Ulta Beauty Taps Uber Eats for Delivery
Ulta Beauty is adding more than 1,500 of its stores to the Uber Eats platform, enabling same‑day and scheduled delivery of cosmetics, skincare, fragrance and hair‑care items. The move follows Ulta’s earlier integrations with DoorDash and Instacart, expanding its omnichannel reach to over 2,800 locations. Uber Eats, traditionally a food‑delivery service, is broadening its marketplace to include beauty, electronics and home‑improvement categories, and has recently launched a returns capability for retail partners. Ulta’s fulfillment capacity doubled in 2025, positioning it for rapid delivery growth.
Falabella Selects Topsort as Strategic Partner to Scale Its Retail Media Offering Through Fmedia
Falabella, South America’s largest retailer, has partnered with AI‑native retail media platform Topsort to power its Fmedia business unit. After a proof‑of‑concept that delivered double‑digit lifts in ROAS and click‑through rates, Falabella will migrate its advertising infrastructure to Topsort’s auction‑based,...
Valve’s Hard-Line Tactics Clash With Founder’s Reputation as Benevolent Gamer
A lawsuit filed by several game developers alleges that Valve Corp. and its co‑founder Gabe Newell have shifted from the traditionally gamer‑friendly image to a hard‑line stance on platform policies. The claims detail steep fee hikes, restrictive refund rules, and...
How Self-Service Is Now Retail Infrastructure
Retailers are scaling self‑service technology from checkout lanes to full‑store infrastructure, with 89% deploying self‑checkout and an average of 3.5 formats per location. The Coresight Research survey of 150 U.S. executives shows these tools reduce peak‑hour friction, cut front‑end staffing...
Google to Add AI Performance Report to Merchant Center
Google is launching an AI performance insights report inside Merchant Center, giving ecommerce brands a native view of how they appear in AI‑driven shopping experiences such as AI Mode, AI Overviews, and the Gemini app. The dashboard, rolling out in...
How Intelligent Delivery Is Turning Fulfilment Into a Competitive Edge
Retailers that treat delivery as a cost centre risk falling behind as AI‑driven expectations rise. ShipStation’s senior director Sophia Pope advocates “intelligent delivery”—using real‑time data and AI to turn fulfilment into a proactive growth engine. She argues that proactive visibility,...
Insights Into Why E-Commerce Matters Now
E‑commerce has shifted from a luxury to a necessity for independent retailers, with Q4 2025 sales representing 16.6% of total retail and a 5.4% year‑over‑year increase. Forrester projects U.S. online sales to hit $1.8 trillion by 2030, capturing 29% of all retail...
Cettire Turns to Tmall After ASX Trading Halt
Cettire, the Australian luxury‑online retailer, announced a partnership with Alibaba’s Tmall Global to launch a flagship store in mainland China, shortly after its shares were placed on a trading halt on the ASX pending an announcement. The deal gives the...
China Moves to Rein in Livestream Ads with New Draft Rules
China's State Administration for Market Regulation has released draft rules to tighten oversight of health‑related advertising on livestream commerce platforms. The measures target pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods and foods for special medical purposes, requiring platforms to review ads, issue...
Amazon Launches Cargo Bike Deliveries in DC
Amazon has launched a 10‑month pilot in Washington, D.C., deploying up to 15 electric cargo bikes to handle last‑mile deliveries. The bikes are loaded at a micro‑hub in Southwest D.C. and will operate in bike lanes and loading zones, mirroring...
Netcore Unbxd Launches AI-Powered Insights Agent to Transform Ecommerce Search Into Instant, Actionable Intelligence
Netcore Unbxd unveiled its AI‑powered Insights Agent, a conversational analytics layer that lets ecommerce teams query search and merchandising data in natural language. The tool replaces complex dashboards with real‑time, actionable answers, enabling instant identification of low‑converting queries, campaign performance, and revenue‑driving...
Grab Adds Perks for Co-Pay Scheme
Grab Thailand reduced its gross‑profit (GP) commission to 9%—more than a 50% cut—to lure merchants onto its “Thai Chuay Thai Plus” subsidy platform, backing the move with a marketing spend of roughly $8.1 million. Competitors Line Man Wongnai and ShopeeFood have also trimmed...
