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
Amazon Launches Pay by Bank – Secure, Card-Free Payment Solution
Amazon has introduced Pay by Bank on its UK site, letting shoppers pay directly from their bank accounts without using cards. The service connects to customers' banking apps for biometric or PIN authentication, eliminating the need to store card details. Refunds are processed within minutes, and the method will soon cover Prime membership fees. Pay by Bank supports the UK’s National Payment Vision, promoting account‑to‑account transactions in e‑commerce.
Polygon Labs Perspective on Stablecoin Economics: Interview With CEO Marc Boiron
Polygon Labs is positioning its blockchain platform as a next‑generation payment rail that can seamlessly move money across fiat and crypto ecosystems. In an interview, CEO Marc Boiron explains how the company’s stablecoin framework aims to address legacy finance pain...
Marketplacer Powers EE Trade-In Capability via Marketplace Returns Flow
EE, a major UK mobile network, has integrated device trade‑in directly into its digital purchase flow using Marketplacer’s marketplace platform. By adapting its existing returns workflow, EE launched a low‑risk, scalable solution covering six device categories with instant trade‑in quotes...
Jollyes Launches ‘Lowest Price Pet Brand in the UK’
Jollyes Pets has introduced Simply Jollyes, the UK's lowest‑priced own‑label pet range, covering food and accessories for dogs, cats, small pets and birds. The line launches with 22 products and will be stocked in all 118 Jollyes stores this month,...
2026’s Digital Blueprint: Building Payment Stability in Construction
Late payments remain a chronic issue in construction, with 70% of contractors and subcontractors reporting regular delays that inflate costs and jeopardize projects. The financial strain forces firms to increase bids by roughly 8% and pushes material prices up by...
Payments Orchestration Becomes a Profit Center
Payments orchestration, once a back‑office utility, is now being positioned as a profit center for merchants. By inserting a control layer between merchants and multiple acquirers, processors and wallets, the technology enables real‑time routing decisions that optimize cost, authorization rates...
Why Game-Day Revenue Doesn’t Mean Same-Day Cash
Professional sports teams generate massive game‑day revenue, but cash arrives days or weeks later, creating a structural mismatch between inflows and outflows. Immediate expenses—player payroll, travel, security—must be paid upfront while ticket, merchandise, and media earnings settle on staggered schedules....
Nearly 3 in 4 Premium Cardholders Used a Card-Linked Offer in the Past Year
A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 3,066 U.S. consumers reveals that premium credit‑card holders—those paying annual fees above $100—are the most engaged segment, with 74% redeeming at least one card‑linked offer in the past year. By contrast, only 32% of free‑card...
Mastercard Tightens Rules for BIN Sponsors That Support FinTech Card Issuers
Mastercard has introduced BIN Sponsor Plus, an accreditation program for UK Bank Identification Number sponsors that enable fintechs to issue cards. The initiative formalizes higher standards for training, due diligence and operational rigor, while offering accredited sponsors dedicated Mastercard support....
Is Agentic Commerce Enterprise-Grade, or Not? Yes, Says Ayal Karmi - but It Needs Operational Rails
In early 2026 OpenAI and Google introduced the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) and Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), formalising AI‑driven checkout standards. nekuda positions itself as the enterprise‑grade bridge, providing secure payment rails that connect these protocols to merchant back‑ends. The...
Gold, Growth, And Getting Better Ft. Ostbye
In this episode, Craig MacBean, President of Ostbye, discusses navigating market volatility, especially with rising gold prices and unpredictable tariffs, while maintaining the core culture of the business after a recent acquisition. He emphasizes the importance of smart operations, leveraging...
emlrn.com Redefines Customer Support Outsourcing Through Brand-First Execution
emlrn limited is reshaping outsourced customer support by making brand alignment the core of its service model. Targeting e‑commerce, SaaS, fintech and other tech firms, the company delivers 24/7 omnichannel assistance that mirrors each client’s tone and processes. Structured onboarding...
