Today's Ecommerce Pulse
Target launches Circle Deal Days to rival Amazon Prime Day
Target announced its Target Circle Deal Days running June 23‑26, positioning the free‑to‑join program as a direct competitor to Amazon Prime Day. New members who enroll between June 14‑22 receive a 15% discount on their first purchase and a free Starbucks coffee or Bullseye cookie on June 23. Additional perks include 50% off the first year of Target Circle 360.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Howdens to acquire DIY Kitchens for $495M
From Nausea to Relief, How Beauty Founders and Execs Are Reacting to the Supreme Court’s Tariff Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to block the Trump‑era tariffs on Chinese beauty products, ending weeks of uncertainty for the industry. Beauty founders and executives, who had been bracing for higher import costs, described the decision as a “relief” after a period of “nauseous” volatility. The ruling allows brands to maintain current pricing, while many are accelerating supply‑chain diversification and eyeing growth in emerging markets such as Brazil’s K‑beauty segment. Meanwhile, retailer Saks announced a new round of bankruptcy financing, highlighting broader financial adjustments in the sector.
Rodan + Fields Moves Beyond Social Selling with Influencer-Powered ‘C-Suite’ Campaign
Rodan + Fields is transitioning from a pure social‑selling model to an omnichannel strategy, launching its Pure C Serum on a new direct‑to‑consumer website and through Ulta Beauty. To amplify the rollout, the brand unveiled a “C‑Suite” influencer campaign featuring seven...
Off Season Taps Into the NBA’s Growing Merchandise Sales with New Licensed Fashion Collection
Off Season, the fashion label known for NFL‑centric apparel, launched its first NBA‑focused ready‑to‑wear collection, featuring items from halter tops to track jackets. The line spotlights a select group of teams—including the Knicks, Warriors, Lakers and Clippers—and is sold through...
Behind the Resurgence: Zomato, Swiggy Regain Food Delivery Momentum in the Dec Quarter
India’s food‑delivery duopoly posted a strong rebound in the October‑December quarter, with Zomato’s gross order value climbing 21.3% and Swiggy’s rising 20.5%, both surpassing the 20% growth threshold. Monthly transacting users grew 21.5% to 24.9 million for Zomato and 18.1 million for...
Amazon Borrows Forum ‘Mentor’ Program From eBay
Amazon has introduced a Seller Expert Pilot Program, inviting top contributors on its Seller Forums in the US, UK, Japan, and India to earn gift cards for posting quality content and providing feedback. Participants can receive a $100 gift card...
Ant Group’s Alipay AI Pay and AI Health App AQ Each Surpass 100 Million Users During CNY Highlighting AI Adoption...
Ant Group reported that its AI‑powered payment service, Alipay AI Pay, and its AI Health application, AQ, each surpassed 100 million active users during the Chinese New Year holiday. The milestone underscores a rapid acceleration of AI‑driven consumer services in China,...
Best Practices Are Meaningless Without Audience Research
The article argues that generic best practices produce mediocre marketing results unless they are informed by audience research. It explains that understanding the specific audience’s preferences, language, and hang‑out places transforms bland tactics into resonant campaigns. Practical methods such as...
Visa Expands Latin America Footprint: To Acquire Argentina’s Prisma Medios De Pago and Newpay
Visa announced the acquisition of Argentina’s Prisma Medios de Pago and the fintech platform Newpay, marking a strategic push into Latin America’s payments ecosystem. The combined deal, valued at over $200 million, will be funded largely with cash. By integrating Prisma’s...
How Freedom Furniture Is Turning Casual Browsers Into Loyal Customers
Freedom Furniture is leveraging AI to unify its omnichannel retail experience, from discovery to post‑sale service. By expanding its catalog from 12,000 to over 70,000 SKUs through a dropship model, the retailer relies on AI‑driven search and recommendation engines that...
Adore Beauty Sales Soar but Black Friday ‘Overperformance’ Hurts Profits
Adore Beauty posted an 8.7% year‑on‑year revenue increase to $111.9 million, delivering a record underlying EBITDA of $4.1 million, up 14.5%. The strong Black Friday‑Cyber Monday sales drove a 120‑basis‑point dip in gross profit margin, falling to 35% as discounting intensified. The...