From QVC to Countdown Timers — How eCosmetics Is Turning Beauty Shopping Into a Live Auction Game
eCosmetics Live is turning beauty shopping into a real‑time auction game, where creators host short, timed bidding sessions that lock in purchases the moment a countdown ends. The global live commerce market, already $15.5 billion in 2024, is forecast to explode...
Craft Gin Club Revamp Shifts Focus to Spirits
UK‑based Craft Gin Club has rebranded as The Curious Drinker, broadening its monthly subscription from gin‑only boxes to a full range of premium spirits, including rum, vodka‑based spritzes and upcoming cocktail kits. The change follows a slowdown in UK gin...
Google 1st Order Price Labels On Shopping Ads (Again)
Google is testing a new “1st order price” label on Shopping ads, indicating a special discount for a shopper’s first purchase with a retailer. The label is a variation of the “First order” tag tested over a year ago. The...
Forget Chatbots, the Real AI Retail Revolution Is Happening Behind the Scenes
Retail AI leaders warn that generative tools address only about 10% of operational friction. Satalia’s Daniel Hulme shows optimisation algorithms—routing, staffing and digital twins—can cut millions of miles, improve labour efficiency and unlock new revenue streams. Real value lies in...
Nosto Launches Agentic AI Workflows for Shopify Sidekick
Nosto unveiled agentic AI workflows that embed its product discovery and personalization engine directly into Shopify’s AI assistant, Sidekick. The integration lets merchants issue natural‑language prompts to adjust recommendations without leaving the Shopify admin. A live demo at the OMR...
Scandiweb Announces Stock and Shipment Control Cockpit and Exception Allocation Technology Built on OperaLayer to Help Retailers Respond Faster to...
Scandiweb unveiled two OperaLayer‑based applications – the Stock and Shipment Control Cockpit and the Exception Allocation App – to help retailers react to supply‑chain shocks such as the Middle East shipping crisis. The tools sit atop existing ERP, WMS and...
Shopping with AI Leads to More Sales than by Traditional Online Searches
AI‑driven shopping is now outpacing traditional search in the UK, with Adobe reporting a 182% year‑on‑year rise in conversion rates and a 543% jump since January. AI referrals to retail sites surged 393% in Q1 compared with a year earlier,...
Asda Embarks on Ecommerce Partnership with Ocado
Asda announced a strategic partnership with Ocado to overhaul its online grocery operation. Beginning in 2027, Ocado’s Smart Platform will be integrated across Asda’s website, mobile app, in‑store picking and last‑mile delivery, delivering faster search, personalized recommendations and a streamlined...
Where Did My Website Traffic Go (and How Can I Get It Back?)
Website traffic has been slipping as AI chatbots and Google’s AI overviews replace traditional search clicks. A Pew Research study shows only 1% of users click the cited link when an AI overview appears, and organic click‑through drops from 15%...
Listed New-Age Internet Firms Brace for a Costly Ride as War Clouds Math
India’s listed new‑age consumer‑internet firms are bracing for profit pressure as the Iran‑related war drives up fuel, packaging, freight and raw‑material costs. While the March quarter showed revenue growth and improving operating metrics, analysts warn that the first two quarters...
Rising Gas Prices May Push More Household Spending Toward Amazon
U.S. gasoline prices have climbed above $4 per gallon, squeezing household budgets and prompting shoppers to cut back on in‑store trips. The shift is driving a measurable rise in online purchases of groceries and everyday essentials, a trend that aligns...
Google Adds AI Shopping Visibility Insights to Merchant Center
Google is adding AI‑driven performance insights to Merchant Center, giving retailers visibility into how their products appear across Google’s AI‑powered shopping experiences. The new reports will benchmark share of voice, track funnel performance, surface popular conversational queries, and flag missing...
Walmart: Store-Fulfilled Deliveries Getting Faster
Walmart announced that its store‑fulfilled delivery sales have more than doubled in the past two years, and 36 % of Q1 orders arrived within three hours. The retailer now reaches about 60 % of U.S. households in 30 minutes or less, with...
East Meets West: How AI and Social Commerce Are Reshaping the Future of Retail
NielsenIQ’s new report highlights a split between fast‑adopting APAC markets, where 58% of consumers use quick commerce and 59% shop via social platforms, and Western regions, where roughly two‑thirds have never tried these services. The study says AI‑driven agents are...
