Meta's AI Agent Plans Reportedly Include an OpenClaw Competitor that Can Shop on Instagram
Meta is developing an AI agent called Hatch, modeled after the open‑source OpenClaw platform, to embed autonomous shopping capabilities within Instagram and other Meta apps. The agent has been trialed on simulated versions of services such as DoorDash, Reddit and Outlook, and is being tested with Anthropic models before migrating to Meta’s own Muse Spark model. Hatch is positioned as a direct counter to TikTok Shop, with a planned public launch toward the end of 2026. Meta also hints that the agent could later power interactions on its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses.
Find some of L.A.'s Best New Poke in a Koreatown Parking Lot
Kelsey Sachi Lee, longtime fish supplier to top L.A. chefs, has launched Dover Sole Market, an Instagram‑driven pop‑up that sells premium ahi poke from the back of her car in Koreatown and Sherman Oaks. The venture sources fresh big‑eye ahi...
Ulta Beauty Joins Uber Eats Marketplace, Expanding Delivery Options
Ulta Beauty announced its entry into the Uber Eats marketplace, adding more than 1,500 U.S. stores for same‑day delivery of thousands of beauty products. The move, timed just before Mother’s Day, expands Ulta’s omnichannel reach and leverages Uber Eats’ push...
Point of Sale Innovations to Modernize the Shopper Experience
Salesforce’s Agentforce Commerce announced a suite of Point‑of‑Sale upgrades that unify orders, product data, inventory, and carts across online, in‑store, and back‑office channels. The platform now supports Android devices alongside iOS, letting retailers use existing hardware and reduce training time....
Ecommerce Trends: How Online Retailers Compete Against Amazon
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen proposed a $56 billion acquisition of eBay, positioning the combined entity as a credible challenger to Amazon. Cohen envisions using GameStop’s brick‑and‑mortar footprint to strengthen eBay’s omnichannel fulfillment, authentication, and logistics. The move underscores a broader industry...
The Psychology of Beauty Retouching: Why Perfect Images Influence Buyers
The article explains that consumers form trust judgments about a brand within 100 milliseconds of seeing an image, making visual polish a decisive factor before any copy or price is considered. Research from Princeton shows facial cues drive perceived trustworthiness,...
Ace Hardware Releases AI Assistant for Store Staff
Ace Hardware has launched Hey ARMA, an AI‑powered assistant that gives store associates real‑time product knowledge, project advice, and item‑location support. The tool is already active in more than 2,300 stores and is slated for broader rollout across the retailer’s...
Walmart, Target, and Costco Make Key Self-Checkout Changes
Walmart, Target and Costco are scaling back pure self‑checkout lanes after theft and customer‑experience concerns rose sharply. The retailers are replacing or limiting kiosks with clerk‑assisted or express lanes, while Costco pilots eight‑second automated pay stations for pre‑scanned carts. Industry...
EBay Strengthens Authentication for Luxury Watches with Integration of Enquirus
eBay has bolstered its Authenticity Guarantee for luxury watches by integrating Enquirus, the world’s largest free database of lost and stolen timepieces, into its authentication workflow in the US, UK and Germany. The new layer automatically cross‑checks each watch against...
TikTok Targets Australian E-Commerce Brands With Ecommerce Equation Partnership
TikTok Australia has teamed up with e‑commerce education platform Ecommerce Equation to help local online retailers grow on the app. The partnership launches a “TikTok Bootcamp” that teaches organic and paid media tactics and provides members with exclusive ad‑credit rewards....
Rufus, ChatGPT, and the Agentic Ad Convergence
Amazon disclosed that roughly 20% of shoppers who engage with a sponsored brand prompt in its AI assistant Rufus keep the conversation going, marking the first concrete performance metric for ads inside an AI shopping interface. Rufus’s monthly active users...
Amazon’s Latest AI Feature Allows Shoppers to Interact with Product Summaries
Amazon introduced the Join the Chat feature within its Hear the Highlights audio product summaries, letting shoppers ask questions via text or voice while listening. The AI host pulls information from product specs, customer reviews, and the ongoing narration to...
