Affirm’s Full-Stack Ambition Is Bigger than Consumer Finance Alone
Affirm kicked off 2026 with a flurry of strategic announcements, including a rent‑payment partnership with Esusu, a bank‑charter filing, and a debit‑card‑embedded BNPL solution via Fiserv. The firm also secured default checkout status with Bolt and integrated its BNPL service into QuickBooks invoicing. Collectively, these moves signal a deliberate shift from a pure consumer checkout tool toward broader B2B distribution and institutional financial services. Analysts view the rollout as an effort to position Affirm as a full‑stack fintech platform rather than a niche player.
Abercrombie & Fitch Profit Drops Despite ‘Record’ Q4 Sales
Abercrombie & Fitch reported a 6% decline in operating income to £524 million for the year, even as net sales rose 6% to £3.95 billion. The fourth quarter delivered a record £1.25 billion in sales, up 5%, but operating income fell 8% to...
Particular Audience Just Smashed Open the Blackbox of AI Search
Particular Audience unveiled Search Model A/B Testing, enabling retailers to directly compare AI relevance models that drive organic and sponsored search results. Building on its Adaptive Transformer Search (ATS) technology, which has cut zero-result queries to under 0.5%—far below the...
For Loyal Amazon Customers It’s No Longer Love but Intentional Reflex
GWI’s latest research shows Amazon has become the favorite retailer for 52% of U.S. consumers, shifting loyalty from an emotional choice to a reflexive habit. Shoppers value frictionless experiences, with 59% prioritizing quick, easy checkout and a third demanding next‑day...
AgentPass Rebrands as Paz.ai, the Agentic Commerce Platform for Retailers
AgentPass has rebranded to Paz.ai, positioning itself as the infrastructure layer that links retail product catalogs to conversational AI shopping agents such as ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. The platform ingests feeds from Shopify, Adobe Commerce and Salesforce Commerce...
Hotels.com Rewards Is BACK – and Better than Ever for Low Spenders
Hotels.com announced the return of its original loyalty program for UK customers, ending the One Key scheme. The revamped Rewards gives a £100 credit after every ten nights booked, provided the average nightly rate is at least £75. This flat‑rate...
Sallie Has An Ad Business And Meta Is Declining Credit Cards
Meta confirmed it will drop credit‑card payments for ads next month, moving advertisers to invoice‑only billing to curb fraud and the “cashback loophole.” At the same time, student‑loan giant Sallie introduced Backpack Media, a retail‑media network that sells ad inventory...
Sephora Doubles Down on K-Beauty Hair Care
Sephora is deepening its K‑beauty hair‑care offering, now featuring 17 Korean brands after adding Dr. Groot and Unove. Dr. Groot will launch online on April 1 and in stores on May 15, while Unove debuted earlier with a seven‑SKU line priced $13‑$28. The retailer...
The Iconic Lifts Annual Earnings by over 70 per Cent
The Iconic posted a 71% jump in adjusted EBITDA to $45.7 million for FY25, while its net merchandise value rose 6% to $893 million. Gross margin expanded by two points to 49%, reflecting stronger marketplace and platform services. Active customers increased 4%...
STIHL Launches B2B Marketplace Using Mirakl
STIHL Inc. has introduced a dealer‑fulfilled B2B ecommerce marketplace built on Mirakl’s platform, letting customers browse and purchase chainsaws, trimmers and other equipment online. Orders are shipped from the company’s network of more than 10,000 authorized U.S. dealers, with pickup...
Grove Collaborative Holdings Inc (GROV) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Grove Collaborative reported Q3 2025 revenue of $43.7 million, a 9.4% year‑over‑year decline—the smallest drop since 2021, while active customers fell 7% to 660,000 and orders slipped 12.5%. Adjusted EBITDA was a negative $1.2 million, but management expects a positive...
Carparts.Com Inc (PRTS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
CarParts.com reported FY 2024 revenue of $589 million, a 13% decline year‑over‑year, with gross profit of $197 million and a 33.4% gross margin, near the top of guidance. The fourth‑quarter results showed revenue down 15% to $133.5 million and a GAAP net loss...
