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
Senate Bill Would Require Online Platforms to Prevent Fraudulent Ads
Senators Ruben Gallego and Bernie Moreno introduced the Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct Act (SCAM Act) on Feb. 4, requiring online platforms to take reasonable steps to block fraudulent and deceptive ads. The bill expands the Federal Trade Commission’s and state attorneys’ ability to enforce consumer‑protection laws when scams slip through platform defenses. It has garnered backing from the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, underscoring industry concern over ad‑based fraud. A Reuters investigation cited that roughly 10% of Meta’s 2024 ad revenue—about $16 billion—came from scam‑related ads.
Clorox Completes $580 Million ERP Overhaul to Link Operations with Digital Commerce
Clorox has finished a five‑year, $580 million SAP ERP rollout across the United States and Canada, replacing a two‑decade‑old legacy system in 21 manufacturing plants. The cloud‑based platform unifies finance, supply chain, sales and planning with real‑time data, after training more...
Grainger Expands AI in Sales, Marketing, and KeepStock Tools
Grainger announced a 2026 AI expansion across its sales, marketing, and inventory services. The company will embed artificial intelligence into its SellerInsights platform to deliver prescriptive selling recommendations, new customer contacts, and coaching insights. Machine‑learning models will also optimize marketing...
LLM Ads Outperform Meta; Human‑Verified Badges Rise
Well, this is interesting. Update on a few of my 2026 predictions: #1 - LLM Ads Predicted they would knock the socks off of Meta ads. It's early, but reports of OpenAI charging the beta group $60 CPMs, roughly...
Find a Winning Dropshipping Product in 24 Hours
How i'd find a winning Dropshipping product (asap) if my life depended on it. WATCH HERE 👉 https://t.co/9ZbXoXPa5w If I had 24 hours and my life depended on it, this is exactly how I’d find a winning dropshipping product in 2026,...
Trends in Selling Gifts On Internet This Year
The episode breaks down the 2026 online gift‑selling landscape, highlighting four key trends: personalization as a sales driver, sustainability as a trust factor, the rise of experience‑based gifts, and the dominance of mobile checkout and short‑form video commerce. Listeners learn...
Payments Protocol by Coinbase, Shopify Processes Just $1.2M USDC Since June: Growthepie
Shopify, Coinbase and Stripe launched an open‑source Commerce Payments Protocol that lets merchants accept USDC on Base. Since the June 2025 rollout, growthepie reports only $1.2 million in USDC transactions across roughly 5,700 merchants and 3,200 customers. The bulk of that...
Albertsons Creates End-to-End Digital Party Planning Hub
Albertsons has introduced Celebrations, a digital hub that consolidates party supplies, custom cakes, décor, and beverage options into one online destination. The platform leverages the Albertsons AI shopping assistant to deliver personalized recommendations and curated party inspiration. Exclusive items from...
Equifax Says AI Tools Help Drive New Product Innovation to Record High
Equifax reported that AI tools and its cloud platform powered a record‑high Vitality Index in 2025, with 90% of employees using AI and 1,900 developers leveraging AI coding assistants. The firm added 40 AI patents, bringing its total to over...
E-Commerce Growth: How Successful Brands Use Instagram in 2026
The episode breaks down how e‑commerce brands can turn Instagram into a direct sales channel in 2026, emphasizing a systematic content mix of product showcases, educational guides, behind‑the‑scenes stories, and user‑generated content. It highlights the power of AI‑assisted growth tools...
Japan Retreats From Chinese Payment Apps Amid Money Laundering Concerns
Japanese retailers are pulling WeChat Pay and Alipay from their checkout systems amid rising political tension with China and intensified anti‑money‑laundering (AML) enforcement. The move reflects concerns that Chinese criminal groups are exploiting these platforms to launder funds by buying...
Bootstrapped Growth: $28‑33M Run Rate, 25% Profit Rise
My predictions for Retention.com and RB2B for 2026: TOP LINE: $28m run rate to $33m run rate (+17%) PROFIT: $12m run rate to $15m run rate (+25%) CHURN: Stays horrible. TEAM SIZE: Flat at 33 FTE. This would be considered...
