Can Bed Bath & Beyond’s Bilt Partnership Simplify Its Experience?
Bed Bath & Beyond announced a partnership with Bilt to embed the home‑rewards provider’s Guest Experience Platform across its expanding brand portfolio, which now includes Kirkland’s and BuyBuy Baby. The collaboration aims to deliver a simpler, more intuitive shopping journey and unified loyalty benefits for Bilt members at participating locations. Details on specific experiences and perks are slated for a summer rollout. Success hinges on Bed Bath & Beyond’s ability to execute consistent messaging without adding another layer of complexity.
Target Builds Receive Center in Houston to Reduce Warehouse Congestion
Target has opened a 1.2 million‑square‑foot Receive Center in Houston, investing $265 million and creating 185 jobs. The facility acts as an upstream hub, holding merchandise from global vendors until demand signals trigger shipment to six regional distribution centers and a flow...
Gifting Marketplace Flowwow Rebrands to Udora, Separating From Russian Business and Raising €8.5 Million for European Growth
Udora, the former Flowwow gifting marketplace, closed a €9.2 million (~$9.9 million) private round and rebranded to signal a clean break from its Russian operations. Headquartered in Dubai, the company is focusing on European growth, expanding its product catalogue, AI‑driven personalization, and...
AI Is The Biggest Driver Of Change In Retail, Says World Retail Congress Chair
At the World Retail Congress in Berlin, chair Ian McGarrigle declared AI the single biggest catalyst reshaping retail, warning that the 2030 winners will be those who invest heavily in artificial intelligence. German Digital Transformation Minister Karsten Wildberger stressed that...
Digital Wave Technology® and ChannelEngine Partner to Accelerate AI-Driven Marketplace Growth
Digital Wave Technology and ChannelEngine have formed a strategic partnership that blends DWT’s AI‑native ONE Platform with ChannelEngine’s connectivity to over 1,300 global marketplaces. The joint solution unifies product data, automates enrichment, and streamlines order, pricing, and performance workflows across...
Bloomreach Launches Loomi AI for Shopify: A Single App for Personalizing the Entire Customer Journey
Bloomreach unveiled Loomi AI for Shopify, an embedded app that links Shopify stores directly to Bloomreach’s AI‑driven marketing and search suite. The solution lets merchants personalize search, browse, email, SMS and on‑site experiences using real‑time customer, product and commerce data,...
Royal Mail Launches Parcel Postboxes for Medium-Sized Parcels
Royal Mail has introduced a solar‑powered parcel postbox that can accept medium‑sized parcels up to 24 cm high, 48 cm long and 43 cm wide. Around 600 of these new boxes will be installed across the UK over the next six months, beginning...
Deluxe Named MRI Partner and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 4/29/26
Deluxe Corp. has been appointed the official processing partner for MRI Software’s rent‑payment platform, expanding its footprint in real‑estate fintech. Commerce.com integrated PayPal’s Store Sync into BigCommerce, boosting AI‑driven product visibility for merchants. Lightspark teamed with Visa to launch Visa‑debit...
Fashion Resale Platform Culture Circle Targets US $100 Million Revenue by FY ’27
Culture Circle, an Indian luxury fashion resale marketplace, reported FY26 GMV of Rs 153 crore (≈$16.1 million), a dramatic rise from $0.36 million in FY25. The platform now lists over 2.5 million products, serves more than five million monthly active users, and works with 7,000...
PayPal Says AI Shopping Agents Are Creating an Invisible Storefront Economy
PayPal’s first U.S. Agentic Commerce Pulse Survey of 498 merchants reveals that while 95% can detect AI agent traffic, only about 20% have structured, machine‑readable product catalogs needed for real‑time purchases. The majority—86% to 94%—anticipate agentic commerce will positively impact...
TV Becomes a Growth Channel for Commerce
The Circana report shows TV is shifting from a passive reach channel to an interactive commerce platform as 75% of U.S. households subscribe to ad‑supported streaming services. Connected TV now delivers a 15% higher return on ad spend than linear...
Why the Next Era of Commerce Media Is a Human Challenge
The article argues that commerce media’s biggest obstacle has shifted from technology to organizational dysfunction. Brands remain trapped in siloed structures where brand, media, e‑commerce and commerce teams operate with separate budgets and KPIs, leading to duplicated effort and lost...
