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
‘The Era of Link in Bio Is Finally over’: Meta
Meta is piloting product tagging on Instagram Reels in five markets, allowing creators to embed up to 30 catalog items or affiliate links directly in videos. The feature targets creators with public accounts, at least 1,000 followers and age 18+, aiming to eliminate the traditional "link in bio" step. Affiliate commissions will be available through partnerships with Amazon, eBay and Temu, while Meta will not take a cut of sales during the test. The rollout is slated for spring 2026, expanding Instagram’s social‑commerce toolkit.
My Ideal Second Business
In this solo episode of E‑Commerce Conversations, host Eric Banholz explores the concept of running a second business—often a low‑maintenance, high‑margin venture that provides freedom while the primary e‑commerce brand continues to grow. He outlines the ideal characteristics of such...
Walmart Alumni Open POS Test Lab
Retail technology firm Kitestring Technical Services, founded by former Walmart engineers, has opened a vendor‑neutral point‑of‑sale (POS) demonstration lab in Bentonville, Arkansas. The lab showcases seven software and fourteen hardware vendors, allowing retailers to evaluate solutions side‑by‑side. POS selections are...
What to Expect At Shoptalk Europe 2026: A Conversation With Adam Plom | 5IM
In this episode, Adam Plom, Vice President and Head of Content for Shoptalk Europe, previews the upcoming Shoptalk Europe conference in Barcelona (June 9‑11, 2026). He highlights the event’s pan‑European scope, bringing together retailers, brands, tech, investors and media across...
Chrome Builds Shopping Profiles via Structured Content Extraction
Super interesting from Dan -> Chrome’s New Shopping Classifier "The classifier doesn’t look at raw HTML. It doesn’t look at the DOM directly either. Chrome uses a structured content extraction system called AnnotatedPageContent, accessible via the Chrome DevTools Protocol method...
Jen Young on Outdoorsy and the Entrepreneur’s Journey
Outdoorsy, co‑founded by Jen Young in 2014, has grown from a niche peer‑to‑peer vehicle rental service into a marketplace with over 200 employees and a diversified portfolio that includes the Outdoorsy Destination Network and Roamly insurance. The platform now lists...
Winners Dutch Shopping Awards 2026
The 25th Dutch Shopping Awards crowned Kaartje2go as the DHL Best Online Store of the Year, making it the overall winner of the ceremony. The event also presented jury awards—including Decathlon’s DS Smith Sustainability Award and Zalando’s PostNL Innovation & AI...
GameStop Thought Buying Games Online Was A ‘Passing Phase,’ Says Former Business Developer
Former Stardock business developer Larry Kuperman revealed that GameStop viewed digital game distribution as a temporary trend, leading the retailer to acquire the Impulse platform in 2011 but treat it as a low priority. Impulse was shuttered by April 2014,...
Email Frequency Drives Revenue—Don’t Fear Over‑Mailing
Skims emails their list 5 times a week with new drops and restocks, driving a multi-billion dollar valuation. Meanwhile you're afraid of "annoying" your list and only send one newsletter a month, leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
#510 - The Amazon Ads Mistake Costing Sellers Growth
In this episode, hosts Shivali Patel and Keri Miller interview Destiny Wishon, CMO of Better AMS, and Carrie Miller, a seven‑figure Helium 10 seller, about common Amazon advertising pitfalls. They explain how focusing solely on low ACoS can stifle growth, why...
Snack Like It Matters
Amy’s Minocqua Marketplace newsletter spotlights a new snack line anchored by Mavuno Harvest, a Kenya‑born venture that dries organic fruit and nuts for U.S. consumers. The company uses a direct‑trade model that pays small‑holder cooperatives a premium, turning post‑harvest waste...
Krolog Expands Amazon Consulting Suite to Boost Brand PPC and SEO Performance
Krolog, a Toronto‑based Amazon consulting agency, announced an expanded service portfolio that bundles pay‑per‑click, SEO and full account management into a single growth engine. The move targets brands seeking to cut ad costs, improve organic rankings and scale revenue on...