Target Begins Roll Out of Next-Day Delivery to 20 More Cities
Target Corp. announced it will extend its next‑day delivery service to 20 additional metropolitan areas, pushing the total number of cities offering the option to more than 50 and covering roughly 60% of the U.S. population. The rollout is part...
Authentic Brands to Use Seel’s Agentic AI for Post-Purchase Processes
Authentic Brands will integrate Seel’s agentic AI‑driven Worry‑Free Purchase platform to automate post‑purchase issues such as missing packages, claims and refunds. The solution will be deployed across its portfolio, which includes ten brands in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 like Reebok,...
March Makeover: Save Up to 85% on Monoprice’s Streaming & Tech Essentials
Monoprice is running a March promotion offering up to 85% off a broad selection of streaming and tech accessories, including TV mounts, cables, and audio devices. Shoppers can also receive an extra 20% discount on select items using promo code...
Google Merchant Center Adds “Build to Order” For Vehicle Listings
Google Merchant Center introduced a new availability value called “build to order,” enabling vehicle dealers to flag cars that are not physically on the lot but can be customized and ordered. Sellers must update both their structured data and Merchant...
Olo Launches First Consumer-Facing Digital Ordering App
Restaurant technology platform Olo unveiled its first consumer‑facing digital ordering app as part of the new Olo Network. The app functions like a marketplace but charges restaurants zero commission and lets them retain full guest‑data ownership. Built on the password‑free...
Building a Foundation for Audience Monetization With First-Party Data
Retailers are shifting perception of first‑party data from cost to revenue asset. As third‑party identifiers disappear, brands are packaging privacy‑safe audience segments for partners, creating new monetization opportunities. Successful implementation requires a reliable identity layer, robust governance, cross‑functional ownership, and...
Vudoo Announces Partnership with PubMatic to Simplify Activation of Commerce-Enabled Advertising
Vudoo has partnered with PubMatic to embed its commerce‑media technology into PubMatic’s AI‑powered programmatic platform, enabling shoppable ad experiences across verified inventory. The integration lets agencies and brands activate commerce media with a single deal ID, supporting display, video and...
You Can’t Automate Trust: Why AI Still Needs Human Strategy in Marketing
Marketers are discovering that AI can automate data‑heavy tasks, but it cannot set strategy or build trust. The most successful teams pair AI’s speed with human judgment, using automation to execute a clear, human‑crafted vision. Without human direction, AI‑driven campaigns...
Bill Open to M&A Deals, CEO Says
Bill Holdings CEO René Lacerte told investors at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference that the company is actively evaluating merger‑and‑acquisition opportunities as activist shareholders increase pressure. He cited recent fintech consolidations—such as the sales of Brex, AvidXchange and Melio—as proof...
TikTok Shop Scales Workforce Amid Push to Cement Discovery Commerce Model in Global Markets
TikTok Shop is aggressively expanding its creator commerce workforce across North America, Europe, and Asia‑Pacific, posting dozens of full‑time and internship roles in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, London, Düsseldorf, Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo and Jakarta. The hiring push...
High-Touch, High-Tech: Revieve’s Beauty & Wellness Index 2025 Signals a New Era of Guided Beauty Commerce
Revieve released its Beauty & Wellness Index 2025, showing guided diagnostics now initiate 60‑75 % of beauty journeys and deliver two‑to‑three‑fold higher completion rates. The data, drawn from millions of AI‑driven skin analyses, quizzes and virtual try‑ons, highlights longer engagement, especially in...
The Power to Pivot: Operational Velocity as a Key Retail Metric
Retail leaders are urged to prioritize operational velocity—the speed at which campaigns, inventory signals, and creative assets can be adjusted—over merely tracking click costs. The article argues that agility, not additional tools, is the true growth catalyst, recommending automated kill...
Video Forum: Justin Honaman, Amazon Web Services, Part 2
In a recent Video Forum, Justin Honaman, global head of retail, restaurants and consumer goods business development at Amazon Web Services, explained the concept of agentic commerce and its potential to reshape retail interactions. He highlighted how AWS’s cloud and...
