Levi Strauss, Walmart, Amazon Lead Brand Keys Loyalty Index
The 28th annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) identifies Levi Strauss, Walmart and Amazon as the top loyalty leaders for 2026, alongside sector champions such as Dick’s, Costco and Whole Foods. The study highlights a rapid rise in consumer expectations that outpaces brands’ ability to improve, reshaping the loyalty landscape. Brand Keys’ founder Robert Passikoff calls this an historic shift, noting that awareness and satisfaction are now merely “table stakes.” Brands that align emotionally and functionally with consumers are projected to gain deeper engagement, market share and profits.
Levi Strauss Sees European Revenue Rise
Levi Strauss & Co. reported a resilient fourth quarter, with net revenues rising 1% to $1.8 bn (5% organic) despite wholesale pressure. Europe stood out, posting an 8% reported and 10% organic increase, while the U.S. saw a 7% decline on...
Digital Wallet Use Still Lags in the Physical Store
The PYMNTS Intelligence study shows digital wallets are twice as likely to be used for online retail purchases (16%) than in physical stores (8%). Consumer payment preferences now align more with shopping channel than with age, as e‑commerce adoption converges...
Why Fraud Doesn’t Look Like Fraud to a Data Scientist
Fraud no longer looks like a discrete incident; data scientists see it as subtle behavioral deviations across a dynamic transaction ecosystem. Traditional rule‑based defenses create excessive false declines, eroding revenue and customer trust. Visa’s shift to deep‑learning models delivers 15‑20%...
Four Reasons Why Retailers Need to Get Personal with Their Returns Policy
ASOS has introduced a tiered returns policy that removes the £3.95 fee for shoppers who maintain a low return rate, and it now lets customers track their return history directly in the mobile app. The move highlights a growing industry...
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For January 30, 2026
Canada’s retail sector shows mixed signals as e‑commerce orders surged 20% in 2025 while payroll employment slipped 1.5% in November. Major players are investing heavily: GoodLife Fitness rolled out a year‑long multichannel campaign, Empire Company expects a $95 million operating‑income lift...
Empire Company to Close Alberta E-Commerce Facilities, Expands Third-Party Delivery Partnerships
Empire Company and its Sobeys subsidiary announced a restructuring of their grocery e‑commerce network, closing the Calgary and Edmonton fulfillment centers in Alberta. The move, combined with an expanded partnership with DoorDash, is projected to generate about $95 million of annualized...
Larry’s Catch Draws Three Offers on CBC’s Dragons’ Den
Larry’s Catch, a Canadian direct‑to‑consumer seafood delivery startup, appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and secured three investor offers during its national television debut. The founders used the platform to showcase a subscription model that sources wild‑caught fish from sustainable family fisheries...
Luxury Briefing: Inside LMVH’s ‘Quiet Opulence’ Jewelry Brand, as Jewelry Outpaces Luxury
Fine jewelry has become the standout performer in luxury, outpacing fashion and leather goods. LVMH’s watches and jewelry division posted an 8% earnings increase in 2025, driven by Bulgari and Tiffany & Co.’s repositioning. Richemont similarly benefits from its jewelry...
Canadian Ecommerce Orders Rose 20% in 2025, with Top Brands Driving Half the Growth: Omnisend
Canadian ecommerce order volume jumped 20% year‑over‑year in 2025, but the surge was unevenly distributed. The top 10% of brands captured half of all order growth, highlighting a widening performance gap. Shoppers engaged with marketing less often, yet those interactions...
Walmart’s and Target’s Outgoing CEOs Leave Contrasting Legacies
After more than a decade, Walmart and Target will each install new CEOs next week, ending the tenures of Doug McMillon and Brian Cornell. McMillon left Walmart with expanded three‑hour delivery coverage, a thriving Walmart+ membership, and a reengineered advertising...
Glossy Podcast: Wholesale Overhauls, AI Strategies and More Hot Topics From Shoptalk Luxe in Abu Dhabi
At Shoptalk Luxe in Abu Dhabi, luxury brands highlighted a dual focus on AI integration and the renewed importance of human storytelling in retail. Executives said AI is best applied to back‑office tasks such as data analysis, while client‑facing experiences...