UGC Product Videos that Actually Reduce Returns
User‑generated content (UGC) videos are emerging as a practical tool to curb e‑commerce returns by filling the information gap that static images and copy often leave. Short, authentic clips demonstrate fit, material feel, color fidelity, setup steps, and performance, turning...
Top 10 Paper Cup Manufacturers In the USA: A Comprehensive Guide For Businesses
The episode walks listeners through the ten largest U.S. paper cup manufacturers, highlighting each company's strengths in sustainability, customization, production capacity, and distribution. It emphasizes key criteria for choosing a supplier—FDA‑safe materials, eco‑friendly sourcing, consistent quality, pricing, and reliable delivery—while...
Retail Mobile CRM Guide 2026: Features, Use Cases, and Top 3 Apps
The episode defines mobile CRM for retail as a frontline‑focused system that lets associates capture context, act quickly, and trigger follow‑ups, distinguishing it from simply shrinking a desktop CRM onto a phone. It outlines essential features—fast in‑the‑moment UX, offline‑first access,...
Unlock Hidden Revenue with Complete Email Flows
5 signs your email program is leaving money on the table. And what to fix first: 1. Under 20% revenue from email Check if you have these 8 flows running: Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Checkout, Browse Abandonment, Post-Purchase, Cross-Sell, Win-Back, Back in Stock....
How Retailers Can Reset for Growth in 2026
Retailers entered 2026 after a bruising 2025, facing higher landed costs, tariff‑driven logistics fees and slimmer contribution margins. The article urges a reset that starts with P&L‑centric SKU costing and a measurement stack focused on true incremental profit rather than...
Jewelry Product Line Playbook: $100K Months (2026)
The episode outlines a focused product‑line strategy for DTC jewelry brands to achieve $100K‑plus months in 2026, emphasizing a tight catalog of 3‑5 hero SKUs, consistent visuals, and a hero‑core‑expansion system that adds matching add‑ons to boost average order value....
Embedded Payments Give SaaS a Lifeline as AI Reshapes Workflows
AI-driven agentic systems are unsettling traditional SaaS subscription models, prompting a sharp sell‑off that saw software indexes tumble over 14% and marquee names like Thomson Reuters and Salesforce plunge double‑digit percentages. Investors fear that conversational AI could bypass entire application...
Wero Payment Service Expands Pan-EU Availability Through Banking Circle
Wero, the European mobile payment solution developed by the European Payments Initiative, is now accessible through Banking Circle, extending its pan‑EU footprint. The integration enables businesses and fintechs to tap Wero’s real‑time, account‑to‑account transfers via Banking Circle’s APIs, complementing existing...
Shoppers Focus on Health as Supplement Sales Soar
UK shoppers are prioritising health, with one in four households naming physical health their top goal for 2026. NielsenIQ data shows protein and fibre‑based foods posting double‑digit growth—protein up 9.6% and fibre up 14.1% over the past 26 weeks. Supplement...
Ulta Spotlights 6 Female Athletes with New Beauty Roster, Strengthens Support for Women’s Sports
Ulta Beauty has introduced its inaugural Ulta Beauty Roster, partnering with six high‑profile female athletes across emerging and established sports. The roster is supported by a Roster for Change grant program aimed at reducing the dropout rate of girls in...
The Global Wallet War: Who Will Own the Customer?
Digital wallets have evolved from simple payment tools into comprehensive consumer interfaces that combine payments, identity, loyalty, and credit. Big Tech, banks, and fintechs are racing to own this hub, each leveraging distinct strengths—device ecosystems, trust, and agility. Ownership of...
Mastercard Offers Agentic AI Tools
Mastercard announced it will roll out a new suite of agentic AI tools for business customers in the second quarter of 2026. The platform lets firms build, test and deploy AI‑powered agents to enhance security, payments processing and customer‑experience functions....