Marketplace Briefing: Temu Wants to Sell You a Steak Now
Temu, the bargain‑shopping app famed for cheap Chinese imports, has added U.S.-sourced steaks and other food items, marking a strategic pivot toward domestic warehousing and a broader marketplace. The move follows the loss of the de‑minimis exemption that made cross‑border...
US Agentic Sales to Reach $1T by 2030: Report
A joint ICSC‑McKinsey report projects U.S. agentic commerce—AI‑enhanced B2C retail—to generate $1 trillion in revenue by 2030. Today, 68% of consumers have used an AI tool while shopping, and 62% rely on AI for brand, price and review comparisons. Physical stores...
Mirakl Introduce Advanced AI-Powered Trust & Safety Capability
Mirakl has launched Trust & Safety, an AI‑powered moderation add‑on for its marketplace operating system. The tool automatically scans product listings—both text and images—for illegal, illicit or inappropriate content such as weapons, hate symbols, and child sexual exploitation material. Integrated...
Is Amazon.com (AMZN) the Best Strong Buy S&P 500 Stock to Invest In?
Bank of America announced Amazon’s launch of Amazon Supply Chain Services, a full‑stack third‑party logistics platform that opens its extensive freight, distribution and fulfillment network to external customers. The move follows Amazon’s Q1 earnings beat, with revenue of $181.5 billion and...
Atlanta Dream Hand Over Merch Business to Monarch Subsidiary
Atlanta Dream has partnered with Monarch Commerce, a subsidiary of Monarch Collective, to run its merchandise business end‑to‑end. Monarch will manage product manufacturing, the online Shopify store, and in‑arena sales at both Gateway Center Arena and State Farm Arena, and...
Opinion: The Infrastructure Gap in Agentic Commerce – Payments Are Ready, Disputes Are Not
Donald Kossmann, CTO of Chargebacks911, warns that while payments infrastructure for agentic commerce is maturing, a critical dispute and consent‑evidence layer is missing. McKinsey estimates the model could generate $3‑5 trillion in global revenue by 2030, prompting Visa, Mastercard and AP2...
Interview: Pets at Home’s Sean Dorgan on How the Retailer Plans to Move Faster
Pets at Home is entering the “next phase” of its transformation, rolling out a dropship fulfilment model with commerce platform Rithum to broaden its online assortment while avoiding inventory risk. The programme promises to cut months from the traditional buying...
Lucidworks Unveils AI Agent Purpose-Built for Delivering Grounded Answers Where Generic Chatbots Fail
Lucidworks introduced a Conversational Q&A AI Agent that pulls answers from technical PDFs, spec sheets, images, and product manuals, delivering highly accurate, grounded responses on e‑commerce product pages. The agent tackles common chatbot pitfalls such as hallucinations by using a...
Amazon Pharmacy Adds Same-Day Delivery, Kiosks for New Ozempic Pill
Amazon Pharmacy is rolling out same‑day delivery and in‑office kiosk pickup for Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic oral pill, the only FDA‑approved GLP‑1 treatment for type‑2 diabetes. The service will initially cover nearly 3,000 U.S. cities, expanding to about 4,500 by year‑end,...
5 Content Marketing Ideas for June 2026
June 2026 presents a rich tapestry of cultural and seasonal moments that ecommerce marketers can turn into high‑impact content. The article outlines five ideas: capitalizing on the North American FIFA World Cup, the lucrative wedding season, historic anniversaries such as...
Sony Music India Launches Vinyl and Merch Store StampEight
Sony Music India unveiled StampEight, a new e‑tail platform that sells vinyl records and limited‑edition merchandise from legacy rock acts such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Pink Floyd. The launch coincided with Record Store Day and follows the 2025...
HSE Grows Revenue and Profitability Despite Pressure on Teleshopping Sector
German teleshopping broadcaster HSE posted a 4% revenue increase in 2025, reaching €641.6 million (about $700 million), and lifted its adjusted EBITDA margin to 14.7%. The growth came despite a broader sector slump, highlighted by Channel21’s insolvency and QVC’s Chapter 11 filing. HSE’s...