Billing Support Provides Scalable Billing Support for High-Growth E-Commerce Brands
Billing Support offers high‑growth e‑commerce brands a fully outsourced, 24/7 billing help desk that handles payments, refunds, and account queries across email, chat, phone and digital channels. The service scales with demand, allowing retailers to add support capacity during peak...
Country Road Group Increases Sales Despite Challenging December
Country Road Group posted a 2.3% sales rise for the 26‑week period ending 28 December, with comparable‑store sales up 2.5%. December performance softened to 1% growth, while net trading space grew 0.2% and online sales held at 27.2%. The newly appointed...
Avani K Chandan on Scaling The House of Ara in India’s Ready-to-Wear Market
The House of Ara, founded by designer Avani K Chandan, is scaling a craft‑led ready‑to‑wear label that translates heritage Indian textiles into modern, everyday silhouettes. The brand fills a market gap between fast fashion and high‑end ethnic wear by emphasizing slow...
Discover Decathlon’s New Shopping App Today
Decathlon has launched a dedicated mobile app for iOS and Android that consolidates its full product catalog, promotions, membership benefits, and order management in a single interface. Shoppers can browse inventory, check in‑store stock, scan barcodes for detailed product data,...
Lane Bryant Enters Canada via Walmart Partnership
Lane Bryant, the U.S. plus‑size fashion leader, is entering Canada through an exclusive partnership with Walmart Canada. The brand’s collection goes live online immediately and will appear in 320 Walmart stores nationwide starting February 1, 2026. In‑store sizes range from 1X to...
Nordstrom Names Chief Supply Chain Officer
Jason Bell was promoted to executive vice president and chief supply chain officer at Nordstrom, assuming the role immediately and adding transportation oversight to his duties. Bell, who joined Nordstrom in 2021 as senior vice president of supply chain operations,...
Paytm Rebounds From Regulatory Ruckus With Sales Up 20%
Paytm posted a net profit of 2.25 billion rupees in the latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, while revenue climbed 20% to 22 billion rupees. The fintech’s turnaround follows a series of cost‑cutting measures, the sale of its ticketing business, and a renewed...
Linking Payments Infrastructure Is a Key Component of India, EU Deal
The episode examines the newly signed India‑EU Free Trade Agreement, highlighting payments interoperability as a cornerstone, including real‑time cross‑border payments and remittances. It explains how the deal builds on the ECB’s plan to link its TARGET Instant Payment Settlement service...
Bolt Partners with Aethir to Power Open-Web Checkout for Games
Bolt announced a partnership with Aethir, the leading distributed GPU cloud provider, to deliver open‑web checkout for games hosted outside traditional app stores. The deal makes Bolt the preferred payments provider for studios on Aethir’s platform, enabling one‑click, browser‑based purchases...
It’s People All The Way Down
The episode argues that despite the hype around autonomous AI agents, real commerce and AI interactions ultimately hinge on people. It outlines how ad‑ and commerce‑funded AI tools must keep humans central, warns that agent‑to‑agent workflows become opaque operations challenges,...
BigCommerce Expands Stripe Integration to Deliver Optimized Checkout Experiences
BigCommerce has broadened its partnership with Stripe, rolling out the Optimized Checkout Suite to merchants worldwide. The upgrade adds Link’s rapid repeat‑checkout, over 30 local and BNPL payment options, and Stripe Radar’s AI‑driven fraud protection. Merchants can activate the new...
Inside Pat McGrath Cosmetics’ Bankruptcy
Pat McGrath Cosmetics, the luxury beauty label founded by Dame Patricia McGrath, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2026, citing an unsustainable capital structure and liquidity constraints. The company estimates liabilities between $50 million and $100 million and seeks to reset its...
