Kentucky Fanatics Extends Partnership With University of Kentucky, Adds NIL Component for Student-Athletes
The University of Kentucky has extended its partnership with Fanatics for 12 years, adding a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) component that grants select student‑athletes access to Fanatics’ influencer marketing platform. Through the Fanatics Creator Program, athletes can open affiliate storefronts, curate product collections, and embed merchandise links directly in social posts. A subset of athletes will also promote new UK gear across Fanatics’ e‑commerce sites and retail partners such as Kroger, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, while Fanatics Collectibles will produce collectible cards featuring current players and alumni. The deal was structured via Kentucky’s BBNIL platform, which manages all NIL campaign content.
Three First-Party Data Strategies Retail Brands Are Prioritizing Now
Mid-market retail brands are shifting to three core first‑party data tactics as third‑party cookies disappear. Loyalty and membership programs now focus on exclusive experiences rather than simple discounts, generating richer purchase and preference signals. Progressive profiling spreads data capture across...
Direct-to-Consumer Sales Hit Record Levels Again in Q4
Direct‑to‑consumer (D2C) sales continued to set new records in Q4 2025, with Playtika reporting $250.1 million, representing 36.8% of its quarterly revenue and a 43.2% year‑over‑year increase. Modern Times Group saw its D2C contribution rise to 32% of total revenue, up...
CAIT Seeks Crackdown on E-Commerce Malpractices, Proposes National Retail Council
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has petitioned the Indian government to clamp down on alleged e‑commerce malpractices such as predatory pricing, dark‑store expansion, and preferential treatment of select sellers. CAIT also proposes a National Retail Development Council to...
AI Is Changing How Small Online Sellers Decide What to Make
Small U.S. online sellers are turning to Alibaba's AI sourcing tool Accio to streamline product development. Mike McClary revived his Guardian flashlight by feeding Accio design specs, receiving cost‑cut suggestions, and locating a Ningbo factory that lowered unit cost from...
What Visa and Mastercard’s New Fraud Mandates Mean for Your Fintech Team
Visa’s new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) consolidates fraud and chargeback monitoring for card‑not‑present (CNP) transactions, replacing separate reporting streams. Mastercard is simultaneously pushing broader adoption of 3DS2 authentication and its Compelling Evidence 3.0 dispute‑documentation framework. Both initiatives, effective from...
From Carrier-Centric to Customer-Centric: How SmartKargo Is Helping eCommerce Leaders Rethink Parcel Delivery
Parcel delivery has shifted from a back‑end cost center to a key customer‑experience driver for e‑commerce. Rising fuel surcharges, accessorial fees and tariff uncertainty make shipping costs unpredictable and erode trust. Airline‑powered networks such as Delta Cargo’s DeliverDirect and IAG...
As AI Compresses the Shopping Journey, Retail Media Faces a New Pressure Point
Retail media, once built on shopper exploration across search and browse, is being upended by AI‑driven discovery tools that summarize options and push consumers closer to checkout. As upstream interactions shrink, the checkout phase—dubbed the Transaction Moment—now captures the bulk...
What’s Next for Retail: Technology, Transparency and Total Opportunity
Retail’s digital transformation is moving from basic digitization to integrated, cloud‑native ecosystems that unify legacy systems and data streams. Retailers are deploying AI, machine‑learning and IoT sensors to create real‑time, end‑to‑end visibility of inventory, foot traffic and loss prevention. Early...
From Traffic to Transactions: Wytlabs’ ROI-Driven Ecommerce SEO Framework
Wytlabs unveiled an ROI‑driven ecommerce SEO framework that links search visibility directly to revenue. The four‑pillar model combines a comprehensive technical audit, intent‑focused content strategy, targeted keyword‑anchored link building, and AI Engine Optimization for generative search. Case studies show a...
Amazon to Cut Fresh Presence, Expand AmazonNow Across 10 to 15 Cities: UBS Report
Amazon plans to phase out its 4‑24‑hour Amazon Fresh service in 10‑15 major Indian cities, redirecting resources toward the ultra‑fast AmazonNow platform. The quick‑commerce offering, already live in six cities, is slated to expand to cover roughly 80% of the...
Indonesian Minimart King Alfamart Boosts Quick Commerce to Reverse Slowdown
Alfamart, Indonesia’s largest convenience‑store chain, is accelerating its quick‑commerce push through the Alfagift app to counter slowing same‑store sales and a 7% net‑income decline in 2024. The app now has 25 million members, drives 8% of revenue, and the retailer is...
