News•Feb 10, 2026
Sales of Fresh Flowers Surge on TikTok Shop Ahead of Valentine’s Day
TikTok Shop’s flowers and gardening category posted a 440% year‑on‑year surge, driven by a 75% increase in LIVE shopping sessions. Independent UK florist Oh So Floral saw orders jump 85% in the fortnight before Valentine’s Day and will host over 50 hours of live streams to capture demand. The duo combines traditional floristry expertise with TikTok’s real‑time commerce tools, offering personalised bouquets at competitive prices. TikTok reports more than 200,000 UK SMBs selling on the platform, with 6,000 daily Shop Lives, signalling a broader shift toward interactive retail.
By ChannelX (formerly Tamebay)
News•Feb 10, 2026
Dunelm Posts Solid H1 Despite Softer Second Quarter
Dunelm reported a solid first‑half FY26, with total sales climbing 3.6% year‑on‑year to £926 million and digital participation rising to 41%, outpacing the broader homewares market. Market share edged up 20 basis points to 7.9%. The second quarter was softer, with...
By InternetRetailing
News•Feb 10, 2026
Ask an Expert: Should Merchants Block AI Bots?
E‑commerce veteran Scot Wingo argues that merchants must decide whether to block or welcome AI bots that now crawl retail sites. Four major agents—ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity—collectively command roughly one billion monthly active users, and Google’s shift to AI...
By Practical Ecommerce
News•Feb 10, 2026
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....
By ChannelX (formerly Tamebay)
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By PaySpace Magazine
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By ChannelX (formerly Tamebay)
News•Feb 10, 2026
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,...
By Retail Gazette
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 10, 2026
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....
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 10, 2026
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....
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Diginomica
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By TechBullion
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Entrackr
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Entrackr
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Retail Insider Canada
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Glossy
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Glossy
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Modern Retail
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Glossy
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Bloomberg – Technology (sitewide)
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Entrackr
News•Feb 10, 2026
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...
By Retail Insider Canada
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Glossy
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Digital Commerce 360
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By TechBullion
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By PaySpace Magazine
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By TechBullion
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By PaymentsJournal
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Total Retail
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Digital Commerce 360
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Retail Dive
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Total Retail
News•Feb 9, 2026
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...
By Retail Dive
News•Feb 9, 2026
Search to Checkout: How Alphabet Is Building Agentic Commerce
Alphabet announced a $175‑$185 billion AI‑focused capital plan for 2026, positioning artificial intelligence as the backbone of its commerce, cloud and enterprise offerings. The company highlighted intense compute constraints as it scales Gemini, which now handles over 10 billion tokens per minute...
By Payments Cards & Mobile
News•Feb 9, 2026
Does Sourcing Diversification Matter in the Age of Tariffs?
Tariff volatility has shifted from a temporary policy tool to a lasting cost driver for apparel and footwear retailers, exposing those overly dependent on a single sourcing region. Diversifying production across multiple geographies is now framed as an agility strategy,...
By Total Retail
News•Feb 9, 2026
FinTechs Reshape Middle East Money Movement as Capital Returns
The Middle East is emerging as a fintech hotbed, driven by high smartphone usage, youthful demographics, and state‑backed payment infrastructure. After a global funding slowdown, capital surged back in 2025, with MENA fintech investment climbing 77% to $7.5 billion, 58% of...
By PYMNTS
News•Feb 9, 2026
Superdrug to Launch 30 New Stores in 2026
Superdrug announced a 2026 rollout of 30 new stores across the United Kingdom, adding roughly 600 jobs. The openings will focus on large‑format destination sites in retail parks, aiming to create immersive, experience‑led environments. Alongside the new stores, the retailer...
By Retail Gazette
News•Feb 9, 2026
Kroger Names Ex-Walmart Exec as New CEO
Kroger announced Greg Foran as its new chief executive, succeeding interim leader Ron Sargent, who will stay on as board chairman. Foran, a former Walmart U.S. head and most recently Air New Zealand CEO, brings over four decades of global...
By Retail TouchPoints
News•Feb 9, 2026
Smart Stores Aren’t Enough: 2026 Will Be Defined by Smarter Operations
Retail executives predict 2026 will be defined by operational intelligence rather than eye‑catching store tech. A Tech Mahindra‑Coresight study shows 92% of retailers are investing in solutions that tighten data, inventory and decision‑making. The report warns that AI‑driven experiences crumble...
By Retail TouchPoints
News•Feb 9, 2026
Walmart to Add Automation, Robotics to Louisiana Distribution Center
Walmart announced a $330 million investment to modernize its Opelousas, Louisiana, regional distribution center, adding robotics and automation. The upgrade, slated to begin this year, will double the facility’s shipping capacity once completed. This effort is part of a broader initiative...
By Retail Dive
News•Feb 9, 2026
Late Payments? Governments Are Taking Action
The episode explores how governments worldwide are intervening to curb late supplier payments, a practice that intensified after the global financial crisis as firms hoarded cash. Lead analyst Hugh Thomas explains that high inflation environments, like Brazil’s, and the shift...
By PaymentsJournal
News•Feb 9, 2026
Walmart’s Decade of Change with Doug McMillon
Doug McMillon stepped down after a decade as Walmart CEO, leaving a company transformed by technology and e‑commerce. Under his tenure, net sales rose 43% and net income grew 21%, while e‑commerce revenue exploded from $10 billion to $121 billion. Capital spending...
By Retail Dive
News•Feb 9, 2026
Most Retailers Are Using the Wrong Tools to Manage Their Products and Content
New Canto research reveals that 88% of online retailers struggle to keep product information consistent across channels, while 78% juggle multiple disconnected tools. Traditional approaches—spreadsheets, generic PIMs, and conventional DAMs—each fall short of the unique needs of product‑centric retailers. Canto...
By InternetRetailing
News•Feb 9, 2026
Emerging Economies Are Most Bullish on Crypto Opportunities
Emerging economies are showing the strongest optimism toward cryptocurrency opportunities, driven by rapid expansion in mobile money and payment gateway ecosystems. Projections indicate mobile money users will surpass 2.2 billion by 2030, while the global payment gateway market is expected to...
By PaySpace Magazine
News•Feb 9, 2026
Brits to Spend a Record £2.38 Billion on Valentine’s Day
Brits are set to spend a record £2.38 billion on Valentine’s Day, a 7% increase from last year. Parcelhero estimates 25 million cards, 22 million gifts and 4 million bouquets will be purchased, with jewellery and clothing averaging £107.52 per spender. Men in the...
By InternetRetailing
News•Feb 9, 2026
EU Banking Chief Calls for Visa and Mastercard Alternatives
European Payments Initiative chief Martina Weimert warned that the Eurozone relies heavily on Visa and Mastercard, which handle roughly two‑thirds of card transactions. Thirteen EU members lack any domestic alternative, prompting calls for a cross‑border European network. EPI has launched...
By PYMNTS