New Ecommerce Tools: February 18, 2026
This week’s ecommerce rollout spans AI‑driven marketing, new payment options, and expanded livestream shopping. Mailchimp unveiled predictive analytics, ChatGPT‑powered content tools, and an omnichannel dashboard, while Klarna entered Google Pay in the UK and Amazon launched Pay by Bank for account‑to‑account checkout. eBay Live debuted in Canada, and platforms such as Xnurta, ROAS Suite, and Shirofune introduced AI‑enhanced ad creation and Reddit integration. Funding and acquisitions—including Newo’s $25 million Series A and Salesforce’s purchase of Cimulate—signal accelerating investment in AI‑powered commerce infrastructure.
Flexibility Matters: Why Traditional Hiring Cycles Won’t Cut It for Today’s Retailers
Retailers face massive seasonal spikes, with November‑December sales representing about 20% of annual revenue and holiday sales projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2025. Meeting this demand requires a broad mix of talent—from supply‑chain managers to digital marketers—beyond traditional in‑store staff....
Stop Fighting Returns, Start Using Them to Build Loyalty
Retailers face $850 billion in US returns in 2025 and a projected $954 billion global market by 2029, yet many still view returns as a cost center. The article argues that turning returns into effortless, proactive experiences can reduce volume, protect margins,...
Zepto Discontinues Zepto Daily as Subscriptions Fail to Anchor Loyalty in Quick Commerce
Quick‑commerce platform Zepto has shut down its loyalty and subscription service, Zepto Daily, after the program failed to cement customer loyalty. The offering, which was priced as low as Rs 1 per month and previously grew to 4 million subscribers, was removed...
How HelloFresh Expanded Its Subscription Portfolio with Launch of Factor in Germany
HelloFresh has introduced its Factor ready‑to‑eat (RTE) brand in Germany, extending a portfolio that already succeeded in Canada and the United States. Factor delivers fresh, heat‑and‑eat meals with high‑protein and vegetarian options, targeting consumers who want convenience without cooking. The...
Businesses Move to Rein In AI in the Shift to Autonomous Finance
Enterprises are granting AI agents authority to initiate payments, approve refunds, and orchestrate cross‑functional workflows, shifting from assistance to autonomous action. Security researchers warn that more than 1.5 million deployed agents could be exposed to misuse, expanding the attack surface faster...
Eddie Bauer Files for Bankruptcy
Eddie Bauer announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the District of New Jersey, attributing the move to a consumer shift toward online shopping, persistent inflation and higher tariffs. The filing, the company’s third, outlines a plan to sell some...
Epetōme Secures Multi-Million-Pound Investment to Scale Its Subscription-Based Gut Health Range Globally
Epetōme, the UK‑based gut‑health brand founded by nutritionist Emily English, has secured a multi‑million‑pound investment led by Active Partners and Redrice Ventures. The funding will accelerate its international rollout and fund expanded clinical trials on probiotics and prebiotics. Since its...
Experience Economy Pushes Payments to $20B Super Bowl Test
The 2026 Super Bowl generated roughly $20.2 billion in experience‑economy spending, spanning tickets, merchandise, streaming and legal wagering. Paysafe’s CEO Bruce Lowthers highlighted the need for payment platforms that can process massive, real‑time transactions across multiple methods without friction. AI‑driven fraud...
Nearly Half of Digital Bank Customers Prefer Digital Wallets
A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,071 U.S. bank customers finds that 44.6% of digital‑bank users prefer paying with digital wallets, outpacing other groups. When paired with discounts and clear buyer protection, 35.4% say they would shift account‑to‑account spending to pay‑by‑bank....
What to Do When Reddit Turns on Your Brand
Reddit’s community‑driven format can quickly amplify brand criticism, forcing fashion houses to confront negative narratives in real time. The article outlines a step‑by‑step playbook: set up listening tools, engage authentically, avoid corporate jargon, and leverage AMAs or moderated threads to...
Macy’s Is Drawing on Events Like the Thanksgiving Day Parade to Grow Its Creator Program
Macy’s is scaling its Style Crew influencer program in 2026, aiming to grow from roughly 600 members to 1,000 by adding more in‑person events tied to marquee assets like the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The creator storefronts have generated a 478%...