Platforms Brace for Impact as Gig Workforce Returns Home
India’s quick‑commerce and on‑demand platforms are confronting a sudden gig‑worker shortage as riders and house‑help return to hometowns for elections and harvest. Daily active gig workers are 10‑12% below early‑2026 levels, cutting into order fulfillment in Delhi‑NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai....
Nykaa Posts Strongest Quarterly Revenue Growth in Three Years
Nykaa’s parent, FSN E‑Commerce Ventures, announced its strongest quarterly revenue surge in three years, with Q4 FY2026 net‑revenue projected to climb in the late‑twenties percent year‑on‑year. Gross merchandise value is also expected to rise in the high‑twenties, while net‑sales‑value tracks slightly...
Nykaa in Talks to Buy Majority Stake in Deepika Padukone's Skincare Brand 82°E
Nykaa is negotiating to acquire a majority stake in Deepika Padukone’s premium skincare label 82°E, aiming to strengthen its House of Nykaa portfolio. 82°E’s FY25 revenue slipped to about $1.8 million, a 30% decline, with a loss of roughly $1.5 million, prompting...
Fake Product Reviews Surging in AI Era: Omnisend
Omnisend’s latest study finds that 82% of Canadian shoppers trust online product reviews, a 22% increase over the past two years, even as AI‑generated content proliferates. External research from Capital One estimates that roughly 30% of reviews are fake or...
How Boll & Branch Is Integrating an OpenClaw-Based AI Agent in Every Part of Its Business
Boll & Branch has deployed an autonomous AI agent, Tess, built on the open‑source OpenClaw platform. Initially a scheduling assistant, Tess now operates across Slack, Shopify, and marketing tool Iterable, pulling data to generate real‑time customer reports. The company is extending...
Walmart Canada Launches Scintilla Digital Landscapes to Deliver Deeper E-Commerce Shopper Insights
Walmart Data Ventures has introduced the Scintilla Digital Landscapes solution in Canada, expanding its Scintilla platform beyond Channel Performance and Shopper Behaviour modules. Powered by first‑party data from Walmart.ca and its mobile app, the new tool maps shoppers’ online paths...
Driving Bloomingdale’s Through Curation, Innovation and Experimentation
Bloomingdale’s senior vice president Rachel Abeles outlined a multi‑channel growth plan that leans on the Bloomie’s small‑format stores, an expanding online marketplace, and AI‑driven personalization. The retailer, generating roughly $4 billion annually, aims to add about 15 new Bloomie’s locations over...
The RealReal CMO Samantha McCandless on Resale Math, Vintage Bulgari and Her Go-To Sneakers
The RealReal is riding a wave of record growth in online resale as consumers stretch budgets and seek sustainable fashion options. Chief merchandising officer Samantha McCandless funds each new purchase by consigning roughly two items, turning shopping into a low‑guilt, value‑driven...
Lim Traders Launches 'The Halal Meat Specialist' To Expand Retail Access to Halal-Certified Meats in Singapore
Lim Traders Pte Ltd has launched The Halal Meat Specialist, a direct‑to‑consumer e‑commerce platform that brings its 40‑year‑old wholesale expertise to Singapore households. The site offers a full range of MUIS‑certified halal meats, from poultry to ready‑to‑cook meals, with free...
Global E-Commerce Growth Shifts to Emerging Markets
Global e‑commerce growth is shifting from North America and Western Europe toward emerging regions such as South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The surge in these markets is prompting retailers and logistics providers to adopt...
Where to Buy Vintage Lamps Online, According to Our Editors
The article rounds up four online venues for buying vintage lamps—1stDibs, Chairish, Etsy, and eBay—highlighting each platform’s curation level, price range, and buyer effort required. 1stDibs delivers a gallery‑like experience with vetted dealers and detailed condition reports, making it ideal...
7 Key Benefits of Cloud Hosting for Ecommerce Success
Cloud hosting provides ecommerce sites with scalable, fast, and secure infrastructure. It automatically allocates resources across multiple servers, ensuring near‑100% uptime and rapid page loads that improve conversion rates. The pay‑as‑you‑go model lowers operational expenses while managed services handle backups,...
