U.S. online retail sales grew 8.2% year-over-year in September as consumers increasingly turned to credit card installments to manage discretionary spending amid persistent inflation.
Google has introduced Universal Cart, an AI-driven tool for the US market that centralizes shopping lists, tracks prices, and suggests optimal payment methods across different retailers.
JD.com and Taobao have kicked off their 11.11 shopping festival promotions, featuring prize pools, red envelope giveaways, and discounted consumer electronics starting at 20:00 today.
Tencent Video has announced pre-sale pricing for its annual VIP and SVIP memberships, offering discounts during the 11.11 shopping festival period.
E-commerce startup Loops Smart AI has raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by a16z Speedrun to unify fragmented shopping experiences through a single AI layer.
Amazon has launched an October sale featuring a wide range of products priced under $50, with deals available until October 8, 2026.
Meta has introduced new AI-powered advertising tools, expanded video generation capabilities, and integrated direct checkout options with partners like Shopify, Adyen, PayPal, and Stripe.
Wildberries is launching a government procurement platform for educational institutions with a transaction limit of 5 ₽ million per order.
Wildberries is launching a digital procurement platform for state educational institutions, allowing transactions of up to 5 million rubles per order.
Major tech and retail firms are establishing new protocols to enable AI agents to perform autonomous shopping, with Stripe reporting a 38-fold surge in agent-driven transactions.
Amazon has kicked off its Prime Big Deal Days event, offering discounts on a range of tech products until October 8th.
Ozon sellers have generated over 9.5 million orders through influencer marketing campaigns on VK, with more than 22,000 merchants using the platform's external promotion tool over the past year.
A MAR Consult survey shows that 37% of Russian consumers distrust individual entrepreneurs on marketplaces, with many demanding greater transparency and external state protection.
Merchants are integrating AI shopping agents into existing payment and fraud infrastructure, relying on tokenization and identity protocols to manage new transaction patterns.
A new report from PYMNTS, based on a roundtable of 40 senior executives, explores how consumers are balancing AI-driven product discovery with the need for manual control over final purchases.
Retailers are navigating the integration of AI shopping agents, balancing the need for new sales channels against the desire to maintain control over customer data and checkout processes.
TikTok is integrating a conversational AI shopping assistant and a one-click checkout feature directly into its main video feed to capture more transaction value.
Amazon is introducing paid advertising formats within its Alexa for Shopping assistant, allowing brands to influence AI-generated product responses starting in 2027.
Independent analyst MBI has shifted his investment portfolio from Airbnb to Meta after testing the Muse AI agent, which demonstrated the ability to bypass traditional booking platforms.
OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT shopping features with a virtual try-on tool powered by the Images 2.5 model and a new favorites system for organizing products.
