K-Beauty World Expands on Ulta Beauty Marketplace with 17 New Brands
K‑Beauty World has added 17 new Korean beauty brands to Ulta Beauty’s online marketplace, expanding its roster to 12 initial brands with five more slated for May. The assortment leans heavily toward skincare, featuring nine skincare labels alongside hair‑care, body‑care, and colour‑cosmetics offerings. Ulta’s Marketplace enables these brands to launch in as little as nine weeks, dramatically faster than the typical nine‑month in‑store rollout. Strong online performance can unlock broader distribution, including placement in Ulta’s physical stores nationwide.
Pep Technologies Cuts Losses 81% in FY25; Hyphen Drives Growth, mCaffeine Stalls
Pep Technologies posted a 23% rise in operating revenue to Rs 237.5 crore in FY25, while cutting its net loss by 81% to Rs 18 crore. The growth was driven almost entirely by its Hyphen brand, which surged over 6.5‑times to cross...
Perciva 5D Camera: Occlusion-Free 3D Vision for Industrial, Retail, and Robotic Imaging
Teledyne e2v introduced the Perciva 5D camera, a short‑range 3D vision system that combines 2D imaging and depth mapping in a single CMOS sensor. The device uses angular‑sensitive pixel technology and an on‑board neural‑processing unit to deliver real‑time, occlusion‑free depth maps...
Modern Retail Podcast: AI-Generated Review Summaries Could Upend Online Shopping
Generative AI is now creating condensed summaries of customer reviews that appear in AI‑powered search results such as Gemini, ChatGPT and Rufus. The Modern Retail Podcast discusses how these bot‑written snippets reshape product discovery and can strip essential context from...
Samsonite Leans on Ecommerce Growth as Wholesale Demand Weakens
Samsonite posted a modest rebound in Q4, with sales rising 2.2% to $963.3 million, though full‑year revenue slipped 2.5% to $3.5 billion. Ecommerce revenue surged 12% year‑over‑year to $145.5 million, lifting its share of total sales to 15.1% in the quarter. Direct‑to‑consumer channels...
Google Tightens Rules on Out-of-Stock Product Pages
Google Merchant Center now mandates that out‑of‑stock product pages display a visibly disabled, grayed‑out buy button instead of removing or keeping it active. The rule also requires a clear availability label—such as “out of stock” or “back order”—that matches the...
Walmart Says ChatGPT Checkout Converted 3x Worse than Its Own Website
Walmart’s real‑world test of OpenAI’s Instant Checkout showed that purchases completed inside ChatGPT converted at roughly one‑third the rate of transactions on Walmart.com, a 66% drop in conversion. The underperformance prompted Walmart to pull back from the in‑chat checkout model....
Ditch the Discount, Says Brand Marketer
Cherene Aubert, founder of Growth Capital, advises D2C brands to stop discounting slow‑moving inventory and instead use bundles or free‑gift tactics that preserve margins. She recommends pairing a popular full‑price product with a discontinued item, allowing customers to perceive added...
Amaze to Launch Live Shopping Tools Enabling In-Stream Purchasing for Creators, Brands
Amaze, the creator‑powered commerce platform, announced new live‑shopping capabilities that let creators and brands sell products directly within live streams. The tools include instant in‑stream purchasing, real‑time audience interaction such as comments, polls, dynamic product highlights, and time‑limited promo codes....
Mother’s Day Is No Longer a Last-Minute Rush as Shoppers Spread Demand and Embrace More Flexible Delivery Options
UK e‑commerce orders rose 8.47 % YoY in the week leading up to Mother’s Day, but the growth was evenly distributed rather than concentrated on a single rush day. Shoppers spread purchases across the entire week, with the strongest lifts on...
One Year on From Retail’s Devastating Cyber Attacks, What’s Changed?
A year after a wave of sophisticated cyber attacks crippled ecommerce platforms and supply chains, retailers have begun overhauling their security models. The industry is moving from perimeter‑based defenses to zero‑trust architectures, with roughly 63% of organisations adopting at least...
It’s Time to Reshore: Why AI-Augmented Development Changes the Equation
An engineer used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.5 and Claude Code to build a multi‑brand, multi‑locale e‑commerce platform for Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan in just 2.5 days, completing seven sprints that would normally require a distributed offshore team for weeks. The project...
How Can AI Transform Retail: 5 Key Ways
Artificial intelligence is reshaping retail by delivering hyper‑personalized experiences, real‑time inventory forecasting, and 24/7 virtual assistance. AI‑driven dynamic pricing and computer‑vision‑enabled in‑store tools are boosting sales margins while reducing stockouts. Fraud detection and supply‑chain optimization further enhance security and efficiency....
This Brand Broke the Biggest Rule of E-Commerce—And Made Customers 3.5x More Valuable
Huckberry’s newsletter, launched 15 years ago, includes external links to curated stories, defying the e‑commerce rule against outbound links. The brand treats customers as community members, offering entertainment, education, and connections beyond its product line. This content‑first approach yields customers...
5 Tips for More Reliable Shipping Operations
The article outlines five practical steps to make shipping operations more reliable: ensuring order accuracy, standardizing procedures, leveraging third‑party logistics (3PL), maintaining precise inventory records, and setting clear deadlines. Each tip targets common pitfalls such as mis‑picks, inconsistent packing, and...
Customers Reject AI Slop: Don’t Let Automated Ads Ruin Your Retail Marketing Strategy
Retail marketers are facing backlash as AI‑generated ad “slop” erodes brand trust. Recent incidents like Blue Apron’s gibberish copy highlight consumer rejection of low‑quality automated content, now dubbed Merriam‑Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year. While platforms such as Meta and...