Amazon Is Betting on Speed in a Market that May Not Need It
Amazon began testing a 30‑minute delivery service in select U.S. cities, expanding its one‑ and three‑hour options and echoing ultra‑fast pilots in India and the UAE. Quick‑commerce thrives in China’s $125 billion market but has struggled in Western economies, where funding...
PMI Builds Commerce Engine to Glean Customer Insights
Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched an omnichannel commerce engine in South Africa to reach informal‑market retailers that account for up to 75% of counterfeit tobacco sales. The solution uses USSD short‑codes on feature phones, multi‑language support, and low‑cost scooter...
Yu Foods’ Revenue Doubles To ₹75 Cr In FY26: Cofounder Bharat Bhalla
Yu Foods, a D2C instant‑meal brand, saw operating revenue surge 114% to ₹75 crore (≈$9 million) in FY26, up from ₹35 crore the year before. The company’s net loss widened marginally to ₹8 crore (≈$1 million), while EBITDA margin improved to –4%. About 40% of...
Amazon Discloses 3.5% Fuel & Logistics-Related Surcharge
Amazon announced a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on its marketplace orders, aimed at offsetting rising diesel and transportation expenses. The fee will be applied automatically at checkout and affects both direct‑to‑consumer sales and third‑party sellers. The move follows a...
Belgian Shopping Center Is Embracing ‘Livestream Commerce’ on TikTok
Waasland Shopping in Saint‑Nicolas, Belgium, has launched a monthly livestream commerce series on TikTok, featuring influencer Jaël Ost and guest creators. The inaugural broadcast on April 2 attracted roughly 12,500 live viewers and generated an equal number of likes, while shoppers...
The Body Shop Marks 50 Years Globally, 20 Years in India; Eyes 20%+ Growth
The Body Shop celebrated its 50th global anniversary and 20th year in India, announcing a goal of more than 20% revenue growth this fiscal year and a plan to double its Indian business within four to five years. The retailer...
Why Gen Z Uses BNPL and Installments Differently
Consumers are no longer choosing payment methods out of habit; they select tools that fit a specific financial objective at checkout. A PYMNTS Intelligence study shows that in January 2026, 31% of shoppers used credit‑card installment plans while only 12%...
Quick Fire 🔥 with Semiloore Akoni
Semiloore Akoni, a growth and product‑marketing leader in African fintech and digital commerce, argues that retention must be engineered before a user even signs up. In his most recent role he slashed the time to a user's first transaction, lifting...
COVID-19 Impact on Shopping: Lasting Trends in Ecommerce & Payments
The pandemic reshaped U.S. shopping, cementing e‑commerce’s share at 16.6% of retail and driving a boom in online grocery sales projected to hit $250 billion by 2025. Contactless payment usage exploded, with roughly two‑thirds of consumers adopting the technology and 74%...
Best AI Agents for Sales: How AI Sales Agents Actually Work
AI sales agents are software that automate routine sales tasks such as abandoned‑cart recovery, lead qualification, and personalized follow‑ups, allowing merchants to operate 24/7 without expanding staff. They connect to ecommerce platforms, CRMs, and email tools via APIs, executing actions...
Founder Exits Loom over BigBasket, 1mg as Tata Digital Reset Continues
Tata Digital is orchestrating founder exits at its two flagship e‑commerce assets, BigBasket and 1mg, as it moves to install professional CEOs. BigBasket's founders Hari Menon and Vipul Parekh are in final talks to step down and may sell their...
TourRadar Flags Five European Hotspots as Bookings Surge in Early 2026
TourRadar says bookings for Finland, Austria, Poland, Albania and France have jumped sharply in the first months of 2026, with Finland leading the surge. The trend reflects travelers’ appetite for lesser‑known, nature‑rich and budget‑friendly European experiences.
