The Digital Commerce Daily

Meta's automated ad tools are making unauthorised discount offers on live campaigns — a brand-safety crisis timed perfectly for Black Friday. Plus, JD.com just became a major European retailer overnight. In this episode: Meta's AI-powered ad optimisation tools posted promotional discounts to shoppers even when advertisers had explicitly switched promotions off, raising urgent questions about liabi...

TikTok Shop is taking a page from Amazon Prime's playbook — and e.l.f. Beauty just posted 51% sales growth proving digital-first commerce is no longer optional. Three stories every ecommerce professional needs today. In this episode: TikTok Shop is launching its first paid, invite-only membership tier targeting over 1 million high-frequency U.S. shoppers, marking a structural shift from impulse-dr...

Shopify is quietly building a closed-loop ad ecosystem to rival Amazon. Meanwhile, TikTok Shop's European data is challenging every assumption brands made about who actually shops there. In this episode: Shopify is expanding Campaign Autopilot, letting merchants run and optimise ads without leaving the platform — a significant strategic shift for a company that long avoided building an ad business...

UK Black Friday is forecast to hit £9.8bn — but margins are tight. Plus, Bol's own sales have stalled while partner sellers keep growing, and German consumers are dropping AI the moment they reach checkout. In this episode: VoucherCodes.co.uk research forecasts UK Black Friday spending at £9.8bn, a 3% year-on-year rise, as shoppers increasingly plan their full Christmas budget around the peak trad...

DoorDash just paid $17 billion for the retail media business it couldn't build — and with Singles Day live, a sharp new analysis asks whether brands are buying real growth or renting it. Two stories every ecommerce professional needs today. In this episode: DoorDash acquired Instacart for $17 billion, instantly gaining access to one of the most mature retail media ad networks in US grocery commerc...

AppLovin is challenging Meta for DTC ad budgets and the numbers are hard to ignore. Plus, BarkBox reveals a warning sign hiding inside a recovery story — and Omnicom just made retail media standardisation in Europe real. In this episode: AppLovin came in just under a major revenue milestone with exceptional growth rates this quarter, yet Wall Street remains cautious — a signal for ecommerce brands...

Amazon just made your text inbox a shoppable ad surface. TikTok now rivals Google for paid search precision. And Fox's $22B Roku deal reshapes how ecommerce brands buy streaming TV. In this episode: Amazon's AI shopping assistant now accepts purchase orders via SMS and serves Sponsored Product ads directly inside the text conversation thread, rolling out to millions of users in the coming weeks. T...

Amazon is accused of secretly overcharging sellers by up to 250% during peak events. Shein just made European fashion brands' worst nightmare permanent. And Criteo is bringing measurable TV advertising to European ecommerce for the first time. In this episode: Newly unsealed FTC filings allege Amazon secretly inflated ad auction prices by up to 250% during Prime Day and Black Friday, with both fed...

Amazon just turned its logged-in audience into a cross-retailer targeting weapon — bad news for Walmart and Kroger's ad businesses. Plus, why agencies are buying TikTok Shop expertise before Q4 hits. In this episode: Amazon DSP now lets advertisers target display and video ads at shoppers identified as also buying from Walmart, Dollar General, Kroger, Walgreens, and Sephora — repositioning Amazon...

JD.com just became Europe's biggest electronics retailer overnight. Shopify stores are under suspected AI-powered attack weeks before Black Friday. And IAB Europe says retail media's measurement problem is reaching crisis point. In this episode: JD.com received final European Commission approval to acquire Ceconomy, giving China's second-largest ecommerce company full ownership of MediaMarkt and S...

Amazon's 400 million Alexa shoppers spend 50% more than the rest — and a Spanish florist just proved ChatGPT is already a top acquisition channel. If you sell online, today's episode is required listening. In this episode: Amazon revealed that more than 400 million customers used Alexa for shopping in the past 12 months, with Alexa shoppers spending 50% more than non-Alexa customers — making voice...

Google is disrupting its own ad business with AI Overviews, Amazon's Prime Day shake-up is rattling seller budgets, and UK Q4 ad spend is heading for an all-time record. Here's what ecommerce brands need to know now. In this episode: Google's search ad revenue growth has cooled as its aggressive AI Overviews rollout prompts investor concern that AI-generated answers are reducing ad clicks across t...