Wakefit Posts Rs 421 Cr Revenue and Rs 32 Cr Profit in Q3 FY26
Wakefit reported Q3 FY26 revenue of Rs 421 crore, a 9% year‑on‑year increase, and posted a profit of Rs 32 crore after a loss in the same quarter last year. Other income contributed Rs 11 crore, lifting total income to Rs 432 crore. For the nine‑month period ending...
Why Identity Resolution Matters for Every Klaviyo Marketer
In this episode, Courtney Westlake explains why identity resolution is critical for Klaviyo marketers, highlighting that only about 30% of website visitors are currently identifiable due to privacy constraints and device fragmentation. She introduces the Klaviyo + Wunderkind Identity Guide, which shows...
Truth & Hair Raises Rs 2.5 Cr From Varun Alagh on Shark Tank India
Truth & Hair secured Rs 2.5 crore investment from Varun Alagh after its Shark Tank India appearance. The capital will be allocated to product innovation, marketing, and building an omnichannel retail and digital footprint. The brand, founded by Saumya Alagh and Shailesh...
GARAGE Launches U.K. E-Commerce as Part of International Expansion
GARAGE, the Montreal‑based women’s apparel brand, has launched a dedicated e‑commerce platform for the United Kingdom, offering shipping to all four nations. The digital rollout precedes the opening of its first physical stores on London’s Oxford Street and at Bluewater...
This Valentine’s Day, Perfume Is Playing Matchmaker
Perfume houses are leveraging Valentine's Day to launch romance‑focused collections and experiential campaigns, positioning scent as a modern matchmaking tool. LVMH announced the appointment of a new chief executive to lead its beauty division, signaling strategic emphasis on luxury fragrance...
Confessions of a Former Saks Designer: ‘If Your Retail Partner Is Knocking You Off, That’s a Red Flag’
Former Saks Fifth Avenue designer Hadley Pollet left the department‑store partnership in 2018 after witnessing buyers request cheap copies of luxury designs and a shift toward an asset‑light, drop‑shipping model. Saks later filed Chapter 11, leaving many boutique vendors uncertain about...
Brands Lean Into Grand Gestures This Valentine’s Day
Brands are turning to grand‑gesture promotions to cut through the clutter of Valentine’s Day advertising. Venus et Fleur revived its 10‑foot floral pop‑up trucks in major cities, offering a $5,000 influencer prize. Brilliant Earth introduced hyper‑personalized showroom date‑night experiences in...
Seoul-Born Borntostandout Aims to Be ‘the Craziest’ Fragrance Brand in Sephora
Seoul‑born fragrance house Borntostandout is set to debut on Sephora’s digital platform on Feb 24 and in physical stores on March 13, offering eleven scents ranging from $85 to $290. Founder Jun Lim, who self‑funded the brand after a career in investment...
Coupang Obstructed Korean Probe Into Data Breach, Ministry Says
Coupang, South Korea’s largest e‑commerce platform, obstructed a government investigation into a massive data breach by deleting access logs and other evidence. The Ministry of Science and ICT reports that a former staff engineer exfiltrated 25.6 terabytes of personal information, affecting...
How Sonsie Skin Breaks the ‘Clean Beauty’ Mold
In this episode, the CEO of Sonsie Skin discusses how the brand leverages community‑first tactics—such as garden‑girl activations and in‑person events—to turn customers into passionate brand advocates. The conversation highlights practical steps for creating viral moments that foster genuine connection...
Bose-Funded Noise Revenue Declines 24% to Rs 1,048 Cr in FY25
Noise, the Bose‑backed Indian wearables brand, reported FY25 revenue of Rs 1,048 crore, a 24% drop from the prior year. Operating expenses fell 25% to Rs 1,067 crore, aligning with the revenue contraction. A deferred tax benefit of Rs 47 crore pushed the...
Enhanced Financial Tools To Grow Your Business with Shopify
The episode outlines Shopify’s Winter 2026 updates to its suite of finance tools—including Balance, Capital, Credit, Bill Pay, and Tax—designed to simplify cash‑flow management and accelerate growth for merchants. New features such as the flexible Capital flex account, dynamic credit limits, automated budget...
