Another AI Answer Engine Debuts

Another AI Answer Engine Debuts

TAMPA, FL – North America’s largest furniture store brand (Ashley) recently launched a fully transactional shopping experience through Perplexity, an AI-powered answer engine. With PayPal’s payment technology, the new experience gives customers the ability...
ChatGPT Launches Shopping Research Feature

ChatGPT Launches Shopping Research Feature

  SAN FRANCISCO – OpenAI’s ChatGPT recently introduced a new shopping research feature designed to help consumers find the “right” products. A news item on OpenAI decried the chore of “sifting through dozens of sites” in favor of simply describing “what...
BFCM Progress Report – View From the Trenches

BFCM Progress Report – View From the Trenches

  NEW YORK – Black Friday and cyber Monday are in the rear-view mirror and the holiday shopping season continues to hum along. Initial numbers are positive, but how’s it going out there in the trenches? Pathway asked a few FOPs (friends of Prosper) for a progress...
SHEIN Touts Carbon Neutrality at China Facility

SHEIN Touts Carbon Neutrality at China Facility

  CHINA – SHEIN’s Weilong Zhaoqing High-Tech Logistics Park facility in China recently achieved carbon neutrality by reducing the majority of its emissions at source. The facility has also achieved a zero waste to Landfill certification that verifies that its...
Online Sales Growth Tops In-Store Retail

Online Sales Growth Tops In-Store Retail

  PURCHASE, N.Y. – According to preliminary insights from Mastercard SpendingPulse™, U.S. retail sales (excluding automobiles) were up +4.1% on Black Friday (Nov. 28) compared to Black Friday 2024. Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online...
Survey: Holiday Shoppers Plan to Spend less in 2025

Survey: Holiday Shoppers Plan to Spend less in 2025

  HUDSON YARDS, N.Y. – Deloitte’s “2025 Black Friday-Cyber Monday Survey” revealed that consumers plan to spend an average of $622 during Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) shopping events (Thursday, Nov. 27 – Monday, Dec. 1), down 4%...
Walmart Names New President and CEO

Walmart Names New President and CEO

  BENTONVILLE, AR — Walmart Inc.’s Board of Directors elected 51-year-old John Furner as its new president and CEO, succeeding Doug McMillon, 59. Furner officially takes his post starting February 1, 2026. Furner was also elected to the company’s Board of...
Amazon Cracking Down on Review Manipulation

Box and AWS Launch AI Collaboration

  REDWOOD CITY, CA – Box, Inc., an Intelligent Content Management (ICM) platform, and Amazon Web Services, Inc, (AWS), entered into a new multi-year strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) this week. An Amazon press release declares that the collaboration...
Target Launches New AI-Powered Features

Target Launches New AI-Powered Features

  MINNEAPOLIS – Like so many online retailers, Target Corp is adding new tech features to make purchases easier with an upgraded digital experience. “We’re committed to making the shopping experience this year even more connected, personal and...
TikTok Tops “Holiday Inspiration” Research for Gen Z

TikTok Tops “Holiday Inspiration” Research for Gen Z

  IRVING, TX – Epsilon Pulse, the research arm of Texas-based Epsilon Data Management is convinced that younger consumers “are eager to spend” this holiday season. “To maximize your ad spend during this critical shopping window, target Gen Z and...
Still Time to Impact Holiday Strategy

Still Time to Impact Holiday Strategy

  by Shannon Curley PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Amazon’s Nov 1 deadline has already passed, but shoppers (and sales spikes) are just getting started. The biggest Q4 killer isn’t competition – it’s running out of stock while inventory is stuck in transfers or delayed...