Lengow just consolidated European seller tech, Reddit is locking down the product discovery channel brands relied on for free, and Tesco's £1.5bn exit from Central Europe could supercharge its UK retail media business. In this episode: Lengow, a French ecommerce automation platform, has acquired Daily&Co, a multi-channel marketplace integration specialist, consolidating the feed management too...

Amazon is closing in on $20 billion in ad revenue — in a single quarter — and handing budget decisions to AI. Meanwhile, a DoorDash-Instacart deal could redraw the entire retail media map. In this episode: DoorDash is in talks to acquire Instacart, a deal that would combine their retail media networks and first-party purchase data into a platform that directly threatens Uber's $2 billion advertisi...

Disney is making one of the biggest entertainment-to-commerce moves on TikTok Shop this holiday season. Plus, Amazon just changed the returns game for European sellers — weeks before Black Friday. In this episode: Disney is partnering with over 20 brands for a coordinated TikTok Shop holiday shopping experience, marking one of the largest entertainment IP commitments to live social commerce ahead...

GA4 could be hiding two-thirds of your holiday sales data — and Meta just rebuilt every ad auction with LLM technology. Two urgent reads before Black Friday. In this episode: An audit of eight ecommerce brands found GA4 missed 66% of one retailer's holiday orders, with experts urging all retailers to verify their data before Black Friday budgets are set. Meta replaced its ad ranking system with la...

Google just gave ecommerce advertisers new levers to bid differently for high-value and lapsing customers. Meanwhile, Temu faces its biggest EU regulatory reckoning yet — and Zooplus is quietly taking on Amazon in Spain. In this episode: Google is rolling out High Value customer acquisition goals into Shopping campaigns and expanding retention bidding modes across Search, Shopping, and Performance...

Pinterest just cracked open its walled garden to programmatic buyers for the first time. Meanwhile Etsy is restricting AI-generated listings, and a new EU fee is hammering Temu and Shein volumes — three structural shifts reshaping digital commerce this week. In this episode: Pinterest is making its display and video inventory available programmatically for the first time at scale, with Magnite as...

US sellers shipping to Europe face a new USPS duty billing rule that changes cross-border margins overnight. Plus Meta's 26% revenue growth signals advertiser confidence, and David's Bridal bets its AI tool Pearl is worth more than the bridal brand itself. In this episode: USPS introduced a rule allowing it to bill American sellers directly for foreign duties on EU shipments, following the EU's re...

Walmart is building the trust infrastructure that could make AI shopping agents mainstream. Plus, IKEA's £31.5M UK fulfilment bet and a programmatic fee fight that hits DTC media budgets directly. In this episode: Walmart is rolling out consumer-facing spending limits and approval controls for AI shopping agents, positioning itself as the platform that makes agentic commerce feel safe — not just p...

Shopify and Vercel are rebuilding storefront infrastructure for AI shopping agents — and eBay is cutting a thousand jobs while the business grows. Here's what both moves mean for your strategy. In this episode: Shopify and Vercel have partnered to make merchant storefronts natively accessible to external AI shopping agents, positioning Shopify merchants for agentic commerce without any action requ...

Walmart is cutting out agencies to compete with Amazon for Q4 budgets — and Meta is editing your ads without asking, then handing you the legal bill. Three stories every ecommerce brand needs to hear today. In this episode: Walmart Connect is bypassing ad agencies to pitch brands directly ahead of the holiday season, leading with lift studies as proof of ad effectiveness in a bid to capture Q4 bud...

Walmart is building infrastructure for AI agents to shop autonomously while Amazon locks them out — a fork in the road that will reshape how brands sell in the US. Plus, Kevel's $52M raise signals retail media consolidation is accelerating fast. In this episode: Walmart is actively enabling AI agents to browse and purchase on its platform on behalf of consumers, while Amazon is blocking the same a...

Salesforce just dropped $5.66 billion on Braze — the retention tool thousands of DTC brands depend on. Plus Allegro unlocks Ukraine and loyalty rewards move inside your mobile wallet. In this episode: Salesforce is acquiring customer engagement platform Braze for $5.66 billion — one of the biggest martech deals of 2026 — with plans to use Braze's AI for real-time personalisation across channels. A...

Google just launched a shopping cart that keeps buyers inside Search — and never sends them to your site. Plus, UK marketplaces like Amazon and eBay may soon own VAT collection for domestic sellers. In this episode: The UK government proposes extending marketplace VAT liability to larger domestic sellers, meaning platforms like Amazon, eBay and Etsy would be directly responsible for collecting and...