Europe Is About to Make Returns Much Easier. Retailers May Pay the Price
Starting June 19, 2026, EU retailers must embed a digital withdrawal button directly into the online checkout, making contract cancellation as easy as purchase. The rule, part of Directive (EU) 2023/2673, turns returns from a customer‑service issue into a core...
36% of Gen Z Shoppers Use Digital Wallets as Checkout Habits Shift
The PYMNTS Intelligence report, based on a survey of 2,108 U.S. consumers, shows financial stress is reshaping checkout behavior, especially among Gen Z and parents. High‑stress shoppers spent an average of $109 on groceries and $169 on online retail, outpacing low‑stress...
Lithuania’s Kopa.ai Raises €2 Million to Scale Its Agentic AI Co-Pilot for E-Commerce Teams
Lithuanian AI startup Kopa.ai announced a €2 million (≈$2.2 million) seed round led by XTX Ventures and Practica Capital. The Vilnius‑based platform, which bills itself as an operating system for e‑commerce teams, already serves more than 2,000 merchants and posted €2 million in...
Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety Vows to Stay Out of Amazon-Ambani Spending War
Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety told Bloomberg the company will not join the discount‑driven spending war sparked by Amazon, Walmart and Reliance, opting instead for profitability and disciplined growth. Instamart, Swiggy’s quick‑commerce arm, now runs more than 1,100 micro‑warehouses but added...
Rs 199 for a Diet Coke: How Q-Commerce Is Capitalizing on India's Canned Drink Deficit
India faces a severe canned‑drink deficit, especially for Diet Coke, which is sold only in 330 ml aluminium cans. Quick‑commerce platforms like Blinkit and Zepto are listing imported cans at Rs 199 (~$2.40) each—about five times the Rs 40 (~$0.48) price of locally...
75% of Americans Say They Would Trust AI Shopping Recommendations Less if Results Were Sponsored — Which Means OpenAI Just...
A Quad/Graphics and Harris Poll survey of 2,180 U.S. adults found that 75% would trust an AI shopping agent less if its recommendations were influenced by brand payments, and the same share would trust the paying brand less. The poll,...
AWS Launches Agentic Shopping Assistant to Help Retailers Build AI Tools
Amazon Web Services introduced the Agentic Shopping Assistant (ASA), a new offering that bundles AWS AI services such as Bedrock, OpenSearch, and the Alexa for Shopping tool with professional services to help retailers embed generative AI assistants in their e‑commerce...
The Trust Reset: Why Retailers Must Lead With Transparency in the AI Era
Retailers are committing billions to AI that relies on first‑party data, even as consumers grow uneasy about how that data fuels machine‑learning models. Global AI spending is projected to top $2 trillion by the end of 2026, with a large share...
Alibaba Integrates PicCopilot with Google Ads, Eyeing Conversion for Ecommerce
Alibaba has launched a new integration that connects its AI‑powered PicCopilot platform with Google Ads, enabling merchants to generate display ads and video creatives in seconds. The feature, dubbed Good Ads, is aimed at small‑ and medium‑size ecommerce operators, many...
Jeroboams: ‘A Modern Fine Wine Merchant… Can’t Just Sell People Wine’
Jeroboams' fine‑wine Exchange platform, launched six months ago, has doubled its active customer base and maintains a steady flow of listings and sales. The marketplace is dominated by Bordeaux, Champagne and Super Tuscan bottles, many of which are still early...
Visa, Mastercard Envision Agentic Commerce Benefits
Visa and Mastercard are betting on "agentic commerce," a future where AI‑driven bots shop across multiple merchants on behalf of consumers. Both CFOs outlined how autonomous agents could multiply transaction volume, accelerate digital payments, and boost B2B commerce. The card...
Top Brands Get Half Their Email Revenue From 6% of Sends. Here’s What Those Sends Are and How to Replicate...
Automated email flows, which represent only 6 % of total sends, generate $513 per 1,000 emails—about eight times the $62 earned by standard campaigns. Leading DTC brands capture more than half of their email revenue from these flows by leveraging branching logic,...