Lando Norris’s Streetwear Brand Quadrant Opens Melbourne Pop-Up Store
Lando Norris’s streetwear label Quadrant is launching its first physical retail space with a three‑day pop‑up in Melbourne from March 5 to 7, timed with the Australian Grand Prix. The temporary store will showcase Melbourne‑exclusive merchandise, a preview of the 2026...
Why a Merger Could Be the Death of Myer and David Jones
The rise of online shopping—now exceeding 20% of sales for both Myer and David Jones—is forcing Australian department stores to rethink their brick‑and‑mortar models. Myer is pivoting to a vertically integrated, aspirational brand by acquiring Premier Investments’ apparel portfolio and...
Step One Half-Year Loss Prompts Call for ‘Urgency’ in Reset
Step One reported a 24.5% revenue decline to $36.3 million and a 203% drop in net profit after tax, posting a $8.4 million loss for the first half of FY 2026. The company booked a $10.9 million provision for slow‑moving legacy inventory, highlighting challenges...
DoorDash Inc (DASH) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
DoorDash reported accelerated international growth in Q4 2025, led by its Deliveroo and Wolt acquisitions, while consolidating three technology platforms to streamline operations. The company expects a modest rise in full‑year 2026 EBITDA margin, with Deliveroo contributing roughly $200 million of...
RBTX Launches New Online Shopping Experience for Customers
RBTX has launched a full e‑commerce platform on RBTX.com, enabling engineers to purchase robotics components, robots, and services online. The site offers instant credit‑card checkout and transparent pricing, eliminating the need for a sales consultation for known‑item buyers. A guided...
How To Sell On Social Media: What You Need To Know Before Posting Products
The article outlines a step‑by‑step framework for selling products on social media, emphasizing platform selection, compliance, and visual storytelling. It details how Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube each suit different buyer intents and highlights common pitfalls such as category...
Genuine Parts Split Will Accelerate B2B Digital Strategy
Genuine Parts Co. will spin off its automotive and industrial divisions into two publicly traded entities—Global Automotive and Motion—targeting completion in the first quarter of 2027. The split is framed as a move toward strategic clarity and capital discipline, allowing...
The Future of Retail: Integrating 3D Renderings Services with Augmented Reality (AR)
E‑commerce is moving from static product images to immersive 3D renderings that power augmented reality “see in your room” experiences. High‑quality, low‑poly models with PBR materials and optimized formats like USDZ and glTF enable real‑time performance on smartphones while preserving...
Radial Launches New Commerce Solutions Services for Payments and Fraud Prevention
Radial, a fulfillment and third‑party logistics provider, has introduced Radial Commerce Solutions, a suite of payment orchestration and AI‑driven fraud prevention services. The modular platform offers PSP‑agnostic processing, automatic failover, tokenization, chargeback resolution and tax compliance. It joins existing fulfillment,...
As Agentic Commerce Emerges, Services Providers Are Rewriting Commerce Playbooks End To End
The episode explores how commerce‑services providers are reshaping traditional commerce strategies to accommodate both human shoppers and AI‑driven agentic buyers. It highlights three critical capabilities: dual optimization for humans and agents, AI‑powered operations that enhance resilience in brick‑and‑mortar and online...
Olympics Payments Hurdles Are a Microcosm of EU Challenges
The episode examines how Visa's exclusive role as the card provider at the Milano‑Cortina Winter Olympics exposed Europe’s reliance on U.S. payment networks, leaving many visitors stranded with cash‑only options and long ATM queues. Guest Don Apgar explains that geopolitical...
Wakefern Overhauls Legacy Loyalty System
Wakefern Food Corp., the nation’s largest retailer‑owned grocery cooperative, is replacing its legacy point‑of‑sale‑driven loyalty system with Eagle Eye’s AI‑powered platform. The new solution, slated for a mid‑2026 rollout, will process loyalty data faster and allow each of Wakefern’s 400...