DTC Bundles Engineered for UGC: How to Turn Every Kit Into a Content Machine
Direct‑to‑consumer brands are repurposing product bundles and starter kits as engines for user‑generated content. By pairing each kit with influencer storytelling scripts, companies can lift average order value while keeping customer acquisition costs flat. The article highlights micro‑influencer pods and...
From the Archive: Tesco Online
Tesco launched its online grocery platform in 1997 and by February 2001 had grown sales to £237 million, up from £59 million the previous year, on a modest £40 million investment. The retailer pioneered an in‑store picking model, expanding delivery from a single...
Instagram Affiliate Marketing: What Still Works In 2026
Instagram affiliate marketing now merges influencer and performance tactics as Meta expands shoppable posts and in‑app checkout. Brands must navigate new tagging workflows, tiered commission bands, and stricter FTC disclosures. Hybrid compensation models and native tagging drive higher ROI, but...
Strategies for Smooth Transactions in Healthcare E-Commerce Platforms
Healthcare e‑commerce is expanding rapidly, but its transactions must juggle payment security, regulatory compliance, prescription verification, and complex logistics. The article outlines eight strategic pillars—including PCI DSS‑compliant checkout, end‑to‑end encryption, AI‑driven order validation, cold‑chain shipping, and seamless EHR integration—to create...
The Works Closes Ecommerce Website with Immediate Effect
The Works announced it will shut its e‑commerce platform and convert its website into a non‑transactional brand showcase. The decision follows two years of operational problems with third‑party fulfilment partners and a loss‑making online division that contributed only a small...
How Are Smartphones Remaking Retail
South Africa’s e‑commerce market surpassed R130 billion in 2025, representing roughly 10 % of total retail sales, with 55 % of consumers using smartphones to shop online. Emerging mobile technologies—AI‑driven personalization, social commerce, and augmented reality—are reshaping how shoppers discover, evaluate, and purchase...
How an MBA Internship Led Mitsubishi to E-Commerce Platform Yami—And Into the U.S. Snacks Market
Japan’s largest food wholesaler, Mitsubishi Shokuhin, has signed a strategic partnership with U.S. e‑commerce platform Yami, giving the company direct access to millions of American consumers for its Japanese food and beverage brands. The collaboration originated from an MBA internship...
How AI Is Enabling Hyper-Personalisation at Scale for Online Marketplaces
In 2026 Indian online marketplaces are shifting from simple, history‑based recommendations to AI‑driven, intent‑led experiences. Real‑time interpretation of queries, browsing signals and context enables hyper‑personalisation across search, recommendations and support. AI also cleans and standardises chaotic multi‑vendor catalogs, creating a...
Paris Appeals Court Blocks Bid to Suspend Shein’s Marketplace
Paris’ Court of Appeal rejected France’s request to suspend Shein’s marketplace, upholding a December ruling that the platform must enforce stricter age‑verification for sensitive items. The decision follows a scandal where child‑like sex dolls and prohibited weapons were found on...
Dollar General, Five Below Each Seek to Enhance Omnichannel Experiences
Discount retailers Dollar General and Five Below used their Q4 earnings calls to outline new digital initiatives aimed at strengthening omnichannel experiences. Dollar General reported a 4.3% same‑store sales increase and highlighted its expanded delivery network, upgraded search, and a...
Amelia Van Camp: Preparing for Agentic Commerce Now and for the Future
At the Mirakl Summit in London, Head of Agentic Commerce Amelia Van Camp highlighted how AI is reshaping marketplace ecosystems. She explained Mirakl’s strategy for embedding large‑language models into category mapping, customer experience, product sourcing and retail media. The discussion...
Mexico’s Culture Ministry Urges eBay to Halt Sales of Pre-Hispanic Artefacts
Mexico’s Secretariat of Culture has flagged 195 pre‑Hispanic artefacts listed by the U.S.‑based eBay seller Coins Artifacts and formally asked the platform to halt the sales and return the items. The ministry’s letter cites Mexico’s 1827 export ban and alleges the...
Shoppers Turn to Verify Before Buying as Trust Erodes
Shoppers are increasingly using smartphones in physical aisles to verify product details as rising prices and a surge in fraud erode trust in online purchases. Recent Salsify research shows daily online shopping dropped from 21% to 9% within a year,...
Rezolve Ai to Showcase Production-Ready Agentic Commerce Platform at Shoptalk 2026
Rezolve Ai announced it will demo its production‑ready agentic commerce platform at Shoptalk 2026 in Las Vegas. The solution lets shoppers move from discovery to checkout within a single conversational experience, powered by the company’s proprietary brainpowa model suite, Brain...
DoorDash Deepens Retail Push with Foot Locker Partnership
DoorDash announced a partnership with Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker and Champs Sports, adding nearly 1,300 store locations to its Marketplace. Shoppers can now order sneakers, apparel and accessories through the DoorDash app for same‑day delivery. The deal ties the...
Top 10 E-Commerce Marketplaces in 2026
Amazon remains the clear U.S. marketplace leader with roughly $300 billion in third‑party sales, dwarfing eBay’s $39 billion and the next tier of platforms. Temu, TikTok Shop and Walmart have converged in a tight $15‑22 billion GMV band, each leveraging distinct supply‑chain, content...
Amazon to Invest over 5 Billion Euros in Poland
Amazon announced a €5 billion investment in Poland between 2026 and 2028, adding to the €10 billion it has already spent since 2012. The funding will support a new 200,000‑square‑meter fulfillment center in Dobromierz equipped with 5,000 robots, expanding its logistics footprint...
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...
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...