Know What's Happening in Ecommerce
Know What's Happening in Ecommerce
Ecommerce Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
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EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
Pandemic cemented e‑commerce’s share and boosted contactless payments
The COVID‑19 shock locked e‑commerce at 16.6% of U.S. retail sales and set online grocery sales on a path to $250 billion by 2025. Two‑thirds of shoppers now use contactless payments, with 74% planning to keep the habit post‑pandemic.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Grab acquires Foodpanda Taiwan for $600M
Fabletics is repurposing its 120‑store footprint as a primary engine for VIP membership acquisition, with roughly half of in‑store shoppers signing up. The VIP program now accounts for more than 95% of the brand’s revenue, supporting a $1 billion revenue milestone and 18% year‑over‑year growth in 2025. The company plans to add about 40 new locations in 2026, split between the U.S. and international markets, while leveraging AI‑enhanced sales scripts and personalized tech to deepen member engagement.
First Thing, an Australian intimates brand founded by Georgia Gazal, has carved a defensible niche by focusing on comfort‑first, everyday wear rather than high‑glamour marketing. Its flagship strapless bra, sold out six times and purchased every 34 minutes, solves long‑standing...
Amazon announced a second round of corporate layoffs, targeting roughly 14,000 employees as early as Jan. 27. This follows an initial cut of 14,000 staff in October and brings the total planned reductions to 30,000, about 10% of its corporate...
The United States Postal Service announced a temporary suspension of its Priority Mail Express guarantee and a nationwide halt to Live animal shipments from 00:01 EST Friday January 23 through 00:01 EST Monday January 26, 2026, citing Winter Storm Fern. The storm is projected to bring Arctic‑vortex temperatures,...
Affirm and fintech platform Esusu are piloting a rent‑payment option that splits monthly rent into two interest‑free installments with no late fees. The service will be available to Esusu members, adding to the recently launched Esusu Pay tool. Esusu’s platform...
Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) has signed a multi‑year exclusive agreement with Uber Eats, making the platform the sole delivery channel for its Australian outlets from February 22. The deal includes joint investment aimed at enhancing value, choice and convenience for...
Sa Sa International posted a 12.5% rise in quarterly turnover to HK$1.16 billion, driven by both brick‑and‑mortar and online channels. Offline sales in Hong Kong and Macau grew 11.8% year‑on‑year, with same‑store sales up 14.7%, while average transaction value rose 9.4%....
Amazon announced a next‑generation RFID lane system that is fully portable and can be installed in a matter of hours rather than weeks. The new lanes retain the high‑accuracy scanning capabilities of earlier models while shedding the need for permanent...
How is Web 3.0 (blockchain and decentralized Web) and AI mixing to make new kinds of businesses possible? I sat down with the founders of @BasaltHQ to learn about its new store (Shopify competitor) that uses blockchain-based cryptocurrencies to reduce...
The episode explores how founders of Larroudé, Dapper Boi, and Province of Canada built successful brands on shoestring budgets by prioritizing speed, early validation, and DIY branding. Ricardo Larroudé leveraged tight capital allocation and in‑house production to secure wholesale orders...
The episode explains how to efficiently manage social media content across multiple platforms by turning a single core idea into platform‑specific formats rather than reposting identical material. It outlines a workflow that starts with a central content plan, creates a...
Temu captured roughly 24% of cross‑border ecommerce sales in 2025, matching Amazon as the leading seller in that segment. The surge follows a sub‑1% share in 2022 and a high‑profile Super Bowl campaign in early 2023. IPC data shows shoppers...
The episode outlines how importers and brands can secure a market edge by partnering with top baby‑furniture manufacturers such as DaVinci, Babyletto, Bugaboo, Clafbebe, Peg Perego and UPPAbaby, emphasizing their blend of high‑design aesthetics, scalable production, and strict safety compliance. It...
The episode explains how rank tracking has become a strategic, data‑driven asset in the AI‑first search landscape of 2026, where zero‑click results and AI Overviews dominate. It highlights the need to monitor new metrics such as citation status, visual rank,...
