Gen Z plans to holiday shop via Facebook, retailer apps: report

Nearly 70% of young consumers plan to use nontraditional shopping channels for their Black Friday and Christmas purchases.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 18, 2021

3 mistakes retailers should avoid with social commerce

Selling on social media channels can be a powerful tool to reach new customers. But done wrong, it could hurt your brand more than not being on social media.

Oct. 18, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

What's shaping the e-commerce landscape?

From recent statistics on e-commerce growth to the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Amazon, here are some of the forces impacting online retail.

By Retail Dive staff

Walmart tests text-to-shop tool

The pilot comes about two years after the mass merchant discontinued Jet Black, a shop-by-text service geared toward higher-income New Yorkers.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris and Caroline Jansen • Oct. 15, 2021

Poshmark acquires sneaker verification startup Suede One

The acquisition is Poshmark's first — and marks a deeper commitment to scalable product verification. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 14, 2021

Hodinkee unveils used watch resale platform

With authentication services and more in-depth product description pages, customers can buy, sell or trade pre-owned timepieces.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 14, 2021

Paytech firms outside US gain ground

Payment technology companies based overseas were big venture capital winners in Q3 as funding soared, according to a report CB Insights. 

By Lynne Marek • Oct. 14, 2021

Top retailers will establish robot resource departments as demand grows: Gartner

Investments in robots are one way companies are boosting productivity, as orders get processed closer to the point of delivery.

By Max Garland • Oct. 14, 2021

Poshmark co-founder to oversee new seller experience team

The new division is responsible for "supporting and innovating" on behalf of the platform's merchants.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 13, 2021

Best Buy pushes further into healthcare with Current Health acquisition

The platform allows for patient monitoring, telehealth and patient engagement, and follows similar moves by the retailer to offer tech-based health services.

By Kaarin Moore • Oct. 12, 2021

Solve iOS 15 challenges with SMS this holiday season

To engage iOS 15 users and drive sales this holiday season, embrace the channel that is already privacy-first — SMS.

Oct. 11, 2021

Macy's updates app, launches live shopping

The redesigned app features new design and navigation features, while Macy's Live allows customers to interact with stylists and hosts. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 8, 2021

Target adds buy now, pay later options with Affirm, Sezzle

As the holiday season nears, the retailer has added payment services to make shopping fit within consumers' budgets. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 7, 2021

Best Buy expands Totaltech subscription service nationally

The service, which costs about $200 a year, offers members access to Geek Squad support, special pricing, free delivery and standard installation.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 6, 2021

How the case for drone delivery expanded beyond parcels

The pandemic's effects on labor, demand and transport capacity have brought new attention to the potential use cases for drones for the last mile.

By Max Garland • Oct. 5, 2021

Gap Inc. acquires artificial intelligence startup CB4

The purchase is the latest in a series of technological investments by the retailer. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 5, 2021

Snapchat looks to deepen ties between AR, e-commerce with WPP partnership

As part of the initiative, the Snapchat owner will run quarterly client competitions that provide funding to scale innovative campaigns on the app.

By Peter Adams • Oct. 5, 2021

Neiman Marcus warns 4.6M customers about data breach

Personal information and payment cards were exposed in the hack, which is not the first for the luxury department store. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Oct. 1, 2021

Gopuff plans to open a digital-first retail store

Planning documents filed in San Francisco outline a location that has digital ordering kiosks and is built to efficiently manage in-store and online orders.

By Jeff Wells • Oct. 1, 2021

Google adds visual search features for shoppers

Users will soon be able to make all images on a website searchable, in a continued effort to prompt discovery of products and brands. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 30, 2021

Mastercard to launch new buy now, pay later service

Mastercard is teaming with some of the biggest companies in payments, including FIS, Synchrony, Barclays and Marqeta, to launch the service next year.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 30, 2021

TikTok partners with Square, expanding its social commerce capabilities

The latest partnership follows previous ones with Shopify and Google aimed at connecting consumers with sellers.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 29, 2021

Etsy debuts shoppable virtual house

Using augmented reality to generate virtual products, the experience allows customers to tour a curated home and purchase products they like.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 28, 2021

Apple's privacy changes drive up ad prices for e-commerce marketers

The rising costs of mobile ads will push online retailers again to find ways to improve campaign performance, a report by ad-tech startup Moloco suggests.

By Robert Williams • Sept. 28, 2021

Square, PayPal mobile wallets attract funds

The payment companies have seen increases in the amount of money stored on their mobile wallets, but individual accounts still hold relatively small sums.

By Lynne Marek • Sept. 28, 2021

Livestream shopping platform NTWRK raises $50M

The funding round comes as the livestream market is forecast to reach $25 billion by 2023. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 27, 2021