Virtual Card in Canada Powered by Marqeta, Bringing Its BNPL Service to In-Store Checkout for the First...
Sezzle introduced a virtual card in Canada, enabling its buy‑now‑pay‑later service through Apple Pay and Google Wallet for in‑store purchases. The card, built on Marqeta’s issuing platform, is already accepted by SoftMoc, JD Sports Canada, Mastermind Toys and QE Home,...
Nearly Half of U.S. Buy Now Pay Later Users Paid Late on at Least One Loan in the Past Year,...
A LendingTree survey of 2,049 U.S. consumers shows 47% of Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) borrowers missed at least one installment in the past year, a 13‑point increase from two years ago. More than half (54%) claim they couldn’t make ends meet without...
Pacvue Launches AI‑Powered Agent, Promising 200× Faster Media Workflows
Pacvue unveiled Pacvue Agent, an AI‑driven engine that integrates insight, recommendation and execution for commerce media. The company says early adopters are seeing workflow acceleration of up to 200 times, insight generation 80 times faster, and performance lifts of up...
Flips To Trips - Our Secret System That Shows You How Flip Amazon Products To Pay For Your TRIPS And...
The post promotes a "Flips to Trips" system that lets users buy low‑priced items on Amazon or Walmart and resell them on Facebook Marketplace for a profit that can fund travel. It emphasizes a no‑website, no‑brand approach, requiring only a...
Uber Eats Launches in Denmark, Boosting US Delivery Presence in Europe
Uber has rolled out its Uber Eats food‑delivery platform in Copenhagen, with plans to reach Aarhus and Odense by April. The move leverages Uber’s existing ride‑hailing network and underscores Europe as its fastest‑growing market, putting pressure on local e‑commerce and...
Amazon’s $20 ‘Buttery Soft’ Leggings Draw Praise Across Sizes
Amazon’s $20 ‘Buttery Soft’ leggings have collected a wave of 5‑star reviews from buyers ranging from extra‑small to 3XL. Shoppers cite high‑waist support, thick yet breathable fabric and functional pockets, positioning the product as a low‑cost alternative to premium activewear...
Beyond Commerce Inc (BYOC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Commerce.com reported $342 million revenue for 2025, a modest 3% year‑over‑year increase, while gross merchandise volume surged 12% to nearly $32 billion. Non‑GAAP operating income rose to $28 million, expanding margins by 230 basis points, and cash balances reached $143 million as net debt...
Vince Holding Corp (VNCE) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Vince Holding Corp reported Q4 net sales of $83.7 million, up 4.7% year‑over‑year, led by a 10.4% jump in direct‑to‑consumer revenue. Wholesale slipped 1.2% after pausing shipments to Saks Global, contributing to a gross margin decline to 49.1% amid higher tariffs,...
Amazon Autos Expands to Chevrolet, Jeep, Kia, Mazda, and Subaru as Its New Car Buying Service Grows to 130+ Cities
Amazon Autos has broadened its vehicle‑buying platform to include Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet and Jeep, expanding the service to more than 130 U.S. cities. The program, which debuted with Hyundai in late 2024, lets shoppers browse inventory, arrange financing and complete...
Is Your Email Program Stuck at “Okay”?
Your email flows are running, your list is growing, and revenue looks okay. But "okay" is where most programs get stuck. Here are 6 signs yours has plateaued: https://t.co/BDEWXRyGoN
Veo 3.1 API for Ecommerce: Faster Creative Testing, Better Product Videos, and Scalable Content
Veo has launched its 3.1 API, a video‑generation tool aimed at ecommerce teams that need to produce large volumes of product‑focused videos quickly. The API promises to cut the time between creative concept and usable asset, enabling brands to test...