Emporix and ACR Deploy AI-Driven Commerce Automation – Reducing B2B Order Processing Time by Up to 87%
Emporix has deployed an AI‑driven orchestration layer for ACR that automatically reads, validates and processes PDF purchase orders. The solution slashed average order‑processing time from roughly eight minutes to under one minute, an 87% reduction, and lowered error rates. Implementation was completed in six months using Emporix’s headless, API‑first platform without a full replatforming. The automation now underpins ACR’s broader digital commerce suite and will extend to cart and self‑service functions.
Shein: ‘More than Six Hundred Sales Partners in Germany’
Shein reports more than six hundred German retailers have joined its marketplace, part of a broader network of thousands of sales partners across Europe. The Chinese fast‑fashion platform is leveraging new software integrations and a large logistics hub in Poland...
Fire, EMS Departments Turn to Online Resale Market as Apparatus Costs Surge
Fire and EMS agencies are confronting soaring apparatus prices—often exceeding $1 million—and supply‑chain delays that can stretch delivery to five years. To offset costs and shorten acquisition cycles, many are turning to Garage, an online resale marketplace that connects departments nationwide...
Affirm Outlines Options if Economic Stress Rises
Affirm's CFO Rob O’Hare said the buy‑now, pay‑later lender could tighten its underwriting if U.S. economic stress intensifies, including dropping low‑margin loans, requiring down payments, and asking for more financial information. He emphasized these measures are hypothetical and that the...
AI Shopping Gets Simpler with Universal Commerce Protocol Updates
Google announced updates to the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) that add optional Cart, Catalog, and Identity Linking capabilities, enabling AI shopping agents to add multiple items, fetch real‑time product data, and apply loyalty benefits. Retailers can customize which features to...
Marketplace Briefing: Amazon Says Customers Make Three Times More Purchases Using Alexa+ on Devices than the Original Version
Amazon announced that its generative‑AI‑enhanced Alexa+ is prompting customers to make three times as many purchases as the original Alexa voice assistant. The upgraded assistant can handle complex, conversational requests, build shopping lists, place orders, and book reservations, moving beyond...
What’s Next for Retail in 2026: An Industry Perspective – Placer.ai Blog
Nearly 500 retail executives surveyed by Placer.ai indicate a cautiously optimistic 2026, with 55% confident in brick‑and‑mortar performance despite modest 1% visit growth. While 70% anticipate e‑commerce outpacing stores, a third remain more bullish on physical locations, underscoring a shift...
AI Drives Smarter Ecommerce Pricing
AI is shifting ecommerce pricing from static, rule‑based models to real‑time, shopper‑specific offers that protect margins. By analyzing intent, timing and browsing history, AI decides whether to intervene, what type of incentive to apply, and how personalized it should be....
Supply Chain 101: What’s Really Happening Between Amazon and USPS?
Amazon announced it will keep its partnership with the U.S. Postal Service but is accelerating the shift of parcels to its own delivery network. ShipMatrix data shows Amazon now handles roughly the same volume as USPS, and the retailer could...
Retail's Future Is Tied up in Agentic Commerce, Yes? Well, up to a Point, Says BestBuy, Wayfair, and Electrolux with...
A new Logicbroker survey shows 90% of enterprise retailers expect AI agents to influence at least 20% of online orders by 2027, with over a third anticipating agents handling more than half of transactions. Kingfisher is already rolling out Google...
OPINION: Five Forces Reshaping the Checkout in Germany
German retailers are accelerating POS modernization as labour costs rise, regulations tighten, and consumer payment habits shift. Cash still accounts for about 35% of sales, but card usage is projected to climb to 42% within five years, while contactless and...
Online Grocery Shoppers Prioritize Health Over Taste
A Purdue University study of 1,200 U.S. consumers finds that health and nutrition now eclipse taste as the primary driver for online grocery shoppers, with only 37% ranking taste first. Nutritional targets and health goals were cited by 59% and...