Oldest E-Commerce Platform in South Africa Hit by Security Vulnerability
South Africa’s oldest e‑commerce platform, Netflorist, was found to have a critical API vulnerability that exposed the full personal details of its entire customer base. The flaw stems from sequential integer IDs in the user‑ID and address‑book endpoints, allowing anyone...
Vitamin Shoppe Leader Talks Delivery Strategy
The Vitamin Shoppe has launched an in‑house same‑day delivery service on its website and app, using its network of over 700 stores as local fulfillment hubs. While it continues to partner with DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart, the new channel lets the...
Amazon Retreats From Singapore Groceries, Leans on Cross-Border Instead
Amazon announced the closure of Amazon Fresh and its local fulfillment network in Singapore effective 6 July, ending partnerships with Little Farms and AS Watson. A small number of Singapore staff will be cut, while AWS, retail, and Global Selling operations remain intact. The...
What Does GameStop’s ‘Audacious’ Bid for eBay Mean for Secondhand Fashion?
GameStop announced a merger with eBay that will transform its 1,600 U.S. retail locations into a nationwide hub for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live‑commerce of secondhand goods. The plan positions GameStop as the physical backbone of eBay’s resale ecosystem, especially...
Farfetch Looks to Enrich Customer Experience With Speedier Deliveries
Farfetch is rolling out a new premium delivery service called Farfetch First, which guarantees free next‑day shipping on thousands of luxury items. The program launches this week across major European markets—UK, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland—before expanding globally. The initiative...
Amazon Launches UK’s First Retail Drone Delivery Service in Darlington
Amazon has launched the United Kingdom’s first retail drone delivery trial in Darlington, using its MK30 autonomous drones to ship lightweight items such as beauty products, batteries and cables. The service, limited to customers with a garden or yard, delivers...
‘The Chanel Hunger Games’: Shopping Haul Videos Go Luxury
Luxury influencers are turning haul videos into high‑stakes spectacles, dubbing the trend the "Chanel Hunger Games." Creators showcase multi‑thousand‑dollar purchases, sparking fierce competition for likes, comments, and brand partnerships. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram amplify these displays, driving measurable spikes...
Inside RadioShack’s Audio-Fueled B-to-B Revival
RadioShack relaunched in August 2024 as a wholesale and direct‑to‑consumer electronics brand, leveraging its nostalgic appeal. About 60% of sales now come from B‑to‑B channels, with turntables and AM/FM radios driving rapid sell‑outs. The company works with over 170 authorized...
Target’s New Supply Chain Facility Could Be First of Many
Target opened its first "receive center" in Houston, a pilot hub that stores imported, seasonal and bulky merchandise before it reaches regional distribution centers. The facility serves six distribution centers and a Chicago flow center, giving Target three‑week inventory visibility...
We Impersonated a Restaurant on Glovo and Chowdeck; the Platforms Never Noticed
Techpoint Africa’s investigation revealed that Nigeria’s leading food‑delivery platforms, Glovo and Chowdeck, can be duped by impersonating existing restaurants. The team created a fake vendor, supplied fabricated tax IDs and CAC documents, and was approved within 48 hours on Glovo and...
RealReal Inc (REAL) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
The RealReal reported Q1 2026 GMV of $606 million, up 24% year‑over‑year, and revenue of $190 million, up 19%. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $13.1 million, expanding margin by 430 basis points to 6.9%. Take rate slipped to 36.4% as the mix shifted toward...
D Market Elektronik Hizmetler Ve Ticaret AS (HEPS) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Hepsiburada reported an 84% year‑on‑year increase in Q1 2022 GMV to 8.3 billion Turkish lira, driven by 63% order growth and a 27% rise in active customers to 12 million. Revenue surged 82% to TRY 1.2 billion, helped by a 92% jump in 1P...
VTEX (VTEX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
VTEX reported Q1 2026 GMV of $5.1 billion, up 17% in U.S. dollars, and subscription revenue of $60 million, a 14% increase. Non‑GAAP subscription gross margin rose to 81.5%, expanding 240 basis points, while total gross margin reached 80% after a 400‑basis‑point...