'Silent Killers': How AI Start-Ups Are Trying to Solve One of the Retail Industry's Biggest Problems
AI start‑ups such as Catches are rolling out virtual‑try‑on platforms that create realistic digital twins of shoppers, aiming to curb the retail sector’s $850 billion return problem. The National Retail Federation reports that 15.8% of U.S. sales – 19.3% online –...
Retail Pricing Optimization: A Guide to Price Elasticity
The article explains that retail price elasticity is a dynamic, segment‑specific coefficient rather than a static figure, and that modern AI platforms can filter market noise to deliver real‑time pricing recommendations. It introduces the Glass Box AI approach, which keeps...
How to Buy Authentic Luxury Handbags Safely Online
The global luxury handbag market is projected to reach $36.6 billion in 2026, growing at a 6.6% CAGR. Shoppers increasingly turn to reputable online platforms such as 24S to avoid counterfeit risk and secure authentic pieces. Trusted retailers invest in rigorous...
StubHub’s Top 5 Competitors in Ticket Reselling
StubHub, the former eBay subsidiary now owned by viagogo for about $4.05 billion, remains one of the largest ticket‑resale platforms. However, it competes with a growing field that includes SeatGeek’s search‑engine model, fee‑free TickPick, Ticketmaster’s integrated primary‑secondary marketplace, and vetted brokers...
Stop Spending Thousands on Cybertruck Upgrades—These 5 Amazon Finds Cost $200 Total
Tesla Cybertruck owners can upgrade key functions for about $200 using Amazon accessories. The article highlights five budget-friendly items—a console organizer, matte screen protector, L‑track hooks, UV‑blocking sunshade, and snap‑on mud flaps—totaling roughly $175. These products address storage, glare, cargo...
Napier’s The Sushi Club Waits Six Weeks for Money Owed After Uber Eats Account Hacked
The Sushi Club in Napier had its Uber Eats account hacked, prompting Uber to freeze nearly $3,000 in pending payouts while investigating. Owner Penny Leigh repeatedly sought updates but received none for six weeks, forcing the restaurant to suspend Uber...
Retailers Lose Over US $ 200 Million Annually Due to Logistics Inefficiencies: Report
India’s organised retail sector is losing more than Rs 2,000 crore (about $215 million) each year because internal logistics remain inefficient. The report, covering 48 omnichannel brands and 7.2 million shipments, shows that manual processes and poor coordination delay inventory transfers, especially during peak...
Easter’s Gone Luxe and the Chocolate Is Driving
Easter spending is set to hit a record $24.9 billion in 2026, with the average shopper budgeting about $195.59. Luxury chocolate products—from Louis Vuitton’s $289 edible handbag to Neuhaus’s $41 limited‑edition egg—are anchoring the premium segment. High‑end hospitality and fashion brands...
Rent Furniture and Appliances in Hyderabad: How ₹1.5-₹4 Lakh Setup Costs Are Driving a Shift Toward Renting in 2026
Rentomojo reports a sharp rise in furniture and appliance rentals in Hyderabad as households confront upfront setup costs of ₹1.5‑₹4 lakh (approximately $1,800‑$4,800). The city’s influx of tech professionals, frequent relocations, and desire for financial flexibility are driving a shift toward...
Eddie Bauer Adopts Deck Commerce’s Platform for Order Orchestration
Eddie Bauer’s North American DTC operations are integrating Deck Commerce’s order‑orchestration platform to unify sales across Shopify storefronts, Amazon, and marketplace partners while coordinating third‑party logistics. The first milestone—a new Shopify storefront—went live just two months after the contract was...
Perplexity Asks Federal Court to Lift Amazon Shopping Agent Ban
Perplexity has filed an appeal to a federal circuit court asking it to lift a March injunction that barred its AI shopping agent, Comet, from accessing Amazon’s site. The district court had found Amazon likely to succeed on its claim...
Gopuff to Work with NextNRG on Delivering Groceries Alongside Gas
Gopuff is partnering with NextNRG to launch EzShop, a service that adds grocery and household item delivery to the company’s mobile‑fueling app. The integration, set to roll out in select markets in Q2 2026, will offer more than 5,000 SKUs using...
Etsy Bans Fur From Its Listings
Etsy announced it will prohibit all animal‑fur listings on its marketplace starting August 11, 2024, after a sustained activist campaign. The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade staged over 50 protests in 17 cities, including a disruption of Etsy’s investor presentation....