How To Prepare for Tax Season: Tax Prep for Ecommerce
The article provides a step‑by‑step guide for ecommerce owners to prepare for U.S. tax season, highlighting the added complexity of multistate sales‑tax, 1099‑K reporting, digital product rules, and international VAT obligations. It explains filing deadlines for sole proprietorships, partnerships and...
Direct-to-Consumer Infrastructure Powers J. Cole’s Album Sales
Direct-to-consumer is still a big opportunity, even for the biggest artists in the world. That’s the opportunity EVEN saw. Build the infrastructure once, make it work at every scale, and help artists turn moments into sales. The company just powered J....
How Interior Designers Build a Shopify Store That Captures Product Revenue From Day One
Interior designers with sizable followings can turn their influence into direct e‑commerce revenue by launching a Shopify store that combines service bookings, curated dropship products, and content publishing. The model promises 20‑35% of annual income from product sales and bookings,...
Why Amazon Sellers Need a Specialized Agency After $500K in Revenue
Amazon sellers reaching $300K‑$500K in monthly revenue encounter a structural shift in operational complexity that outpaces a lean, generalist model. Managing dozens of ASINs, multi‑marketplace listings, and five‑figure ad budgets requires specialized expertise across PPC, SEO, content, and inventory. The...
AI-Driven Playbook: Build $100M Ecommerce From Scratch
How to build a $100M+ company with AI in ecommerce: Step 1: AI scrapes social media for viral content in a niche It's watching what's trending, what's getting engagement, what people are talking about. Step 2: AI creates organic content around that niche Start...
Meta Prioritizes Broad Targeting Over Tight Layering
Meta just made detailed targeting "mostly a suggestion." Graph API v25 dropped this month bringing an inevitable conclusion to a direction they have been signaling for a long time. Your audience selections? They're now inputs, not constraints. If you're still building campaigns around tight...
Data to Decisions in an Instant
Retail executives at the FMI Midwinter Conference warned that the rise of agentic commerce will collapse the traditional lag between data collection and purchasing decisions. Generative AI agents embedded in phones and devices will make instant, autonomous buying choices, shifting...
The Anatomy of Perfect Content: How Marketers Can Reach Consumers in the AI Era
The Expedia Group Advertising "Science of Wanderlust" study surveyed over 7,000 consumers and used eye‑tracking to pinpoint the creative elements that cut through today’s AI‑saturated content stream. It found video drives purchase intent three times more than static images, while...
This Latin American Rival to Amazon Reports Earnings This Week. How to Trade It with Options
MercadoLibre, the dominant e‑commerce and fintech platform in Latin America, will report its Q4 2025 results on Tuesday, with analysts forecasting roughly $28.6 billion in revenue for the full year. The company posted a 39% year‑over‑year revenue jump to $7.41 billion in Q3 2025,...
What Amazon’s Big-Box Move Means for Retail Media and Brands
Amazon is opening its largest ever big‑box store, a move framed as a physical challenge to Walmart and Costco but primarily a data play. The new footprint expands Amazon’s ability to observe shopper behavior, serve retail media ads, and claim...
Monetize Your Thank‑You Page with One‑Click Upsells
Brands will spend $50 to get a customer to checkout and then show them a generic Shopify thank-you page… Make it make sense. That page has a 100% view rate. Higher than: → Your homepage → Your landing pages → Every ad you've ever run It's...
Influencers Drove Gymshark’s $128M Growth, Not Ads
Gymshark went from $0 to $128M in 6 years using influencer marketing. No TV ads. No billboards. Just athletes who genuinely wore the brand. Meanwhile you're running cold Facebook ads with zero social proof. That's the gap.
The Benefits of Leveraging a Canadian Warehouse or 3PL for American Companies with Canadian Orders
U.S. companies with regular Canadian orders are re‑evaluating fulfillment strategies as border delays, rising transportation costs, and recent tariff changes erode the efficiency of U.S‑centric models. Positioning inventory in Canada—either via owned warehouses or third‑party logistics providers—removes the final customs...
Meet Every Shopper Where They Are: The Retail Imperative for Multimodal, Accessible Self-Service
Self-service technology now appears in checkout lanes, lockers, ordering tablets, and payment devices across retail environments. Many of these systems remain single‑mode, assuming shoppers can see, hear, and touch without assistance, which excludes a growing segment of customers. Multimodal, accessible...