Google Announces Universal Cart: What It Means for Online Stores
Google announced Universal Cart, an AI‑powered shopping hub that lets users add items from any retailer while browsing Google Search, Gemini, YouTube or Gmail. The cart tracks price changes, flags incompatibilities and streamlines checkout through Google Pay via the Universal...
Speed up Plans to Close Import Tax Loophole on Small Parcels, British Firms Say
Britain’s leading retailers, including ASOS, Marks & Spencer and NEXT, have urged the government to accelerate a plan to tax low‑value imports, proposing a £2.60 (≈$3.30) charge per small parcel. They argue the current £135 (≈$170) de‑minimis exemption gives overseas...
‘Should Be Illegal’: BTS Fans Livid over Ticketmaster’s ‘Very Predatory’ Hidden Prices
Ticketmaster is keeping BTS Arirang tour ticket prices hidden until a 30‑minute digital waiting room opens, forcing Australian fans to decide under intense time pressure. Prices are expected to exceed 500 AUD (≈330 USD), sparking accusations of predatory practices and calls for regulatory...
South Korea on ‘Unfair’ Online Ads: Helping Food Firms Avoid Snags
South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) released a 78‑page handbook that outlines prohibited language and claims in online food advertising. The agency is also deploying AI‑driven inspections to monitor digital platforms for misleading or unsafe promotions. The...
Culture Kings & Profit Peak Warn Brands Using Discounts As A ‘Sugar Hit’ Are Training Customers To Wait For Them
New data from Klaviyo and analytics firm Profit Peak shows 62% of Australian shoppers postpone purchases until a discount appears. At a Klaviyo K:SYD panel, Culture Kings’ ANZ president Justin Hillberg and Profit Peak CEO Carla Penn‑Kahn warned that habitual "sugar‑hit" discounts erode...
From Discovery to Conversion: Retailers Prepare for AI Shopping
Retailers are confronting a new era of "agentic commerce" as AI assistants shift from search tools to direct shopping partners. Shopify reports AI‑referred orders grew nearly 13‑fold YoY in Q1 2026, with conversion rates about 50% higher and average order values...
Why AI Shopping Can Finally Move From Recommendations to Checkout
On May 11, Alibaba announced the full integration of its Qwen large‑model AI with the Taobao marketplace, allowing users to browse, compare and complete purchases through conversational interactions. The move follows a two‑year race in which Amazon’s Rufus AI assistant amassed...
Google to Launch Universal Cart
Google announced the launch of Universal Cart, an AI‑driven shopping cart that serves as a single checkout hub across Google Search, Maps, YouTube and the new Google Shopping surface. The platform will let merchants list inventory once and sell instantly...
The Dark Side of Instant Gratification: Why Fast Delivery Is Becoming a Workplace Safety Nightmare
A Cornell Human Resources study reveals that the race for ultra‑fast e‑commerce deliveries is degrading working conditions in fulfillment centers. Warehouse staff at Amazon face higher injury rates, tighter break schedules, and fewer advancement opportunities compared with peers, while Walmart’s...
‘One in Five Spanish Ecommerce Sellers on TikTok Shop’
TikTok Shop has quickly become a major e‑commerce player in Spain, attracting 21,000 local sellers—about 18.7 % of the country’s online merchants—and ranking as the sixteenth‑largest retailer by sales volume. In less than 18 months it surpassed Amazon’s 15,000 Spanish SMEs,...
4 Reasons Your Retail Fulfillment Tech Investment Keeps Falling Short
Retail fulfillment technology projects often stumble long before go‑live, as planning assumptions prove unrealistic. Gartner finds 76% of such transformations miss critical success metrics, and McKinsey notes a 20% value loss even in "successful" rollouts. The root causes—misaligned expectations, overly...
![[Industry News] New Report From G2A and Juniper Research Predicts “Trust Advantage” As the Next Growth Driver in Global Digital...](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/ff01939afe5b6de4760138bf4aa0fc48.webp)
[Industry News] New Report From G2A and Juniper Research Predicts “Trust Advantage” As the Next Growth Driver in Global Digital...
G2A Group and Juniper Research released the “Trust in Digital Commerce” report, based on a survey of over 9,000 consumers across nine countries. The study identifies a “Trust Advantage” where marketplaces that prioritize security outperform direct brand sites in sales,...