AI Shopping Creates an Opportunity for Retailers to Reimagine the New Storefront
Retailers are seeing website traffic fall as AI shopping assistants become the primary venue for product discovery and decision‑making. PayPal’s transaction data shows that purchases are increasingly completed outside of brand‑owned sites, with AI tools surfacing items based on price,...
Jaipur Edition Of D2CX Converge Decodes ₹100 Cr Playbooks For D2C Brands
Inc42 and logistics firm Shadowfax hosted the D2CX Converge meetup in Jaipur, gathering over 70 D2C founders to discuss scaling brands to the ₹100 cr (~$12 m) mark. The event highlighted Blue Tokai’s omnichannel growth to over ₹650 cr (~$78 m) and shared diverse...
AI, Personalisation in, Discounts Out in Growth Ambitions Says Asos
ASOS is abandoning its pandemic‑era, discount‑heavy model in favor of a customer‑centric strategy built on AI‑driven personalization. The company is emphasizing relevance—right product, price, size, and delivery—while reducing promotional noise. Early data show stronger engagement from full‑price product drops and...
Building Bharat’s Commerce Backbone: The Team Behind Shiprocket’s Rise
Shiprocket, founded by Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor and Akshay Ghulati, has evolved from a simple shipping‑aggregation tool into a full‑stack commerce platform that powers checkout, fulfillment, ads and cross‑border logistics for millions of Indian sellers. The leadership team, augmented by...
How Retailers Use Print-on-Demand to Test and Scale Products
Retailers are turning to print‑on‑demand (POD) to test new products before committing to bulk runs, allowing faster launches and lower financial risk. By producing items only after an order is placed, businesses can gather real‑time sales data, refine designs, and...
Every System Has to Compound: Kumar on Meesho's First 100 Days as a Public Company
Meesho’s AI‑driven discovery feed now initiates 73% of its orders, delivering 690 million purchases in Q3 FY26—a 36% year‑on‑year rise across 251 million transacting users. The platform processes over four billion daily data signals, using a 100‑300 ms latency engine that personalises feeds in...
16 Stellar Goldbelly Mother's Day Food Gifts That Are 100% Worth The Splurge
Goldbelly is positioning itself as a go‑to marketplace for Mother’s Day gourmet gifts, offering curated dishes from top U.S. chefs and bakeries with nationwide shipping. The selection spans luxury items like a $485 caviar trio and a $229.95 designer‑style handbag...
Live-Shopping Platform Whatnot Taps Shopify to Reach Millions of Merchants as It Chases Growth
Whatnot launched a native integration with Shopify that automatically syncs product listings, inventory, and orders between the two platforms. The tool lets merchants manage catalog details in Shopify while conducting live sales on Whatnot, with purchases routed back to Shopify...
Mirakl Agentic Activation First Enterprise Solution to Make Product Pages LLM-Ready
Mirakl unveiled Agentic Activation, the first enterprise‑grade platform that makes product pages LLM‑ready, enabling AI agents to discover, recommend, and complete purchases at scale. The solution offers two live features—Agentic Product Enrichment, which rewrites catalog data for AI readability, and...
John Lewis Hit with Click-and-Collect Lawsuit
Landlord Hammerson and former co‑owner Aberdeen have sued John Lewis in the High Court, seeking a declaration that click‑and‑collect sales count toward turnover rent under the 1979 lease. The lease obliges John Lewis to pay a £30,000 (≈$38,400) base rent plus 0.75%...
Bed, Bath & Beyond Hope Re-Born - a Retail Lazarus Pitches Its Everything Home Omni-Channel Strategy, with some Very Bold...
Bed, Bath & Beyond, bought out of bankruptcy for $21.5 million, is rebranding as a data‑centric “Everything Home” platform. CEO Marcus Lemonis says the firm will unify its portfolio—including Overstock.com, Kirkland’s, buybuy BABY and the Container Store—under a single customer identity and...
Q1 Lyst Index: Blazy, Demna and Anderson Drive Chanel, Gucci, and Dior Higher
Lyst unveiled its evolved Q1 Index, built on the Desire, Demand and Discovery framework that incorporates AI‑driven search and creator ecosystems. Chanel surged to the top spot and entered the Top 20 for the first time, while Saint Laurent, Dior and Miu Miu...