Six Retailers Investing in Bricks-and-Mortar in 2026
Six UK retailers are accelerating physical‑store investment in 2026, marking a clear swing back to bricks‑and‑mortar. Co‑op will launch 18 new or reopened stores in the first quarter, while clothing brand Seasalt is adding locations in market towns and eyeing...
How To Excel at SEO for Niche Markets
The episode breaks down how niche businesses can leverage SEO to attract highly targeted, high‑intent traffic by focusing on long‑tail keywords and deep, authoritative content. It outlines the benefits of niche SEO—faster rankings, stronger brand authority, and a defensible market...
PayMore Continues Rapid Expansion with Plans for 96 New Stores in 2026
PayMore announced plans to open 96 new stores in 2026, expanding its footprint across the United States and Canada at an average rate of eight locations per month. The chain more than doubled its store count in 2025, rising from...
Walmart Readies Cross-Border Shipping Program for Sellers
Walmart is set to roll out Walmart Exports, a cross‑border shipping service for sellers using its Walmart Fulfillment Services, in early 2026. The program will initially ship eligible U.S.‑based inventory to customers in Mexico and Canada, with automatic enrollment for...
American Golf Acquired by Peter Jones and His Investment Group
Peter Jones and his investment group have acquired American Golf from private‑equity owner Endless. The specialist retailer, which generates £135 million in annual revenue and employs over 1,000 staff, operates more than 80 stores across the UK and Ireland alongside a...
The Payment Facilitator Model as a Growth Strategy for ISVs
The episode explores how the payment facilitator (PayFac) model is becoming a key growth engine for independent software vendors (ISVs) amid the rise of SaaS, AI, and embedded finance. It highlights the superior merchant experience PayFacs deliver—simplified onboarding, ongoing risk...
Turn a Simple Shopify Pain Into a Sellable App
Renata Raya (@reraya) built a profitable Shopify app called GoRecover and sold it on @acquiredotcom. She was running a Shopify agency in Mexico City and kept seeing the same issue. Customers abandoned carts and email recovery wasn’t working. Most merchants were...
First Install Tracked From ChatGPT via Promo Party
We have @heymantle analytics plugged into Promo Party. It shows we got our first install from ChatGPT. https://t.co/3ctXGeQ8rQ
Google Ad Network Invalid Clicks Report: Fraud vs Accidental
Mike Ryan examined over 550 million ecommerce clicks from Q4 2025 using Google’s new “general invalid clicks” metric. He found the Google Display Network (GDN) registers the highest invalid‑click rate—nearly one in five clicks—though most are accidental. In contrast, the Search Partner...
Bold Return Policies Disrupt Markets, Casper Proves It
Casper made $100M disrupting mattresses with ONE insight: people will buy a mattress in a box if you offer 100-night returns. Meanwhile you're scared to offer 14-day returns. That's the gap.
Love Island Live Shopping Event via eBay Live with Toni & Cacherel
eBay is launching a one‑day live shopping event on Friday 13 February at 3 PM GMT, streaming on eBay Live and hosted by Love Island All Stars winners Toni Laites and Cacherel Mercer. The showcase will sell the exact pre‑loved designer pieces...
PROFILE: How Beer52 Built a Community‑driven Craft Beer Empire
Beer52, launched in 2013, has become the UK’s leading craft‑beer subscription club, amassing over 200,000 members and earning a spot among the Sunday Times 100 fastest‑growing companies. For £27 a month, subscribers receive eight curated beers, snacks and the Ferment...
Crypto Going Mainstream Among US Merchants
According to a PayPal and National Cryptocurrency Association survey, 39% of U.S. merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout, and 84% anticipate it becoming commonplace within five years. Customer demand is a primary driver, with 88% of merchants reporting inquiries about...
Prolisto Officially Launches Prolisto Lite, a Free AI-Powered Web App for Creating eBay Listings From Product Photos
Prolisto has launched Prolisto Lite, a free AI‑powered web app that creates eBay listings from a single product photo. The Image‑to‑Listing engine generates a search‑optimized title, detailed description and item specifics without relying on barcodes or catalog data. It supports...