Amazon's Big Summer Prime Day Sale Might Be Moving This Year. Here's What to Expect and How to Get Ready
Amazon is reportedly shifting its 2026 Prime Day from its traditional July slot to June, according to Bloomberg. The move could accelerate deal availability but gives shoppers less time to budget and forces rivals to rethink promotional calendars. Historically, Prime...
Skechers and Howie Mandel Tout ‘Retail Theater’ With Immersive Hologram Experience
Skechers has teamed with comedian‑ambassador Howie Mandel and hologram specialist Proto Hologram to debut an immersive, permanent holographic installation at its Manhattan Beach flagship store. Shoppers can interact with a life‑size Mandel avatar, snap selfies and unlock exclusive promotions, turning...
Shopify Adds B2B Features for More Merchants
Shopify is extending its enterprise‑grade B2B suite to merchants on the basic, grow and advanced plans at no extra cost, bringing wholesale‑focused tools such as company profiles, custom catalogs, volume discounts, vaulted credit cards and payment terms to a broader...
Famous Labs Taps AI for Speedy E-Commerce Site Building
Famous Labs has launched Famous.ai, an artificial‑intelligence platform that builds complete e‑commerce stores from plain‑language descriptions. The service automatically generates site architecture, design, product pages and integrates native payments through its FamousPay solution. Retailers can choose a traditional website, a...
Poland’s BLIK Breaks Into the Eurozone and 21 Million Users Could Soon Shop Across Europe Without Switching Apps
Polish mobile payment platform BLIK has extended its service to Slovak online merchants, allowing its 21 million users to pay in euros without installing new apps. The rollout follows BLIK’s acquisition of Slovak fintech VIAMO and a pilot with Tatra Banka...
‘The Era of Link in Bio Is Finally over’: Meta
Meta is piloting product tagging on Instagram Reels in five markets, allowing creators to embed up to 30 catalog items or affiliate links directly in videos. The feature targets creators with public accounts, at least 1,000 followers and age 18+,...
Walmart Alumni Open POS Test Lab
Retail technology firm Kitestring Technical Services, founded by former Walmart engineers, has opened a vendor‑neutral point‑of‑sale (POS) demonstration lab in Bentonville, Arkansas. The lab showcases seven software and fourteen hardware vendors, allowing retailers to evaluate solutions side‑by‑side. POS selections are...
Jen Young on Outdoorsy and the Entrepreneur’s Journey
Outdoorsy, co‑founded by Jen Young in 2014, has grown from a niche peer‑to‑peer vehicle rental service into a marketplace with over 200 employees and a diversified portfolio that includes the Outdoorsy Destination Network and Roamly insurance. The platform now lists...
Winners Dutch Shopping Awards 2026
The 25th Dutch Shopping Awards crowned Kaartje2go as the DHL Best Online Store of the Year, making it the overall winner of the ceremony. The event also presented jury awards—including Decathlon’s DS Smith Sustainability Award and Zalando’s PostNL Innovation & AI...
GameStop Thought Buying Games Online Was A ‘Passing Phase,’ Says Former Business Developer
Former Stardock business developer Larry Kuperman revealed that GameStop viewed digital game distribution as a temporary trend, leading the retailer to acquire the Impulse platform in 2011 but treat it as a low priority. Impulse was shuttered by April 2014,...
PMI Builds Commerce Engine to Glean Customer Insights
Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched an omnichannel commerce engine in South Africa to reach informal‑market retailers that account for up to 75% of counterfeit tobacco sales. The solution uses USSD short‑codes on feature phones, multi‑language support, and low‑cost scooter...
Yu Foods’ Revenue Doubles To ₹75 Cr In FY26: Cofounder Bharat Bhalla
Yu Foods, a D2C instant‑meal brand, saw operating revenue surge 114% to ₹75 crore (≈$9 million) in FY26, up from ₹35 crore the year before. The company’s net loss widened marginally to ₹8 crore (≈$1 million), while EBITDA margin improved to –4%. About 40% of...
Amazon Discloses 3.5% Fuel & Logistics-Related Surcharge
Amazon announced a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on its marketplace orders, aimed at offsetting rising diesel and transportation expenses. The fee will be applied automatically at checkout and affects both direct‑to‑consumer sales and third‑party sellers. The move follows a...