Startup 360: Tim Fung on 13 Years of Being Airtasker-in-Chief
Tim Fung, co‑founder and CEO of Airtasker, reflects on more than a decade of building Australia’s first online job marketplace in episode 51 of Startup 360. He shares a memorable request where a Tasker was asked to fly to the US, retrieve...
Jonathan Adler Teams with Michaels Canada for Exclusive Home Décor and DIY Line
Jonathan Adler has partnered with Michaels Canada to launch an exclusive home décor and DIY collection, hitting stores and the retailer’s website on March 17. The line blends Adler’s signature color‑rich aesthetic with affordable, craft‑ready products, aiming to reach younger...
Amazon's 159,000‑sq‑ft Distribution Center Sparks Opposition in Waterville‑Sidney
Amazon announced plans for a 159,000‑square‑foot, last‑mile fulfillment center in Waterville‑Sidney, Maine, promising 150‑200 full‑ and part‑time jobs. Residents and city councilors voiced concerns about traffic, competition with union jobs and environmental impact, while developers highlighted tax‑revenue gains and minimal...
Macy's AI Chatbot Spurs 400% Sales Lift, Boosting Turnaround
Macy's rolled out its Gemini‑AI‑powered chatbot, Ask Macy's, and shoppers who used the tool spent roughly 4.75 times more than non‑users, a lift of about 400%. The surge in basket size is feeding the retailer’s dividend‑focused cash‑flow strategy and its...
Amazon Spring Sale Slashes Consumer Tech Prices up to 60%
Amazon wrapped up its Big Spring Sale on March 31, leaving deep‑discount tech deals still live on the site. Shoppers can still find up to 60% off on items ranging from Sony headphones to robot vacuums, while rivals such as...
AI Unlocks Fast Growth in Slow Industries
Massive market that very few people know how to apply AI. The guy basically built an affiliate network / distribution channel to sell weight loss drug and he was able to do it extremely quickly and efficiently with AI. I believe the...
Malaysia: Youth on Social Media Shaping the Digital Economy
Malaysian youth are turning social media platforms into engines of commerce, generating an estimated $4.7 billion in gross value added and supporting 147,000 jobs by 2025. The government highlighted this trend at the launch of a socioeconomic impact report, linking it...
How To Do Inventory Counts with Shopify POS
Shopify is retiring the Stocky app, removing it from the App Store on February 2 2026 and ending functionality on August 31 2026. Retailers must shift to the built‑in Quick Count extension included with POS Pro, which lets staff scan and adjust inventory directly...
RebatesMe Shopping Portal: $50 Sign Up Bonus
RebatesMe, a cash‑back shopping portal, is offering a $50 sign‑up bonus for new accounts, provided users earn at least $10 in cash back within 90 days—a much shorter window than the usual 365 days. The promotion matches the highest bonus...
Amazon's 159,000‑sq‑ft Distribution Center Faces Pushback in Waterville, Sidney
Amazon plans to build a 159,000‑square‑foot, last‑mile distribution center in Waterville and Sidney, Maine, promising 150‑200 full‑ and part‑time jobs. Local officials and residents question the project's traffic impact, wage differentials and environmental footprint, igniting a debate over the retailer’s...
How Your Product Margins Should Dictate Your Ad Budget
Shopify dropshippers often set ad spend arbitrarily, ignoring the decisive role of product margin. By calculating break‑even ROAS—selling price divided by profit per unit—stores can determine the minimum return needed to avoid losing money. Analysis of 211 products shows most...
Rave Restaurant Group Cuts Uber Eats Ties Over 30% Fee Hike
Rave Restaurant Group, the parent of Pizza Inn and Pie Five, terminated its partnership with Uber Eats after the platform raised marketplace fees, pushing the effective charge on delivery orders to as high as 30%. The move underscores mounting pressure on restaurant...
How Ecommerce Brands Should Budget for Penetration Testing in 2026 Without Under-Scoping Risk
E‑commerce brands in 2026 must treat penetration testing as a revenue‑protection expense rather than a simple compliance line‑item. Modern stacks combine headless front‑ends, APIs, third‑party services, and mobile apps, expanding the attack surface far beyond the public storefront. Budgeting errors...