Mastercard and Visa Enrich Stablecoin Settlement Capabilities to Supercharge Global Payments in 2026
Mastercard and Visa announced expanded support for stablecoin settlement, enabling tokenized dollar transactions on their networks starting March 2026. The move includes the launch of stablecoin‑backed debit cards that settle directly in digital dollars rather than traditional fiat. By shifting...
True Beauty Lashes Taps Perfect Corp. For Personalized Lash Recommendation
True Beauty Lashes has partnered with Perfect Corp. to launch LashLovr, an AI‑driven personalized lash‑matching and virtual try‑on platform. The service uses Perfect Corp.’s Virtual Try‑On and Face Analyzer APIs to overlay recommended lashes on a shopper’s face in real...
Consumers Spending More Time to Find Best Price
Synchrony’s March 2026 "In Sync with Consumers" survey shows more than half of U.S. shoppers are devoting extra time to locate the best price, with generative AI playing an expanding role. Over 52% of consumers used Gen AI during the holiday...
Greenwashing Has Just Become a Much More Serious Issue – Are You Ready?
Retail brands face heightened scrutiny in 2026 as the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wields expanded powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Greenwashing can also be prosecuted as a criminal offence under the Economic Crime...
Evri and Bloq.it Join Forces to Expand UK OOH Parcel Locker Network
Bloq.it and Evri have sealed a multi‑year partnership to embed Bloq.it’s NEXT smart lockers and its new standalone returns unit, drop, across hundreds of Evri locations in the UK. The first installations launch in March 2026 at East of England...
How Can Retailers Use Micro-Influencers?
Retailers such as Disney Store, ASOS, Zara and others are shifting to micro‑influencers for campaigns. These creators have modest followings but are deeply embedded in niche communities, delivering higher engagement and authentic storytelling. Agencies like Coolr and Iris note that...
From Startup to Scale: Myntra’s Zero-Commission Model Is Powering India’s Next D2C Wave
India’s D2C sector is expanding rapidly, but early‑stage brands struggle to scale beyond owned channels due to high CAC and limited reach. Myntra launched the zero‑commission Myntra Rising Stars (MRS) program, letting qualifying brands list on its marketplace without paying...
Who Is the Modern Male Shopper Now?
The modern male shopper has moved from muscle‑centric marketing to demanding ingredient transparency and functional benefits. Protein brands now highlight whey isolate purity, grass‑fed sourcing and the absence of additives, while men increasingly view protein as everyday nutrition. Skincare, haircare...
Vitamin Shoppe Debuts ‘Suppie Awards’ and SuppCo Unveils Certification Program as Third-Party Validation Drives Category Growth, Plus News
The Vitamin Shoppe unveiled its first Suppie Awards, a brand‑focused accolade created with Hearst Magazines, while supplement‑tracking startup SuppCo launched a “Tested by SuppCo” certification program featuring a roster of leading supplement brands. Both initiatives aim to provide third‑party validation...
Meta Tests Shopping AI Chatbot in US
Meta is piloting a shopping research feature inside its Meta AI chatbot for U.S. users. The tool returns a carousel of product images with brand, price, and website details, plus brief recommendation bullet points. The move mirrors similar experiments by...
If You Don’t See This on Your Amazon Purchase, Your Delivery Window and Returns Might Take Longer
Amazon distinguishes between items "Sold by Amazon" and third‑party listings, a split that directly affects delivery windows and return processes. Products owned and shipped by Amazon enjoy uniform Prime delivery times and streamlined QR‑code returns, while seller‑fulfilled items can face...
Unlocking Global Growth: A Practical Road Map for Cross-Border E-Commerce Success
Retailers are turning to cross‑border e‑commerce as domestic markets saturate, with global online sales forecast to hit $6.8 trillion by 2028. A Total Retail whitepaper, created with Melissa Data, highlights that address errors affect nearly one‑fifth of orders, driving costly failures....
Xometry Tightens Grip on AI Sourcing
Xometry is upgrading its AI‑driven marketplace with a new lead‑time prediction model and enhanced dynamic pricing logic. The lead‑time model, trained on a dataset four times larger, now incorporates supplier certifications, material requirements and specialized finishing specifications, improving forecasting accuracy...