Article Adds Klarna Option and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/23/26
Klarna has partnered with Canadian furniture retailer Article to offer buy‑now‑pay‑later at checkout. Payments platform WanderWallet launched a QR‑code based service in Bolivia, targeting local payment habits. Gift‑card provider Tillo will now reward childcare spending through the Kindo platform. SignaPay...
ZigZag Partners with Vinted Go to Meet Rising Demand for Locker Returns
ZigZag has integrated Vinted Go into its carrier library, extending its out‑of‑home (OOH) returns network to more than 14,000 locker and shop locations across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. The partnership gives ZigZag‑connected retailers immediate access to Vinted...
From Good to Better: The Real Focus Required to Scale Profitably
The article highlights the often‑ignored "good‑to‑better" stage where businesses are healthy but growth stalls without intentional focus. It argues that founders must shift from reactive fixes to strategic clarity, carving out dedicated thinking time. By concentrating on one of three...
AI-Powered Video Analytics: A Force Multiplier for Retail Security and Operations
Retailers are rapidly adopting AI‑powered video analytics to strengthen loss‑prevention and streamline operations. The technology automatically flags suspicious behavior, recognizes license plates linked to organized retail crime, and provides searchable video clips via natural‑language queries, cutting investigation time dramatically. Integrated,...
E633: I Snuck Into Alibaba’s China HQ
In this episode, host Dave recounts his misadventure of missing Amazon's China conference and unexpectedly gaining access to Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters, offering a behind‑the‑scenes tour of the modern campus and its co‑working culture. He contrasts Alibaba’s ecosystem—highlighting Taobao’s massive GMV...
Air Cargo Belgium Drives E-Commerce Growth
Air Cargo Belgium is cementing Belgium’s role as Europe’s e‑commerce gateway, processing over one billion parcel declarations in 2024 and aiming for 1.5 billion by the end of 2025. The organization relies on AI, data‑driven practices and digital pilots to streamline...
From Hobby to Omnichannel Success: How Les Jumelles Is Coloring the Belgian Fashion World
Les Jumelles, founded by Magalie Aerts as a garage‑based webshop ten years ago, has grown into an omnichannel fashion brand with three flagship stores in Belgium and a thriving online channel that generates 60‑70% of sales. The company emphasizes personalized...
Renewed Sense of Confidence Feeds Through Into eBay Q4 2025 Earnings
eBay reported a full‑year GMV of roughly $80 billion, up 6% globally and nearly 10% in the United States, marking a return to double‑digit growth. Focus categories such as fashion and refurbished tech drove over 12% GMV expansion and now account...
Walmart and UK Grocers Report Parallel Q4 Strength Despite Differing Retail Landscapes
Walmart posted a 5.6% revenue increase and a 10.8% rise in operating income for Q4 FY26, driven by a 27% jump in U.S. e‑commerce and 24% global digital sales growth. The retailer also saw advertising revenue surge 37%, with Walmart...
LaunderPay POS Solution Integrates Epson Thermal Receipt Printers
Epson announced that its m‑Series thermal receipt printers are now embedded in LaunderPay's all‑in‑one laundry POS platform, targeting wash‑and‑fold, delivery and dry‑cleaning operators. The integration delivers compact, high‑performance printing for receipts and bag tags while offering customizable receipt length to...
Belgian Fashion Brand Signe Nature Opens Online Store
Belgian fashion label Signe Nature, part of the Tricobel group, launches its first online store after 25 years of exclusive physical retail. The e‑shop adds a digital channel to more than 300 multi‑brand outlets and ten Espace Mode stores. It...
Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC Bring Live Social Commerce Experience to AI-Driven Catwalk
THG Studios unveiled its World’s First AI‑Driven Immersive, Shoppable Catwalk, integrating a live TikTok shopping segment hosted by Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC. The event coincides with Topshop’s high‑street comeback through John Lewis, offering both in‑person and global viewers the ability to...
Is Inventory Processing Time Slowing Your Brand’s Growth?
Small and mid‑size brands are losing cash flow when inventory induction time— the period between arrival at a fulfillment center and being sale‑ready—gets stretched. Delays lock capital, force costly expedited freight, and can miss seasonal demand, squeezing margins. A hybrid...