TikTok Shop Turns Shopping Into Shoppertainment in New Fishermen Integrated Spot
TikTok Shop partnered with Fishermen Integrated to launch the Ramadan‑Raya campaign “Bazar Direka Untuk …”, turning the shopping journey into a curated shoppertainment experience. The initiative runs from 1 March to 13 March 2026 and blends product curation, creator‑led content, original music and...
Vietnam: Global Tech Partnerships Boost Regional Trade Safety
The ASEAN Product Safety Portal is being rolled out across member states to share real‑time data on unsafe goods, enabling regulators to swiftly remove hazardous items from online marketplaces. Technology‑driven monitoring and web‑scraping tools aim to cut flagged unsafe products...
Shopify’s USDC Integration Shows How Platforms Could Pick Stablecoin Favorites
Shopify has embedded USDC stablecoin into its core payments stack, allowing merchants to accept digital dollars at checkout without new providers. The integration, built with Stripe and Coinbase, lets shoppers pay via crypto wallets and gives merchants the option to...
How AIOps Is Keeping Retail Lights on Behind the Scenes
Artificial intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) is helping retailers keep e‑commerce platforms running smoothly by automatically detecting and fixing order‑flow glitches, pricing mismatches, downtime, and data‑sync issues. Machine‑learning models surface anomalies before customers notice them, enabling proactive remediation. A real‑world...
AI-Assisted Commerce Is Here. Trust Will Define Who Wins
Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) in January 2026, creating a standardized, machine‑readable layer for product data, pricing, carts, payments and order tracking. UCP already powers AI‑driven purchases on Google Search’s AI Mode and Gemini for retailers like Etsy...
Huawei and YowPay Launch Open Banking Smartwatch POS App
Huawei and fintech YowPay have introduced what they call the world’s first open‑banking smartwatch point‑of‑sale (POS) application. The solution lets merchants capture bank‑to‑bank payments directly from a Huawei smartwatch, removing the need for traditional card terminals or card‑based hardware. Built...
Los Angeles Small Business ‘Spreads’ Global Reach with Coupang
Los Angeles‑based organic nut butter maker Spread The Love is expanding into South Korea by partnering with e‑commerce giant Coupang. The partnership leverages Coupang’s AI‑driven export platform, which handled over $5 billion in U.S. export sales in 2025, to manage logistics,...
Doba Adds Walmart Marketplace Integration for Drop Shipping Sellers
Doba announced a verified integration with Walmart Marketplace, using OAuth 2.0 to automate product listings, inventory syncing, and order processing. The connection replaces legacy APIs, reducing manual errors and ensuring compliance with Walmart’s strict performance standards. Walmart ranks #2 among U.S....
Xandres Expands Its Secondhand Service Online
Xandres has launched its second‑hand platform, Xandres Preloved, via a dedicated website covering the Benelux region and Germany. After pilot programs in Ghent and Bruges, the brand is rolling out the service nationwide, allowing customers to buy and sell pre‑owned...
Marks & Spencer Becomes ‘Exclusive Digital Wholesale Partner’ for David Gandy Wellwear
Marks & Spencer has launched David Gandy Wellwear on its Brands at M&S platform, becoming the brand’s exclusive digital wholesale partner. The partnership adds the designer’s best‑selling T‑shirts, loungewear, underwear and robes to M&S’s expanding third‑party menswear portfolio. Gandy, who...
Klarna Hits 1 Million Merchants: BNPL Giant Signals Continued Global Expansion
Swedish buy‑now‑pay‑later provider Klarna announced it has surpassed one million merchants worldwide, a 47% increase from the previous year. The growth includes roughly 285,000 new merchants in 2025, with 115,000 added in the fourth quarter alone, and a 91% surge...
FonQ Is Struggling: Payment Deferral and Online Store Shut Down
Dutch online home‑furnishings retailer fonQ is facing collapse after its holding company filed for a stay of payments. An administrator will now assess options to keep the business afloat. The company, which also owns brand Naduvi, saw CEO Itai Gross...
Why Delivery Reliability Now Matters More Than Speed
Retailers have spent a decade chasing Amazon‑style speed, but a Locus survey shows only 9% of shoppers believe promises are consistently met. Missed windows and silent delays erode trust, with 92% of customers abandoning a brand after just a few...