Warehouse Slotting 101: Methods + Optimization (2026) – Shopify
The episode explains warehouse slotting—strategically placing inventory to speed up picking—by distinguishing macro (zone-level) and micro (bin-level) approaches and outlining five core methods such as velocity (ABC) slotting, affinity grouping, handling constraints, zone slotting, and seasonal adjustments. It highlights the...
Canadian Apparel Market Rebounded Strongly in 2025
Canadian apparel sales are projected to grow about 8.5% in 2025, erasing the 2.8% decline recorded in 2024. The rebound is anchored by a pronounced consumer shift toward value, fueling a 16.7% surge in resale apparel. Retailers that excelled in...
How an Indie Bridal Brand Earned a Major Marketing Moment at the Super Bowl
Indie bridal designer Hayley Paige secured a surprise fashion moment when her "Becoming Jane" wedding dress was worn during Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show. The exposure came just six months after she regained control of her eponymous brand following...
35% of Consumers Plan to Use Tax Refunds to Boost Savings
Tax season is underway and refunds are already hitting consumer accounts, with 56% of filers receiving a lump‑sum payment. New PYMNTS Intelligence data shows that 35% of those consumers intend to boost their savings, while the majority plan to use...
1-800-Flowers.com Announces Instacart Partnership Ahead of Valentine’s Day
1-800-Flowers.com has teamed with Instacart to ship fresh bouquets for Valentine’s Day, launching pre‑orders on Feb 9 with delivery windows up to five days in advance and on‑demand options for last‑minute shoppers. The integration places more than 700 florist locations on...
ByteDance Unveils Seedance 2.0 AI Video Model with Multi-Shot & Audio Capabilities
ByteDance, the parent of TikTok, launched Seedance 2.0, an AI video generation model that can craft multi‑shot scenes with synchronized sound effects, music, and dialogue in several languages. The system builds on the company’s existing generative‑AI portfolio and is praised...
Shopify Redesigns the Shop App Home Feed for a Video-Centric Swipeable Shopping Experience
Shopify has overhauled the Shop App home feed, turning it into a swipe‑able, video‑first shopping experience tailored to each user’s interests. President Harley Finkelstein touts the redesign as immersive storytelling that puts shoppable video front and center. Early impressions, however,...
Walmart Struggles to Keep Its Onn Streaming Boxes in Stock as Customers Abandon Amazon Fire TV in Droves
Customers are abandoning Amazon Fire TV after the retailer began blocking apps, prompting a surge in demand for alternative streaming platforms. Walmart’s low‑cost Onn 4K streaming boxes—Onn 4K, 4K Plus, and 4K Pro—have all gone out of stock both online...
Tired of Typing Card Numbers? E-Money Is the Fix Mobile Users Actually Want
Credit and debit cards were built for physical point‑of‑sale, not for mobile screens, and typing 16‑digit numbers on a phone creates friction that drives cart abandonment. E‑money services, exemplified by Jeton Cash, offer a prepaid, card‑free model where users top...
Google and Entrust Team to Combat Identity Fraud
Identity verification firm Entrust has announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to launch an AI‑powered solution that tackles rising identity fraud. The joint offering combines Entrust’s verification platform and fraud intelligence with Google’s Gemini AI models, threat intelligence, and...
Monzo Tops UK Banks for Wrongly Denying Scam Refunds in 2025, Ombudsman Data Shows
The Financial Ombudsman Service released 2025 data showing Monzo led UK banks in overturned fraud‑refund decisions. Of the 3,372 scam‑related complaints referred, Monzo incorrectly denied refunds in 34% of cases, the highest rejection rate among major lenders. The findings highlight...
How to Build a Pickleball Business: From Fan to Founder
The episode explores how passionate pickleball players are turning their love for the sport into thriving Shopify businesses, featuring founders like Jared Paul of The Kitchen, Maggie Brown of Recess, and David Groechel of 11SIX24. Key takeaways include building a...
Email Popup Performance In 2025: Data From 1.24 Billion Displays
The episode breaks down email popup performance data from 1.24 billion displays in 2025, revealing an average conversion rate of 2.1% and highlighting benchmarks for what constitutes underperforming, average, good, and excellent results. Key takeaways include the superiority of gamified popups...