PayPal and TCS Blockchain Modernize Logistics Payments
PayPal and TCS Blockchain have partnered to launch a blockchain‑based payment platform that uses PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin to settle freight invoices. The solution promises same‑day, year‑round settlement and cost reductions of up to 90% compared with traditional invoice factoring....
Henry Schein Advances Global Ecommerce Rollout
Henry Schein is entering the next phase of its global ecommerce rollout, completing key North American deployments of its consolidated HenrySchein.com platform for dental and medical customers. The unified architecture standardizes the B2B purchasing experience and aligns ordering with data‑driven...
Amazon Begins Grocery Delivery for Cub
Amazon has launched a grocery delivery partnership with Minnesota‑based Cub, enabling Twin Cities shoppers to order Cub’s fresh produce, meat, private‑label brands and household items via Amazon’s website and app. The service offers same‑day delivery, two‑hour windows and free shipping...
Stablecoins Power Philippines’ Thriving Gig Economy
The Philippines’ gig workforce, now about a quarter of employed workers, is turning to stablecoins for cross‑border payouts. Traditional bank transfers can delay payments for days and erode earnings by up to 10% through fees and FX conversion. Stablecoins such...
MPE – Merchant Payments Ecosystem: Conference Overview
The Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE) conference highlighted three major fintech developments. OpenAI’s partnership with the Pentagon sparked industry backlash over ethical AI use. Capitec Pay launched instant bank‑payment capabilities for Paystack merchants, streamlining payouts. BitGo Europe expanded its crypto‑as‑a‑service offering...
Instacart Perks and Promotions for United MileagePlus Members: Earn up to 10,500 Miles, Complimentary Instacart+, and More
United MileagePlus and Instacart have expanded their partnership, offering members up to 10,500 bonus miles through three linked activities: a first order, four additional orders, and an annual Instacart+ subscription. A complimentary 7‑day Instacart+ trial with $0 delivery fees is...
Top 10 Retail Tech at eTail West 2026
At eTail West 2026, retailers emphasized operational maturity over pure experimentation, seeking technology that directly drives revenue, efficiency, and retention. The top ten solutions ranged from Furniture.com’s aggregated home‑goods marketplace to Glance.com’s AR virtual‑try‑on and Teikametrics’ AI‑powered marketplace advertising. Companies...
Apple, Google Wallets Get Personal
Digital‑wallet platforms from Apple and Google are evolving beyond simple payments, with startups like Badge turning them into interactive commerce channels. Badge’s infrastructure lets brands push real‑time, location‑aware offers and loyalty updates directly to a consumer’s wallet. The San‑Francisco‑based company...
One-Third of E-Commerce Packages in Violation
Liège Airport processes about 3.6 million e‑commerce parcels daily, accounting for roughly 20 % of Europe’s online sales. Customs can inspect only 0.006 % of these shipments—around 216 files per day—and 30 % of the checked B2C parcels are found in violation, generating €3.3 million...
Worldline Completes First Wero Online Payment in Belgium with Belgian Red Cross-Flanders
Worldline processed Belgium's first Wero e‑commerce transaction, enabling the Belgian Red Cross‑Flanders to accept the pan‑European digital wallet at checkout. Belgium becomes the second European market, after Germany, to support Wero for online payments. The wallet, developed by the European...
Payment Friction Wins in Africa
African ecommerce still wrestles with deep‑rooted trust gaps, turning checkout into a conversational process often mediated through WhatsApp. Local platforms like Paystack, Flutterwave, and Egypt’s Fawry have succeeded by offering instant bank transfers, mobile‑money protocols such as STK Push, and cash‑at‑kiosk...
Brands Briefing: Caraway Makes Its First Big OOH Push as It Seeks to Make the Brand ‘Impossible to Ignore’
Caraway, a six‑year‑old cookware startup, has launched its first major out‑of‑home (OOH) advertising campaign to become “impossible to ignore.” The eye‑catching mural at Columbus Circle subway targets high‑traffic commuters. After growing from a pure DTC model, the brand now sells...