AI Shopping Agents Tend to Push Pricier Sponsored Options Instead of the Best Deal, a Princeton and UW Study Finds
AI shopping agents marketed as bargain hunters often steer users toward higher‑priced sponsored options rather than the lowest fare, a Princeton and University of Washington study finds. Researchers tested 23 large language models on flight‑booking queries and discovered that all but eight models chose a costlier sponsored flight in more than half of the cases. The bias reveals how platform revenue incentives can shape AI advice even as agentic commerce expands through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gap, Walmart and emerging protocols like OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce and Google‑Shopify’s Universal Commerce. Regulators and developers will need to address transparency and consumer protection as AI agents become mainstream purchasing channels.
Where Canadians Are Actually Buying Their Glasses Online in 2026
Canadian consumers are increasingly purchasing prescription glasses online, with SmartBuyGlasses emerging as the dominant platform. The site lists over 80,000 frames from more than 180 designer brands and offers a 100‑day return window, undercutting traditional optician prices by roughly 30‑40...
Gaming AI Search
AI‑driven search engines like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are surging, growing over 300% while traditional browser search declines. Brands that lack earned media exposure risk being invisible in these agentic searches, as more than 90% of AI‑generated results pull from...
Yes to California's Bill to Ban Surveillance Pricing
The Electronic Frontier Foundation backs California Senate Bill 2564, which would outlaw surveillance pricing—selling the same product at different prices based on a consumer’s personal data. A 2025 FTC report documented six firms supplying this practice to hundreds of retailers,...
$85 Billion in Tariff Refunds Are Stuck in Processing. Here’s What Amazon Sellers Need to Know.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has accepted roughly $85 billion in tariff‑refund claims tied to the IEEPA tariffs, yet only $20.6 billion has been sent to the Treasury for payout. The CAPE system’s Phase 1 has validated 108,760 declarations covering 15.8 million entries, but...
Afterpay Leads the US “Pay in 4” BNPL Market with 38% of Loan Value, Topping Affirm, per the New York...
Block’s Afterpay has emerged as the dominant player in the U.S. “Pay in 4” buy‑now‑pay‑later market, commanding 38% of total loan value in 2025. The New York Fed reports Afterpay originated $53.7 billion in credit, representing a 34% share, outpacing early...
Best AI Search Marketing Agencies for Online Stores Competing in SERPs
AI‑driven search is redefining eCommerce visibility by moving the goalpost from traditional blue‑link rankings to AI‑generated answers, shopping recommendations, and conversational interfaces. This shift has spawned a new class of agencies that blend SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative...
M.Video Expands Pick-Up Point Network by 5,000 in 2026
M.Video, Russia’s leading mobile and electronics retailer, announced plans to add at least 5,000 new pick‑up points by the end of 2026. The locations will be established through partnerships with third‑party operators and will serve as last‑mile delivery hubs for...
Best Amazon Brand Management Agencies for Brands Expanding to Amazon in 2026
The article ranks the top Amazon brand‑management agencies for 2026, highlighting services such as inventory forecasting, PPC, SEO, Buy Box protection, and A+ content. Olifand Digital leads with a senior‑led, full‑service model, a $2,000‑per‑month minimum, and a 60‑day money‑back guarantee....
How Ecommerce Brands Can Maintain Trust in the Age of AI
Most Shopify merchants under $2 million in revenue do not need a custom‑built mobile app; a no‑code builder such as Tapcart or Vajro can launch a native app in weeks for a predictable monthly fee. Custom development only makes sense for...
Instacart and Rakuten Operations Chiefs Say AI-Era “Reinvention Exhaustion” Is Wearing Out the Executives Behind Seamless Delivery
At Fortune’s COO Summit, Instacart’s operations chief Tom Maguire and Rakuten International COO Adrienne Down Coulson warned that executives are experiencing “reinvention exhaustion” as AI forces rapid transformation. They highlighted that the same leaders who navigated restructurings, COVID‑19 disruptions, and geopolitical...
Shopback: Get 100% Back On Temu For New Customers (Limit $75)
Shopback is running a limited‑time promotion that gives new Temu customers a 100% cashback on their first purchase, capped at $35 per order and limited to one redemption per user. The deal, which also includes a secondary 50% cashback option...
Amazon Prime Day 2026: Early Deals, Free Trials, Shop W/ Points
Amazon Prime Day 2026 launches June 23‑26, offering early‑access discounts on a wide range of products, from devices to everyday items. New customers can activate a 30‑day Prime free trial, while students receive a 7‑day trial for $0.99 and a discounted...
Why Branded Tote Bags Are a Surprisingly Powerful Marketing Tool for E-Commerce Brands
Branded tote bags provide e‑commerce brands with a low‑cost, long‑lasting offline marketing channel that generates repeat public impressions for months or years. For Shopify merchants, they are most effective as packaging inserts for businesses earning under $500K and as event...
Andon Labs Scales Its AI-Run Vending Machine Experiment Into Autonomous AI-Operated Stores and Cafés Within a Year
Andon Labs has expanded its AI‑operated vending machine pilot into fully autonomous retail stores and cafés, eliminating human decision‑makers. The new model relies on a multi‑agent system where a lead "mechanical CEO" coordinates sub‑agents for procurement, customer interaction, and logistics....