Walmart and Target Are Battling to Show Up in AI Shopping Tools. Here’s How Their Strategies Compare
Walmart and Target are racing to embed artificial intelligence in the shopping journey, but their tactics diverge sharply. Walmart is building four proprietary AI "super agents" to power consumer assistance, supplier operations, and internal workflows, leveraging its massive transaction data....
Ikea Expands Its Secondhand Marketplace to Belgium
Ikea will launch its digital secondhand marketplace in Belgium on April 29, extending the service to six European countries. The free platform lets Ikea Family members scan items, receive auto‑generated pricing, photos and details, and sell for cash or a 15%...
Six Months After Launch at ING Germany, Wero Hits Major Adoption Milestones and Strengthens European Payment Collaboration
Six months after its launch at ING Germany, the Wero digital wallet has surpassed 500,000 activations, while the European Payments Initiative (EPI) now counts over 50 million users across its markets. Expansion plans include a Luxembourg rollout in 2026 and a...
A Fast Way to Find Triathlon Gear Deals
Triathlete has launched the Deals Finder, a new online hub that aggregates triathlon gear discounts from trusted retailers such as REI, evo, and Competitive Cyclist. The tool lets users sort results by biggest discount, brand, or price and refreshes its...
AI Tools Enter Retail Platforms as Canadian Adoption Grows
Canadian small‑business owners are moving from AI experimentation to everyday use, according to a 2026 Square survey showing 60 % of respondents already employ AI tools and 74 % are familiar with them. Commerce platforms such as Square, Shopify and Lightspeed are...
AI Is Changing How Shoppers Find Products – with Signs Pointing to Brands Creating AI-First Marketing Strategies
The Criteo 2026 Commerce & AI Trend Report shows AI is reshaping product discovery, with 47% of shoppers using it for comparison and 39% for finding new items, yet only 8% rely on AI to finalize purchases. Consumers crave “relevant...
How Delivery Platforms Are Becoming the New Digital Shelves for Brands
Food‑delivery aggregators such as Talabat, Deliveroo and Careem have turned into digital shelves for restaurants across the UAE and wider Middle East. Visibility on these apps—driven by algorithmic rankings, menu presentation and promotions—now determines a brand’s ability to attract orders,...
How CRO Drives Ecommerce Longevity
Founder Adam Pearce explains that ecommerce longevity hinges on diversified traffic sources and a robust conversion rate optimization (CRO) program. He details how CRO improves advertising efficiency, strengthens organic search and generative‑AI visibility, and fuels personalized email marketing. Real‑world examples—from...
Battersea Power Station Director on Why Social Influence Is Redefining Retail Destinations
Battersea Power Station’s leasing director says social influence has become a critical leasing KPI, reshaping how landlords curate retail mixes. Gen‑Z now turn to social media before search engines, prompting landlords to prioritize brands with strong digital followings. Battersea leverages...
Increase in DIY and Hardware Retailers Offering Same Day Delivery
New Gophr research shows UK hardware and DIY retailers increased same‑day delivery adoption from 22 % to 32 % year‑on‑year. Yet speed remains uneven: only 26 % can fulfil orders within an hour and 46 % impose conditions such as cut‑off times or location...
Kingfisher Partners with Google Cloud to Roll Out AI-Powered Shopping Across Europe
Kingfisher has entered a multi‑year partnership with Google Cloud to embed Vertex AI across its B&Q, Castorama and Brico Dépôt e‑commerce platforms in Europe. The collaboration replaces traditional keyword search with AI‑driven, conversational discovery and introduces agentic assistants that can...
Costco Adds Adtech Firm Moloco to Scale Retail Media Network
Costco has teamed up with ad‑tech firm Moloco Commerce Media to enhance the relevance of ads on its e‑commerce platform. The partnership will be rolled out as a beta program in Q2, coinciding with the launch of Costco Velocity, the...
New Rules Proposed to Hold Temu, Shein Accountable in SA
South Africa’s consumer regulators have released a joint position paper proposing new rules to hold offshore e‑commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein accountable. The draft guidelines would require foreign sellers moving significant volumes into the country to register locally,...