Tractor Supply Reins in Guidance After Weak Finish to the Year
Tractor Supply Co. reported Q4 2025 results that missed its own outlook, with net sales rising 3.3% year‑over‑year to $3.9 billion while comparable sales were essentially flat. Gross margin slipped 10 basis points to 35.1% and net income fell about 4%...
Asda Underpaid 53,000 Workers Holiday and Sick Pay, Says Report
Asda announced it will repay 53,000 current and former employees who were underpaid holiday and sick pay after a glitch in its Project Future payroll upgrade. The miscalculations affected pay from February 2024 to May 2025, with an average shortfall...
The Cross-Border CFO Playbook: Using Local Collections for Growth
The article highlights a growing gap between outbound payment innovation and inbound collection capability for mid‑market firms expanding internationally. While large multinationals have long relied on local entities and bank accounts, smaller companies still depend on global cards and cross‑border...
Mastercard Reworks Cap One Pact
Mastercard announced a renegotiated services agreement with Capital One, extending its network role after Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover. The new pact will route a large portion of the newly acquired credit accounts through Mastercard, though details remain limited....
JCPenney Invites Shoppers to ‘Ex-Change’ Their Old Jewelry for Valentine’s Day
JCPenney launched the "Ex‑Change" program, letting shoppers swap old jewelry for a free ½‑carat lab‑grown diamond necklace in 14k gold. The first 100 customers at the Garden City flagship and the first 50 at other stores receive the necklace instantly,...
Crocs Puts Self-Expression over Algorithmic Sameness with New Platform
Crocs introduced its first global brand platform in nearly a decade, "Wonderfully Unordinary," to replace the 2017 "Come As You Are" campaign. The new platform emphasizes self‑expression and real‑world experiences as a counterpoint to the algorithmic sameness dominating digital culture....
Fiserv Sued over Alleged Lax Security
Payment processor Fiserv faces a lawsuit from FiCare Federal Credit Union alleging that its Virtual Branch Next platform lacked basic cybersecurity controls, allowing hackers to hijack customer accounts and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. The complaint claims Fiserv failed...
Pipe17 Customers and Their AI Agents Are Now onX-Enabled
Pipe17 announced that every customer now accesses the Order Network eXchange (onX), an open standard built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for sharing order, inventory, and fulfillment data. The onX specification, governed by the Commerce Operations Foundation—a body co‑founded...
EU Import of Cheap Parcels Rises 26%
EU imports of low‑cost ecommerce parcels jumped 26% last year, reaching 5.8 billion items valued under €150 each—roughly one parcel per citizen per month. The surge is driven largely by Chinese platforms such as AliExpress, Shein and Temu, whose growth has...
The Backroom: Saks Global and the Bankruptcy that Everyone Saw Coming
Saks Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 14, 2026, barely two years after its $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus. The deal left the luxury retailer unable to meet vendor payments, triggering inventory shortages that crippleed sales during the critical holiday season. Observers...
TrueLayer and Stripe Tap Into Finnish E-Commerce with Kustom Checkout Deal
TrueLayer and Stripe have extended their Pay by Bank service to Finland by embedding it in Kustom’s checkout platform. The rollout instantly equips more than 24,000 Kustom merchants with a direct‑bank payment option that eliminates card details. Finland’s high online‑banking...
The Fraud Visibility Gap Created by Agentic Shopping
Agentic shopping leverages AI‑driven assistants to automate the checkout process, eliminating the manual steps that traditionally generate rich behavioral data. By bypassing page‑level interactions, these autonomous flows erase signals such as mouse movement, dwell time, and device fingerprinting that fraud...
Shoppers Want to Feel Seen and Understood, Suggests New Tesco Media Report
Tesco Media’s third annual "We Know the Nation 2026" report reveals British shoppers are seeking community and shared values, moving beyond pure transactions. With roughly 80% of UK households holding a Clubcard, the data shows event‑driven sales spikes—such as scones...
ACH B2B Volume Hits 8.1 Billion Payments
ACH network B2B payments climbed to 8.1 billion in 2025, a 9.9% increase from 2024. Overall ACH volume reached 35.2 billion payments, valued at $93 trillion, while Same‑Day ACH surged 16.7% to 1.4 billion transactions. Healthcare claim payments rose 7.3% to 548 million, underscoring broader...