The episode breaks down the 15 essential email marketing metrics—ranging from deliverability (delivery, bounce, spam complaint rates) to engagement (open, click‑through, CTOR, engagement rate) and revenue impact (conversion, revenue per email, ROI) and list health (unsubscribe, growth) and attribution. It...
The episode explores how AI is shifting from pure efficiency to delivering emotional value, urging brands to evolve into AI personalities that foster trust and companionship. It outlines a spectrum of digital personas—from night‑time healers offering psychological support to career...
The FedEx‑Morning Consult 2025 holiday‑season survey shows online retailers expect higher return volumes in 2026, with 40% of merchants now charging return fees—a jump from 25% in 2024, especially among small businesses. Consumers are sensitive to these fees; 59% say...
eBay has revised its User Agreement to expressly forbid third‑party “buy‑for‑me” agents and large‑language‑model (LLM) chatbots from placing orders on its platform without explicit permission. The new clause, effective February 20 2026, expands the previous ban on generic bots to specifically target...
Procter & Gamble’s new CEO Shailesh Jejurikar announced that data and technology will underpin the company’s near‑term performance boost and long‑term reinvention. The latest quarter showed flat organic sales overall, with beauty up 4% and health care up 3, while grooming,...
The episode outlines how B2B SaaS eCommerce firms can scale internationally by first establishing a stable global positioning spine and then tailoring emphasis to regional buyer priorities. It stresses redefining the ideal customer profile with regional filters and using inbound...
How To Create Viral AI Video Ads In 2026 (this feels illegal) Watch Here 👉 https://t.co/W58gL5fDW9 In this video, I break down how to create freakishly realistic AI video ads using Kling 2.6 Motion. This is a game-changer for ecommerce because it...
The episode explains that successful AI startups win by building diverse, inclusive teams that can spot design flaws and market needs, validating real, painful user problems before coding, and treating AI as the core engine of their business rather than...
The episode outlines why CPAP buyers are turning to online retailers, highlighting five key advantages: a vastly larger selection and easy side‑by‑side comparisons; significant price savings of 25‑35% plus bundled deals and subscription programs that lower long‑term costs; abundant user...
Dr. Phone Fix Canada Corp. expanded its retail footprint from 35 to 44 stores by the end of 2025, a 26% increase driven by acquisitions and organic openings. The company reported same‑store revenue growth, with average annualized sales climbing to...
The episode breaks down a step‑by‑step method for building a personal brand on Instagram, emphasizing the importance of a narrow, clearly defined niche and the use of a few recurring content formats to create familiarity and reduce burnout. It highlights...
Nordstrom is relocating its downtown Seattle Rack store to a nearby historic building, creating a 39,000‑square‑foot off‑price space that will open in spring 2027. The move highlights Rack’s role as a growth engine within Nordstrom’s broader strategy, contrasting with rivals that...
A Virtuous AI and Chief Executive Group survey of over 300 mid‑market CEOs shows 98.5% believe AI adds value, yet only 7% have a company‑wide AI strategy. More than half are still in pilot phases and a third have merely explored...
Retail store openings stalled in fiscal 2025, expanding only 0.7% year‑over‑year, according to Telsey Advisory Group. The slowdown follows tighter capital‑expenditure plans and macro‑economic uncertainty. Forecasts show a rebound in 2026 with net openings rising 1.4%, driven by beauty, off‑price...
Financial Commandment #1: Your money, your responsibility. Running @ecomfuelco for 12+ years, I've watched hundreds of store owners behind the scenes. The ones who blow up often have one thing in common: they're mentally checked-out financially. Not the work. The ownership. Big...
Two smart @Shopify partners coming to the studio next month to record in person for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. IRL hits different. https://t.co/F9J0BU4qre
Print‑on‑demand (POD) sellers must treat quality control as a core business function, not an afterthought. The guide stresses regular sample orders, high‑resolution design files, and matching each product to a specialist provider. It also recommends systematic review of customer feedback,...
We build UCP Proxy to take any ecommerce system and expose it via UCP to shopping agents. Make commerce better for everyone.