Brands Briefing: The Brands that Are Ripe for Acquisition in 2026
M&A activity is reviving in 2026 after a subdued 2025. Last year saw marquee deals such as e.l.f. Beauty’s $1 billion purchase of Rhode and PepsiCo’s $2 billion acquisition of Poppi. Tariff pressures that kept many potential buyers on the sidelines are...
Amazon Proposes Second Big-Box Store for Chicago Area
Amazon has submitted a proposal to build a 225,000‑square‑foot retail store in Oak Brook, Illinois, alongside a 150,000‑square‑foot Ashley Furniture flagship. The project would be the second Amazon big‑box location in the Chicago metro after the Orland Park store cleared...
Low-Value Imports Upend E.U. Ecommerce
EU consumer demand for low‑value imports is reshaping the region’s ecommerce landscape. In 2025, 5.9 billion parcels valued at €150 or less entered the bloc, representing 98% of import volume but less than 5% of total value. Roughly one‑third of EU...
Introducing Later 360: One View for All Your Influencer Marketing Data
Later 360 launches as an enterprise‑grade reporting suite that consolidates organic influencer metrics, paid amplification data, and commerce outcomes into a single, real‑time dashboard. Built on a dataset exceeding $2 billion in verified influencer‑driven purchases and 130 billion annual impressions, the platform uses...
Function Health’s New Erewhon Smoothie Was Designed to Highlight Nutritional Gaps and Promote Telehealth Lab Testing
Function Health, a telehealth platform with half‑million users, unveiled a limited‑edition Erewhon smoothie to spotlight widespread nutritional deficiencies revealed by its lab tests. The company reports that 65% of members have elevated insulin, 54% show high ApoB, and 70% are...
Affirm Partnerships Target Growth
Affirm is rapidly expanding its buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) footprint by striking partnerships with Intuit, Expedia, a tenant‑services firm, and payment processor Fiserv. The strategy targets new verticals such as travel, tax preparation, rent payments, and debit‑card users, aiming to broaden consumer...
The Death of Page One: AI Storefronts Rewrite Retail Strategy
AI‑driven storefronts are replacing traditional search results with a narrow set of algorithmically ranked product recommendations. Retailers now face a paradigm shift where page‑one SEO is obsolete, and product visibility hinges on metadata and AI governance. The article argues that...
National Retail Solutions Attains BBB Accreditation, A+ Rating
National Retail Solutions (NRS) has earned Better Business Bureau accreditation with the top‑tier A+ rating. The accolade follows a company‑wide initiative to improve customer service and streamline merchant issue resolution. NRS, a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, provides integrated POS and...
WooCommerce May Gain Sidekick-Type AI Through Extensions via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
WooCommerce is evolving into an AI‑agnostic coordination layer through the open Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing AI agents such as OpenAI’s ACP and Shopify‑Google’s UCP to plug directly into its ecosystem. Automattic’s James LePage says the platform will support native...
CASE STUDY: L’ERA Tops £140k in TikTok Live Sales as Livestream Shopping Gains Momentum
London jewellery brand L’ERA recorded over £140,000 in TikTok Live sales in 2025, nearly doubling its livestream revenue since launching in August 2023. The founders host four to six weekly livestreams, securing individual orders above £1,400 and using the channel...
What CFOs Need From Banks and FinTechs in Cross-Border Payments
Cross‑border payments are undergoing a structural shift as CFOs demand more predictable, liquid, and compliant solutions. FinTech firms have accelerated speed and API‑driven usability, opening new corridors and transparent pricing. At the same time, banks are investing in modern settlement,...
Unilever Turns to AI for ‘New Era of Shopping for Brands’
Unilever has signed a five‑year partnership with Google Cloud to embed advanced AI, data and platform capabilities across its global operations. Leveraging Google’s Vertex AI and Gemini models, the consumer‑goods giant will build an AI‑first digital backbone that powers faster...
John Lewis to Roll Out Topshop to 32 Stores Nationwide
John Lewis is re‑introducing Topshop to 32 of its stores and Topman to seven locations as part of an £800 million multi‑year fashion investment. The rollout follows a redesign of the Oxford Street flagship and adds a slate of new international...