Most Consumers Can Identify AI Videos
According to Animoto’s 2026 State of Video Report, 83% of consumers say they can identify AI‑generated videos, and they perceive such content as diminishing brand trust. The study found that robotic gestures, unnatural voices, and lack of emotional tone are...
Philip Pich, Founder of Passive Digital Asset, on Why Cash-Flowing Digital Businesses Are Emerging as a Serious Alternative Asset Class
Investor Philip Pich argues cash‑flowing digital businesses are emerging as a serious alternative asset class. These eCommerce brands generate recurring revenue, offer transparent data, and require less capital than traditional private‑equity deals. Pich emphasizes applying M&A rigor—structured deals, earn‑outs, and...
Particular Audience Introduces Modular Retail Media Solutions to Cut Costs and Accelerate Innovation for RMNs
Particular Audience unveiled a Modular Retail Media (MRM) suite comprising 13 interoperable modules that can be added to existing retail media networks without replacing legacy adtech. The AI‑driven components, ranging from semantic search to automated product bundles, promise higher‑margin ad...
Shenzhen Shares Product Details, Technology Vision
At NRF 2026, Shenzhen’s sales director Tiffany Tian unveiled a suite of technology solutions aimed at modernizing retail and restaurant experiences. The portfolio includes AI‑powered kiosks, modular hardware, and immersive AR/VR tools designed for the North American market. Tian highlighted...
Palm Payments: Promise and Reality
Palm‑based biometric payment systems have moved from prototype labs to a handful of pilot sites, offering users the ability to authorize transactions by placing their hand on a dedicated scanner. While the technology promises faster checkout and enhanced fraud protection,...
EBay Advertising Launches 2026 UK Marketing Trends Calendar
eBay Advertising has unveiled its 2026 UK Marketing Trends Calendar, a data‑driven guide that maps seasonal moments, micro‑trends and high‑intent shopping periods across the year. The calendar, built on eBay UK marketplace data, highlights demand spikes such as a 76%...
Co-Op Appoints Former Lidl CEO to Board
The Co-operative Group has appointed former Lidl UK chief executive Ronny Gottschlich as an independent non‑executive director, effective 29 January. Gottschlich, who now runs Heunadel Retail Advisory, brings extensive discount‑retail and European market experience to the member‑owned retailer. The move is...
H&M Lifts Profits Despite Slower Sales Growth
Swedish retailer H&M posted a 6% rise in operating profit to £1.38 bn for the year to 30 Nov 2025, while net sales held steady at roughly £17.1 bn. The profit boost stemmed from tighter cost control, a 12% drop in inventory and a...
Why Russian Gamers Are Using International Skin Marketplaces
Russian gamers are increasingly turning to international skin marketplaces because these platforms circumvent banking restrictions, offer stable cryptocurrency payments, and provide localized Russian-language support. Sophisticated pricing engines deliver 7‑8% higher returns than domestic sites, while transparent fee structures and rapid...
M&S Named UK’s Top Brand for Fourth Year in a Row
Marks & Spencer has been crowned the United Kingdom’s strongest brand for the fourth consecutive year, achieving a YouGov BrandIndex score of 52.7, well ahead of runner‑up Ikea’s 45.6. The ranking, derived from more than six million consumer interviews across...
Boomers Have More Patience Than Gen Z With Healthcare Payments Frictions
A PYMNTS Intelligence study reveals a stark generational divide in digital healthcare. While 33% of Gen Z patients report their latest visit was virtual, only 5% of baby boomers did. Payment friction is the biggest hurdle for younger users, with...
Ocado Partner Sobeys to Close Alberta Warehouse
Ocado Group announced that its Canadian partner Sobeys will shut the Calgary customer fulfilment centre, citing slower‑than‑expected e‑commerce growth in Alberta. The closure will shave roughly £7 million from Ocado's FY26 fee revenue, but the company expects an £18 million compensation payment...