Watches of Switzerland Group Raises Full Year Sales Guidance
Watches of Switzerland Group lifted its full‑year sales guidance to 9‑11% in constant currency after a robust third quarter, with demand for luxury watches outpacing supply in both the UK and US. The company highlighted broad‑based growth across categories and...
Marketing Email Campaigns Reflected Tariffs, TikTok Trends in 2025
Omnisend’s 2025 analysis shows that three‑quarters of marketing email campaigns referenced tariffs or broader trade‑policy news, underscoring how supply‑chain costs dominate brand messaging. Thirteen percent of those emails highlighted “Made in USA” to reassure shoppers about product origin and pricing...
Shopify Chargeback Dos and Don’ts | Eastside Co
The episode breaks down Shopify chargebacks, explaining their causes—fraud, shipping issues, inaccurate listings, and refund disputes—and why they matter financially and reputationally. It walks listeners through Shopify’s built‑in dispute workflow and highlights the platform’s fee‑refund policy when merchants win a...
What Is an Integrated Campaign? 2026 Guide for E-Commerce
In this episode, host Loieto Tugas and guest William Gasner break down what an integrated campaign is and why it’s essential for e‑commerce brands in 2026. They explain the 4 Cs—Coherent, Consistent, Continuous, Complementary—and outline the key steps: clear goals, a...
OfferUp Scammers Are Out in Force: Here’s What You Should Know
OfferUp, the 15‑year‑old U.S. marketplace that processes more than 30 million transactions each year, is grappling with a surge of fraud schemes. Scammers routinely steer buyers and sellers toward off‑platform payment methods such as Zelle, Venmo, gift‑card codes, or cash‑app transfers,...
Watch: Waitrose Launches Sci-Fi TV Ads
Waitrose has unveiled a new television campaign titled “The Gastronaut,” created by Wonderhood Studios. The sci‑fi ad follows an astronaut who abandons space‑fuel meals for a home‑cooked prawn linguine, underscoring the brand’s “food lovers” ethos. The spot is sound‑tracked by...
Same-Day Pay Becomes a Hiring Edge as Paycheck Gaps Bite
Instant, same‑day pay is emerging as a competitive advantage in talent acquisition as workers grow intolerant of traditional payroll delays. The lag between work completion and wage access forces many to rely on high‑APR credit, effectively eroding 20‑30 % of earnings....
Pay Flexibility Rises as More Workers Earn Variable Income
A PYMNTS Intelligence study shows 66% of U.S. consumers still live paycheck to paycheck, with 42% doing so out of necessity. Income volatility is rising as six‑in‑ten Americans now earn their primary income from hourly wages, gig platforms, or contracts,...
Billing Shifts From Back-Office Chore to Customer Loyalty Test
Paymentus CEO Dushyant Sharma argues billing is evolving from a back‑office cost to a loyalty driver. Over the past five years, tech innovations have turned billing and payments into a value‑generating function, enabling hyper‑personalized engagement and reducing service costs. Intelligent...
M&S Leads Valentine’s Day Dining Spend, Says Research
Marks & Spencer leads Valentine’s Day dining spend, according to Vypr research, with 15% of shoppers choosing its ingredients and 18% planning dine‑in deals, edging out Tesco. The study, based on 1,900 UK consumers, shows only 65% intend to celebrate,...
Market Ignores Your Risk Tolerance—Test Everything
I lost $9k testing a supplement everyone said was 'over-regulated.' Now doing $50k/month. I spent $18k on a 'safe' home goods product. Shut it down in 6 weeks. The market doesn't care about your risk tolerance. Test everything.
Stake Launches Clothing Brand Stake Supply
Australian fintech platform Stake has entered the apparel market with Stake Supply, its first clothing and accessories label. The debut collection, called Drop 1, offers eight minimalist‑styled items ranging from apparel to a basketball, all sold online. Stake’s senior brand designer...