Most marketers track a lot of metrics. Very few know which ones actually matter. Here are 7 worth paying attention to, plus how to improve each one: (bookmark this) https://t.co/fPpNrpzoB1
Accertify’s AI chief Conrad Kennington warns that autonomous shopping agents erode traditional fraud signals, creating new vulnerabilities. As agents automate purchases, token‑based transactions strip away behavioral context, making fraud detection harder. Kennington stresses the need for fresh data points, device...
The first week of 2026 brought over 400 sales tax rate changes across the U.S. That alone should tell you something: whatever setup worked last year probably isn’t enough anymore. Here’s the checklist I’d use to make sure compliance doesn’t become a...
The cobbler's children have no shoes. Our agency site re-migration to Shopify has taken over a year because client work keeps jumping the queue. Finally crossing the finish line. https://t.co/Gq4c1fQJKU
In this episode, the hosts dissect why forecasts inevitably miss the mark and emphasize the speed of response as the true metric of success. They outline a three‑step process: early detection of variance, tightening the signal‑to‑action loop with daily accountability,...
TikTok is extending its Fulfilled by TikTok service to Europe, offering Asian merchants warehousing, order fulfillment and returns through facilities in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The move positions TikTok not only as a marketplace but also as a logistics...
Francesca’s, the women’s specialty retailer, is preparing to shut down operations and liquidate its inventory, with liquidation slated to begin on Jan. 16, 2026. The move follows abrupt staff layoffs announced without warning, as confirmed by former buyers and a customer‑service...
European resale platform Vinted, founded in 2008, is launching in the United States with an initial rollout in New York. The company posted €813.4 million in revenue for 2024, a 36% increase year‑over‑year, and aims to reach €1 billion in 2025. Unlike...
Tesco will pilot the Auror crime‑reporting platform in 40 stores across Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire for a ten‑week trial starting 26 January. The system centralises incident data, enabling faster reporting, case management and police collaboration while trained staff review CCTV footage for...
OpenAI has quietly opened a secret robotics laboratory in San Francisco, reviving a hardware division it shut down in 2020. The facility employs about 100 contractors who train Franka robotic arms to perform everyday household chores. Data collection runs 24‑hour...
Shopify announced a restructuring of its partnerships division, cutting a significant number of staff. The move, led by VP of Partnerships Atlee Clark, is intended to align the unit more closely with product teams and prioritize agentic commerce initiatives. While...
Kasada, a bot management and fraud protection company, unveiled AI Agent Trust, a solution designed to secure automated traffic on digital commerce sites. The platform provides a searchable directory that verifies AI agents and lets brands apply policy‑based controls to...
Hibbett Sports has teamed up with DoorDash to launch same‑day sneaker delivery across its 1,000 U.S. stores. Customers can order Nike, Adidas and other brands through the DoorDash app, with orders fulfilled from the nearest retail location. The service integrates...
Apple has filed a petition with the Delhi High Court seeking to block the Competition Commission of India's request for its global financial statements as part of an antitrust probe into the App Store. The company argues that the CCI's...
Shift4 Payments is deliberately courting large, multi‑location merchants and venues because they face fewer payment‑processor alternatives. CEO Taylor Lauber highlighted the appeal of complex software environments, citing the New York Yankees, Hilton Worldwide, and Caesar’s Entertainment as prime examples. The...
Canada’s Federal Court has overturned a government directive that would have forced TikTok to shut down its Canadian operations. Judge Russell Zinn set aside the order and instructed Industry Minister Melanie Joly to conduct a new security review. The ruling...
Department store closures are accelerating, with Saks Global filing bankruptcy and Macy’s planning to shutter 150 locations by 2026. Green Street reports rising mall anchor vacancies, linking the department‑store decline to 175 mall closures over the past 15 years. Despite...
The episode examines the rise of fintech‑driven credit‑builder cards, which let users fund a demand‑deposit account instead of a traditional secured‑card deposit, and compares this model to legacy secured cards. Brian Riley explains that while fintechs can reach a large,...