Making Value Legible: How Heritage Brands Win in Ecommerce
Heritage brands often see weak ecommerce performance, mistakenly attributing it to pricing. The article argues that the real issue is the inability to make a product's value legible online, especially for premium items. THORENS exemplifies how visible mechanical design and...
Set up AI Agent for Dropshipping in 15 Minutes
How I Setup My AI Agent In 15 minutes For Dropshipping (anyone can do this) WATCH HERE 👉 https://t.co/zYMhNuKcDI This is the exact AI system I use to run my dropshipping store 24/7 without manual work. AI is changing how dropshipping works,...
Shopify Expands Capital Repayment Through Shopify Payments to All U.S. States
Shopify announced that its Capital repayment service will now route payments through Shopify Payments for merchants in every U.S. state, making it the default method. ACH debit remains available only as a fallback after three consecutive Shopify Payments failures. The...
Rising Amazon Fees? Just Buy More AMZN
Every time Amazon raises your fees, just buy some more $AMZN stock You should have realized by now how good their business model is - they just keep raking fees from sellers but you have nowhere else to go Just buy the...
Myntra CEO Nandita Sinha Set to Exit Amid Leadership Churn at Flipkart Group
Myntra CEO Nandita Sinha is leaving the company after four years, with Flipkart Fashion head Sharon Pais poised to take over. The departure adds to a wave of senior exits at Flipkart, including its CFO, as the group readies for a...
DoorDash, Family Dollar Expand SNAP Payments for Online Grocery Orders
DoorDash and Family Dollar announced that SNAP recipients can now use EBT cards to pay for eligible groceries and household items through the DoorDash app at participating Family Dollar stores. The service is live in 48 states and Washington, D.C.,...
Gap Introduces AI-Powered Checkout via Google Gemini
Gap says it will launch checkout within Google's Gemini, in an AI first from a major fashion company https://t.co/7Yr8fgyRp9
5 Questions That Drive 80% of Your Growth
In this episode of the eCommerce Playbook, host Richard Gaffin and CTC VP of e‑commerce strategy Luke Austin break down the five core questions that drive the majority of a direct‑to‑consumer brand’s growth work: forecasting targets, optimal channel spend allocation,...
Myntra CEO Nandita Sinha to Step Down: Report
Flipkart‑owned fashion e‑commerce platform Myntra announced that CEO Nandita Sinha will step down in the coming weeks, ending her tenure that began in 2022. Her departure comes as the company posted an 18‑fold profit jump to roughly $66 million and 18%...
Flipkart-Backed NeuroPixel.AI Shuts Down
NeuroPixel.AI, a Bangalore AI startup backed by Flipkart Ventures, shut down after six years due to intense competition from Google’s NanoBanana Pro and the loss of a major client that left it unpaid for six months. Despite offering fashion‑cataloguing, synthetic...
Sharpton Cites BNPL Racial Disparities
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton urged state attorneys general to broaden their buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) investigation, arguing the products disproportionately harm Black and Brown consumers. The inquiry, launched by seven states, already targets major players such as Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, PayPal,...
Quick Commerce Bets on Baby Care as Start-Ups Target Always-On Parenting Needs
India’s quick‑commerce sector is expanding into baby care, with start‑ups like OZi and Peeko promising 60‑minute, 24‑hour delivery of diapers, formula, toys and apparel. OZi has raised $6.2 million and now offers over 15,000 products from 400 brands, focusing on the...
Marketplace Briefing: Amazon Picks up Speed in Rural America with $4 Billion Delivery Push
Amazon is accelerating its delivery network in rural America, boosting same‑day or next‑day service to 16% of remote customers—a rise from 8% in mid‑2024. The company’s $4 billion logistics push helped it ship more than 13 billion items on same‑day or next‑day...