The 9 Pm Rule Inside India’s Predictable Summer Shopping Pattern
India’s Instamart Summer Trends 2026 report reveals a striking 9 PM peak for ice‑cream orders, with demand more than doubling between 6 PM and 9 PM nationwide. Curd tops overall sales, while mangoes, cold beverages and frozen desserts surge up to 300% week‑on‑week as...
SHEIN Rolls Out Enhanced Marketplace Services For Over 2,500 UK Sellers
SHEIN has launched a suite of localized services for more than 2,500 UK sellers on its Marketplace, aiming to simplify cross‑border sales. The new offering integrates directly with THG Fulfil’s logistics network, routing orders, returns and next‑day delivery through an...
Thai Influencer Sells Premium Durians for Dirt Cheap to Avoid Rotting Amid Surplus
Thai influencer Pimrypie used a four‑hour live stream to sell premium Monthong durians at as low as $3 per fruit, far below the usual $21‑$24 price, in an effort to prevent a looming surplus. The broadcast attracted 700,000 peak viewers...
Temu and QIMA Partner to Strengthen Product Testing and Platform Compliance
Temu announced a partnership with QIMA to embed independent product testing and certification services directly into its Seller Center. The collaboration initially covers electrical and electronic goods, jewelry, food‑contact materials, and light industrial products, offering on‑site factory inspections, digital compliance...
The Twin Regulation Test Facing UK Subscription Retailers
UK subscription retailers face a dual regulatory hurdle in 2026 as the EU enacts a “one‑click return” right of withdrawal on 19 June and the UK rolls out its Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. Both regimes demand that cancellation be...
Inside Thayers’ TikToker-Led Product Development Strategy, with Nina Pool and Shelby Ann Bell
Thayers turned TikTok stars Nina Pool and Shelby Ann Bell into product consultants for a new Hydrating Milky Mist priced at $14.99. The concept originated from Pool’s June 5, 2025 TikTok, prompting Bell’s DIY spray test and a flood of community requests. Within 24 hours...
Quick Commerce Firms Face Heat as Riders Stay Off Peak Hours
India's quick‑commerce firms are grappling with a rider shortage as extreme heat deters couriers from working peak afternoon hours. To retain staff, companies are offering extra pay of roughly $0.10‑$0.18 per delivery on top of a base $0.24‑$0.36 per order....
‘Backing The Underdog’: Thomas Tearle & Brent Clarke Launch Transformation Consultancy
Thomas Tearte, former VML CEO, and ex‑McDonald’s digital chief Brent Clarke have launched Underdog Studio, a transformation consultancy focused on eCommerce, subscription models, loyalty, CRM, and AI‑enabled digital products. The firm operates on an outcomes‑based remuneration model, positioning itself between...
Marketplace Facilitator Rules and CDTFA Audits
California treats registered marketplace facilitators as the retailer for sales tax, but sellers must still prove each transaction’s facilitator status in a CDTFA audit. The audit focus shifts from the existence of the rule to whether sellers can separate marketplace...
Flipkart and Kinnect India Turns ‘Double Sale’ Into ‘Sale on Sale’ with SASA LELE 2.0
Flipkart and Kinnect India have revived their viral summer promotion with SASA LELE 2.0, branding it as India’s first “Sale pe Sale” – a sale stacked on another sale. The campaign doubles the discount experience across categories, from electronics to apparel, and leans heavily...
EBay Inc (EBAY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
eBay reported Q1 2026 GMV of $21.2 billion, up 8% on an FX‑neutral basis, driven by a 19% surge in U.S. sales while international volumes slipped slightly. Revenue rose 13% to $2.96 billion, bolstered by advertising that generated $544 million, and non‑GAAP operating...
ETSY Inc (ETSY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Etsy reported a $2.8 billion consolidated Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) for Q1 2026, a 4.8% year‑over‑year decline, while revenue rose 4% to $673 million and adjusted EBITDA reached $169 million, delivering a 25.1% margin. The take rate improved to 24%, up 200 basis points,...
New Square AI Agent Automates Daily Tasks for Main Street Sellers
Square, a Block subsidiary, has launched Managerbot, an AI‑powered business agent, in open beta for U.S. non‑franchise food, retail and health‑beauty merchants. Integrated directly into the Square Dashboard, Managerbot goes beyond the conversational Square AI by monitoring operations, surfacing insights...