Miss Amara Rebuilds Online Store, Updates Brand Identity
Miss Amara, an Australian rug retailer, has launched a refurbished e‑commerce site and refreshed its brand identity to better align with its design‑led, customer‑obsessed strategy. The new platform offers streamlined navigation, richer educational content, and a smoother purchase journey across...
IPO-Bound Udaan to Kickstart Reverse Flip to India in Weeks: CEO
Udaan, the Bengaluru‑based B2B e‑commerce platform, will initiate a reverse flip to shift its corporate domicile from Singapore to India within weeks, a prerequisite for its upcoming IPO. The company aims to reach break‑even by mid‑next year while targeting an...
Wellbeing Marketplace Healf Tops Sifted’s Third UK and Ireland Leaderboard
London‑based Healf, a curated high‑end wellbeing marketplace, topped Sifted’s 2026 UK & Ireland leaderboard with a staggering 1,403% two‑year revenue CAGR. The ranking, which measures the fastest‑growing private firms by revenue growth, placed Fuse Energy and Apron in second and...
$20 Chewy Promo Code | March 2026
Chewy is offering a suite of March 2026 promotions, including a $20 e‑gift card for first‑time orders over $49 with code WELCOME and a 20% discount on prescription meds via RX20. Existing customers can access $20 off orders of $49+ using...
Booming Online Sales and Generational Differences: Australia’s Year in E-Commerce
Australia Post reports a record $82.6 billion in e‑commerce transactions for 2025, a 14% year‑on‑year rise. While total spend surged, the average basket slipped to $96 as shoppers make smaller, more frequent purchases—four extra orders per consumer annually. Millennials dominate frequency...
Why One Creator Commerce Platform Is Connecting Brands and Creators for ‘Flat-Fee’ Campaigns
Creator commerce platform LTK has introduced Quick Collabs, a new feature that lets brands launch flat‑fee, one‑click campaigns that creators can opt into. The tool leverages LTK’s data on 44 million monthly shoppers, $6 billion in annual spend, 400,000 creators and 8,000...
Some Creators Don’t See Immediate Value in Instagram’s Controversial ‘Shop the Look’ AI Test
Instagram tested an AI‑driven “Shop the Look” feature that automatically tags products in creator posts, aiming to boost social commerce. The rollout, launched in February, sparked backlash as tags appeared without creators’ consent, linking followers to unvetted items and knockoffs....
Why Parker Thatch Transformed Its Strip-Mall Storefront Into a Livestreaming Studio
Parker Thatch, an eight‑figure luxury handbag DTC brand, has turned its Orinda strip‑mall store into a hybrid retail‑studio space for weekly livestreams. The Friday broadcasts reach 179,000 Instagram followers and 101,000 YouTube subscribers, driving sales spikes of up to 50%...
5 Best Identity Verification Software Providers for Marketplaces
Marketplaces face coordinated identity fraud that threatens payouts, chargebacks, and brand trust. A specialized identity verification layer can quickly approve legitimate buyers and sellers while blocking malicious actors. The article ranks five top providers—AU10TIX, Jumio, Entrust IDV, Trulioo, and Shufti Pro—highlighting...
Report Finds Reddit Ads Drive Strong Performance for Retailers
Fospha’s State of Retail Commerce 2026 report shows Reddit’s influence on retail conversions surged in 2025, delivering an 82% lift in ROAS when Amazon sales are accounted for and a 257% increase in revenue attributed to the platform. The study...
Best Deals for Car Lovers at Amazon's Spring Prime Day
Amazon’s Spring Prime Day sale runs March 25‑30, featuring a broad lineup of automotive and garage products at steep discounts. More than a hundred items—from battery chargers and OBD‑II scanners to dash cams and EV chargers—are marked down up to 50%....
Best Buy's Spring Sale Is Live, Ahead of Amazon's 'Big Spring Sale'
Best Buy launched its Tech Fest spring sale on March 16, running through March 22, positioning the event as a direct counter to Amazon's upcoming Big Spring Sale. The week‑long promotion features a Deal of the Day and deep discounts...