Business Crisis Management When “Nothing Happened”
The article examines how businesses often launch full‑scale crisis protocols even when no real incident has occurred. It highlights the pitfalls of over‑reacting, such as wasted resources, stakeholder fatigue, and reputational damage. By presenting case studies and expert insights, it...
Urban Company’s InstaHelp Hits 50,000 Daily Bookings
Urban Company’s instant‑service housekeeping arm InstaHelp recorded 50,520 bookings on Feb 22, 2026, surpassing the 50,000‑a‑day milestone less than a year after its pilot launch. The surge positions the vertical to exceed 1.5 million monthly bookings, contributing Rs 6.8 crore in revenue and Rs 28 crore in...
JIM.com Brings Its AI-Powered Business Platform to Android, Opening the Door to Millions More U.S. Micro Entrepreneurs
JIM.com, the AI‑driven fintech platform for micro‑sellers, launched its Android app, extending its full suite of AI business agent features to the 45% of U.S. smartphones that run Android. The rollout follows an iOS‑only debut in early 2025 that already...
Digital Video Asset Manager & Image Optimization: Smart Strategies for Managing Modern Digital Content
In this episode Steve Hutt outlines how Shopify merchants can transform their media workflow by adopting a Digital Video Asset Manager (DAM) and robust image optimization. He explains the ROI of DAMs—cutting asset‑search time by up to 40% and delivering...
D2C Lifestyle Brand DailyObjects Posts Rs 110 Cr Revenue in FY25
DailyObjects, the Indian D2C tech‑accessories brand, posted Rs 110 crore revenue for FY25, a 31% increase over the prior year. The surge in sales was offset by a 60% jump in net loss, which rose to Rs 16 crore as total expenses climbed 30%...
Retailers Reset Expectations for 2026 – Operations Is Where the Battle Is Won
Australian retailers and e‑commerce firms are entering 2026 with a pragmatic outlook, prioritising operational discipline over aggressive expansion. Productivity has become a frontline commercial issue as labour constraints and cost pressure erode margins. Companies are moving from blunt cost‑cutting to...
3 Standout Strategies Driving Revlon’s 2026 Comeback Plan
Revlon, under CEO Melissa Peluso, is executing a three‑pronged turnaround aimed at reviving its legacy brands. The strategy emphasizes a narrowed “e‑glam” identity for Revlon, a clean‑beauty refresh for Almay, and an aggressive expansion of its fragrance portfolio through new...
The Playbook for Winning over Price-Conscious Consumers
U.S. retail sales are still growing modestly despite inflation, but brands must win over increasingly price‑conscious shoppers. Executives say the era of blunt discounting is giving way to “value articulation,” where consumers evaluate a product’s real‑life solution and equity impact....
Kogan.com ‘Firing on All Cylinders’, Founder Says, as Group Profit Falls 20%
Kogan Group reported mixed H1 FY26 results, with its flagship Kogan.com platform delivering 21% sales growth and a 17% revenue increase, while the New Zealand acquisition Mighty Ape saw sales fall 9% and a 25% revenue drop, dragging group NPAT down 20%...
What Is GitHub? How To Use GitHub To Manage Code
In this episode Ash Moosa explains what GitHub is and how it helps small businesses manage evolving e‑commerce code through version control. He walks through the core concepts—repositories, branches, forks, pull requests, issues, GitHub Actions, and GitHub Pages—and shows how they...
How to Calculate ROI for AI Investments (2026) – Shopify
The episode breaks down how ecommerce businesses can accurately calculate AI ROI by defining a clear formula, accounting for both direct financial gains and indirect benefits such as risk mitigation, operational efficiencies, and data‑related costs. It highlights why AI ROI...
E-Commerce Stocks Rally as Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs
The episode examines the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision that invalidated most of former President Trump's global tariffs, a move that instantly lifted e‑commerce stocks such as Amazon, Wayfair, Etsy, Shopify, eBay and Pinduoduo. The hosts explain how the tariffs, imposed...
Freshpet Inc (FRPT) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Freshpet reported Q4 2025 net sales of $285.2 million, an 8.6% year‑over‑year increase, and full‑year sales of $1.102 billion, up 13% despite a slowdown in the overall pet‑food category. Adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to $61.2 million and adjusted gross margin improved to 48.4%,...