Carparts.Com Inc (PRTS) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
CarParts.com posted its first positive adjusted EBITDA since Q1 2024, reporting $585,000 after a $7 million swing year‑over‑year. Net sales slipped 10% to $132 million, driven by lower advertising spend and weather‑related demand softness. Operating expenses fell 26% to $46 million, reflecting headcount reductions,...
Commerce.com Inc (CMRC) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Commerce.com (CMRC) reported Q1 2026 revenue of $86.8 million, up 5% YoY and ahead of guidance, while GMV rose 14% to $8.3 billion. The company posted its first GAAP‑profitable quarter with net income of $3.7 million and generated $18.4 million of operating cash flow. New...
Grove Collaborative Holdings Inc (GROV) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Grove Collaborative reported Q1 2026 revenue of $42.4 million, a 14.3% YoY decline, driven by fewer orders after an e‑commerce platform migration and reduced advertising. The company posted its first positive adjusted EBITDA in six quarters at $1.6 million and...
Liquidity Services Inc (LQDT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Liquidity Services reported Q1 2026 gross merchandise volume of $398 million, a 3% year‑over‑year increase, while GAAP revenue slipped 1% to $121.2 million due to a shift toward consignment sales. Profitability rose sharply, with GAAP net income up 29% and...
Warby Parker Inc (WRBY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Warby Parker reported Q1 2026 revenue of $242.4 million, an 8.3% year‑over‑year increase, and adjusted EBITDA of $29.6 million at a 12.2% margin, slightly below prior year. Retail sales rose 13.6% while e‑commerce fell 4.1% after ending the Home Try‑On...
Groupon Inc (GRPN) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Groupon reported Q1 2021 results featuring $554 million in gross billings, $264 million in revenue and $30 million of adjusted EBITDA. The company highlighted a 56% recovery of North America Local billings versus 2019 and a 70% rebound in gross profit. Cost‑reduction initiatives...
Harris Farm Markets Bolsters Digital, Data Leadership
Australian grocery chain Harris Farm Markets announced two senior tech hires in rapid succession. Former Lion group technology and digital transformation director Ram Kalyanasundaram joins as chief information and digital officer, while Bharath Venkataraman, ex‑head of data at Freedom Australia,...
DoorDash Gives a Forecast for Order Growth That Tops Estimates
DoorDash Inc. projected gross order value (GOV) of $32.4 billion to $33.4 billion for the quarter ending June, edging out the Bloomberg consensus of $32.3 billion. The upbeat guidance underscores continued momentum in its food‑delivery platform despite a crowded market. Management highlighted strong...
PhonePe AI Agent Cuts Payment Gateway Integration to Minutes
PhonePe unveiled an AI‑powered integration agent that lets merchants connect its payment gateway through a conversational interface, cutting setup time from weeks to minutes. The tool is aimed at small‑ and medium‑sized businesses that lack in‑house developers, allowing them to...
Trucks Are Empty One-Third of the Time. AI Can Fix That
Retail logistics faces a massive empty‑mile problem, with one‑third of truck miles driven without cargo, costing roughly $1 trillion annually. The inefficiency stems from fragmented carrier networks and a focus on local optimization rather than system‑wide coordination. AI‑driven orchestration platforms are...
How Data-Driven Grocery Recommendations Help Shoppers Eat Better With Less Effort
A BusinessWire survey shows 42% of shoppers now rely on big‑data tools for grocery decisions, and retailers are deploying AI‑powered recommendation engines to personalize offers. Personalization is deemed essential by 89% of marketers, with 95% reporting success. These systems help...
Hertz Teams With eBay to Drive More Digital Auto Sales
Hertz Car Sales is launching a dedicated digital showroom on eBay, featuring more than 8,000 "Hertz Certified" near‑new vehicles. The partnership gives Hertz exposure to eBay’s massive automotive marketplace, which generated roughly $80 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2025. Listings...
Amazon Adds Same-Day Grocery Delivery in 2,300 US Cities
Amazon is extending its Business platform to include same‑day grocery delivery in 2,300 U.S. cities, letting companies order office supplies and perishables together. The service uses temperature‑controlled fulfillment to keep items fresh and is available to Business Prime members with free...