Google and Mastercard Contribute Agentic Commerce Standards to FIDO Alliance
The FIDO Alliance announced two new technical working groups to create open standards for AI‑agent authentication and commerce. Google donated its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and Mastercard contributed its Verifiable Intent framework to the Payments Working Group. The Agentic Authentication...
Shortcut To Popularity: Grubhub's Loyalty Program
Grubhub is launching a month‑long Gold Days promotion for its Grubhub+ loyalty program, running May 1‑31. New members can sign up for six months at a 99‑cent monthly rate, a 90% discount off the regular $9.99 fee. During the campaign, members...
These Three Shoe Brands Raked in Almost $100 Million on TikTok Shop During the Last 12 Months
TikTok Shop generated nearly $100 million in shoe sales for Crocs, Hey Dude, and QVC between April 2025 and March 2026, with Crocs alone accounting for $52.4 million. The broader top‑10 U.S. TikTok shoe sellers posted $163.7 million in revenue, underscoring the platform’s rapid emergence...
Amazon Launches an AI-Powered Audio Q&A Experience on Product Pages
Amazon introduced "Join the chat," an AI-powered audio Q&A tool on product pages within its Shopping app. The feature lets users ask product-specific questions and receive real-time, conversational audio answers generated by Amazon's "shopping experts." It expands the existing "Hear...
Pick Chewy and Global-E to Counter Headwinds in eCommerce
E‑commerce sales rose 5.3% year‑over‑year in Q4 2025, capturing roughly 16.6% of total U.S. retail spend, even as macro‑economic and geopolitical headwinds pressure margins. The industry is shifting toward omnichannel models that blend online and offline experiences, with Gen‑Z driving social‑commerce...
How Adobe Is Building AI and Agentic Tools for Brands—While Keeping an Eye on Actual Adoption
Adobe announced a suite of AI‑driven tools aimed at boosting brand visibility and agentic capabilities as AI‑assisted retail traffic surged 393% year‑over‑year in Q1 2026. The new Brand Concierge and LLM Apps let brands appear inside large language model interfaces, while...
Bed Bath & Beyond CEO: AI Will Lead to ‘Significant Reduction in Headcount’
Bed Bath & Beyond is pivoting to an AI‑centric model, with CEO Marcus Lemonis warning that deeper AI integration will trigger a significant headcount reduction across functions such as supply chain, IT, accounting, marketing and merchandising. The company reported its first quarterly revenue...
The Funnel Is Dead: Now What?
Brandweek’s 2026 panel, moderated by ADWEEK’s Alison Weissbrot, declared the classic marketing funnel obsolete, urging brands to adopt a flywheel mindset. Leaders from SmartCommerce, Liquid Death, LYS Beauty, Kellanova, Sephora, and Argonaut shared tactics for omnichannel commerce, retail‑media data leverage,...
84.51° Report: Online Shopping Grows But In-Store Remains The Default
84.51°’s new Consumer Digest report shows that while 90% of shoppers are increasing their online grocery activity, 74% of trips still happen in physical stores. Digital research tools are now a key part of the purchase journey, but the final...
Visa, Mastercard Defend Card Fee Settlement
Visa and Mastercard are defending a proposed interchange‑fee settlement that would cut rates by 10 basis points, set a 1.25% fee for standard consumer cards, and let merchants decline premium cards while adding surcharges or discounts. The deal aims to...
Dealerships Are 'Terrified' Direct Sales Might Be The Future
Dealerships are alarmed as direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) sales gain traction, with 28 states still restricting or banning the model. Tesla pioneered DTC, and recent victories for Rivian in Washington and a California ruling against Scout Motors highlight a shifting legal landscape....
$188K in Delivery Fees Forced This Restaurant Owner to Ditch DoorDash and Uber Eats: ‘That’s Losses on Us’
Omaha restaurateur Javier Trujillo disclosed that his five eateries paid roughly $188,000 in delivery‑app commissions last year, prompting him to abandon DoorDash, Uber Eats and similar platforms. He said the fees eroded profit margins and even caused losses when drivers...
Quick Commerce War Intensifies as Jio, Amazon, Flipkart Scale up to Challenge Incumbents
India’s quick‑commerce sector is entering a scale‑up phase as Reliance Retail’s JioMart logs 2 million daily orders in Q4 FY26, a 300% year‑on‑year surge, and leans on a 3,100‑plus store network instead of capital‑heavy dark stores. Amazon Now and Flipkart are racing...