How Website Downtime Monitoring Protects Your Revenue and SEO
Website downtime directly erodes revenue, wastes ad spend, and harms SEO. Even brief outages can prevent customers from completing purchases, drain marketing budgets, and generate crawl errors that lower search rankings. Implementing real‑time downtime monitoring provides instant alerts, enabling rapid...
Germany Plans to Eliminate Checks Entirely by 2027
The episode examines Germany’s plan to shut down all paper check processing by the end of 2027, highlighting the dramatic drop from 75 million checks in 2007 to just 2 million in 2024, now representing only 0.01% of cashless payments. It attributes...
Best Ecommerce Platforms for Small Businesses in 2026: Our Shortlist
The article ranks the five best ecommerce platforms for small businesses in 2026, highlighting Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and Square Online. It provides a quick‑comparison table with starting prices, free‑plan availability, and ideal use cases, then dives into each platform’s...
Selling High-Ticket Home Goods Online: How This Leading Brand Turns Craftsmanship Into Conversion
The episode explores how high‑ticket artisan home‑goods brands succeed online by selling confidence instead of discounts, using detailed visual storytelling, transparent craftsmanship narratives, and robust customization options. It highlights that education—through FAQs, guides, and behind‑the‑scenes content—replaces high‑pressure sales tactics, building...
Scaling DTC Brands: 5 Fulfillment Lessons From High-Growth eCommerce Companies
The episode breaks down five essential fulfillment lessons for scaling direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) brands, emphasizing data‑driven inventory systems, SKU‑level control, transparent real‑time tracking, warehouse automation, and distributed fulfillment networks. It shows how automated alerts can turn expiring stock into flash‑sale revenue,...
In an Era of Accountability, Third-Party Measurement Is Retail Media Networks’ Biggest Asset, Not Enemy
Retail media networks (RMNs) are facing budget pressures, making accountability essential. Brands increasingly demand third‑party measurement to validate incremental sales, visits, and ROAS across channels. Independent metrics reveal the “halo effect,” capturing off‑premise purchases that in‑house reporting misses. By embracing...
Arrow Electronics: AI Is Reshaping How Customers Design, Buy and Deploy Technology
Arrow Electronics reported a strong Q4 2025, with sales climbing 20% to $8.746 billion and net income nearly doubling to $195 million. Full‑year revenue reached $30.85 billion, up 10%, while net income rose 46% to $571 million. Executives said AI, edge computing and data‑center...
Amazon PPC Optimization: How Negative Keywords Reduce Wasted Ad Spend
The episode explains how Amazon sellers can dramatically cut wasted PPC spend by implementing strategic negative keywords, highlighting that 25‑35% of ad budgets are lost to irrelevant clicks. It walks through the pitfalls of broad match campaigns, showcases SellerQI’s automated...
Anta Plots First US Flagship
Chinese sportswear group Anta announced the opening of its first U.S. flagship store in Beverly Hills, a 3,000‑square‑foot “brand hub” slated to open Friday. The launch follows Anta Sports’ recent acquisition of roughly a 29% stake in German brand Puma...
Windows Vps: How It Works, What To Choose, And How To Run It Safely
The episode explains what a Windows VPS is, why you’d choose it over Linux or shared hosting, and how to run it securely. It stresses that buying a Windows VPS also means buying responsibility for updates, access control, and backups,...
Retail’s Hidden AI Blind Spot
Artificial intelligence has moved from experiment to consumer expectation in retail, with AI agents, search, and checkout now standard features. However, MIT research shows 95% of generative AI pilots fail because of fragmented product data, leading to poor recommendations. Inaccurate...
UCP Makes Shopify’s Entire Catalog Instantly Searchable
UCP has been live for like a week and there's already a @Shopify product search engine on it. "…the entire Shopify ecosystem is searchable. As more platforms adopt UCP, their product catalogs will become explorable…" ...I used it to find Hot...
Eddie Bauer Files for Bankruptcy, Begins Winding Down All Stores in the US and Canada
Eddie Bauer’s U.S. and Canadian store operator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announcing the closure of 175 of its roughly 220 locations. The business faces a $1.6 million weekly cash outflow with only about $20 million in cash reserves, while liabilities may exceed...