Commission Launches Investigation Into Shein Under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against fast‑fashion giant Shein under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The probe targets Shein’s addictive design features, opaque recommender‑system algorithms, and the sale of illegal items, including child sexual abuse material. Regulators will...
Retail Brand Monitoring Software: Track What Customers Say
Retail brand monitoring software transforms the way retailers listen to digital word‑of‑mouth, using AI to aggregate mentions across social, review sites, forums and emerging AI‑generated answers. The tools deliver real‑time alerts, sentiment scores and competitor share‑of‑voice, turning scattered feedback into...
Is International Shipping the Next Growth Lever for UK eCommerce?
UK eCommerce faces saturated domestic growth, prompting retailers to look abroad. Around 59% of global shoppers have bought from an international retailer and cross‑border sales already represent 20‑30% of worldwide eCommerce. The market is projected to expand from $1.47 trillion in...
Hourglass Launches DTC Channel In Australia & New Zealand
Hourglass has launched its first direct‑to‑consumer website, hourglasscosmetics.com.au, targeting Australia and New Zealand. The rollout includes free standard shipping for the first month, a 10% welcome discount, and complimentary gifts for orders over $120 and $150. The DTC channel runs alongside...
Retail Expansion Drives Record Earnings for Baby Bunting
Baby Bunting posted record half‑year sales of $271.4 million, a 4.9% increase year‑on‑year, driven by a mix of new large‑format stores, small‑format openings, and six "store of the future" refurbishments. Online sales climbed to 24.8% of total revenue, up 18%, reflecting...
MECCHA Sets Up Pre-Orders for Japan Exclusives with Worldwide Shipping
MECCHA Japan has launched a pre‑order service that lets international fans purchase exclusive Japanese anime figures, trading‑card boosters, and themed merchandise with worldwide shipping. The catalog includes high‑profile items such as a 45 cm Monkey D. Luffy statue, a Final Fantasy VIII musical box,...
How Retailers Should Respond to Events Like Ramadan and the Lunar New Year
Retailers face a rare calendar convergence as Ramadan and Lunar New Year begin almost simultaneously in February 2024. Luxury and beauty brands are launching limited‑edition products and pop‑up events, but many consumers criticize superficial zodiac imagery and token gestures. Experts...
Automate, Augment, Simulate: How Retailers Are Building Resilient Supply Chains for 2026
Retail supply chains face chronic labor shortages, rising costs and heightened customer expectations, prompting a shift toward technology‑driven models. By 2026, automation will move from advantage to requirement, with feasibility assessments guiding investments in robotics and AI. Simultaneously, AI‑enabled workforce...
Your Retail Media Network Isn’t a Network — and What to Do About It
Retail media is booming, but most so‑called retail media networks are merely on‑site ad products. True networks demand off‑site reach, unified cross‑channel measurement, and first‑party data activation, a capability only a few retailers like Walmart and Amazon currently possess. The...
Let’s Be Straight on Deliveries
Online shoppers increasingly value reliable delivery dates, yet many experience shifting timelines and missed windows. A recent Avery Dennison survey shows 37% of consumers rank delivery delays as their top frustration, and 32% would abandon a favored brand after a single...
SiteOne Ramps up Digital Push as Online Sales Jump in 2025
SiteOne Landscape Supply reported a 120% jump in digital sales for 2025, boosting net income 23% to $151.8 million while overall revenue grew 4% to $4.7 billion. The company’s revamped e‑commerce platform attracted roughly 10,000 regular online users and integrated delivery‑optimization software,...
OpenAI Expands Agentic Commerce Push
OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a full‑service commerce platform by expanding its Instant Checkout feature and launching the open‑source Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). The company has integrated payments through Stripe and PayPal and added grocery ordering via Instacart, initially supporting...
Vinted’s Rise Signals a Turning Point in Europe’s Circular Fashion Economy
Vinted has become the UK’s third‑largest fashion retailer, reporting €813.4 million in revenue for 2024—a 36 % jump from the prior year—and is on track to breach €1 billion. The platform now serves over 17.4 million UK users and leads in France by volume,...