Research Notebook
How technology is changing commerce, and what operators need to understand before the shift becomes obvious.
Costco Is Finally Going Digital. Here's What It Means for E-commerce Brands.
Costco just reported a 20.5% surge in digitally enabled sales and is rolling out AI-powered inventory systems. When the last holdout goes digital, it changes the game for every brand in its ecosystem.
Black Friday 2025: Online Sales Hit Record $8.6 Billion
U.S. shoppers spent $8.6 billion online by 6:30 PM on Black Friday 2025, up 9.4% year-over-year. Full day projections reached $11.9 billion, cementing the shift from in-store crowds to digital-first shopping.
Walmart Sparky AI Gets Ads: What Sponsored Prompts Mean for Sellers
Walmart is testing Sponsored Prompts inside Sparky, its AI shopping assistant. Brands can pay to surface products in AI conversations. Here is what this means for e-commerce advertising.
Walmart Grocery E-Commerce: 7 Consecutive Quarters Above 20% Growth
Walmart posted its seventh straight quarter of 20%+ e-commerce growth in grocery by turning 4,600+ stores into fulfillment hubs. Here is how the store-based model is beating dedicated automation.
Kroger's $400M E-Commerce Pivot: Closing Automated Centers for Store-Based Fulfillment
Kroger is closing three Ocado-powered fulfillment centers and taking a $2.6B write-down, pivoting to store-based fulfillment and third-party delivery to target $400M in profitability improvements by 2026.
Amazon's Project Cremini: How Whole Foods Integration Reshapes Grocery E-commerce
Amazon's Project Cremini integrates 100,000+ Whole Foods employees into its core operations, targeting $94M in profit gains by 2026. Here's what this means for e-commerce brands and grocery retail.
TikTok Shop Revolution: The Complete Seller Guide to Social Commerce
TikTok Shop is the fastest-growing commerce platform in history, with discovery-first shopping, creator-driven sales, and live events driving conversion rates 3-5x higher than traditional e-commerce.