Commerce

Walmart-backed PhonePe winds down its Pincode app in yet another e-commerce step back

Commerce /

In its latest retreat from India’s crowded online retail market, Walmart-backed fintech giant PhonePe has wound down its Pincode e-commerce app and will shift the business toward B2B services for offline merchants. On Thursday, PhonePe founder and group CEO Sameer Nigam said operating a consumer-facing quick-commerce app had become a distraction from the company’s core […]

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Amazon reportedly considering dropping USPS and building a competing postal service

Commerce /

Amazon is considering ending from its long-standing contract with the United States Postal Service and building out its own competing nationwide delivery network, according to the Washington Post. The current agreement between the e-commerce giant and the USPS expires in October 2026. The two sides have spent months negotiating what the next version of the

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Discord users can now buy in-game items without leaving the platform

Commerce /

As Discord prepares for a potential IPO, the platform is launching new commerce features to enhance the gaming experience for users while also generating new revenue streams for developers. Announced on Tuesday, the features allow users to purchase digital game items directly within Discord, eliminating the need to leave the platform. Users can also create

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Amazon starts testing ‘ultra-fast’ 30-minute deliveries

Commerce /

Amazon has announced it’s launching a new service that completes deliveries in 30 minutes or less in Seattle and Philadelphia. The new “ultra-fast” delivery option will allow Amazon to better compete with services like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart. Customers will be able to order a range of different items, including milk, eggs, fresh produce,

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Black Friday sets online spending record of $11.8B, Adobe says

Commerce /

American consumers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which says it tracks more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites. That’s a new record, and up from $10.8 billion spent on Black Friday last year, Adobe says. Between 10am and 2pm, online shoppers were supposedly spending $12.5

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New York state law takes aim at personalized pricing

Commerce /

New York’s latest state budget includes new disclosure requirements for businesses that use personal data to set different prices for different shoppers — for example, charging you more if you have a history of splurging. Businesses that use personalized pricing are now required to tell customers, “This price was set by an algorithm using your

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SoftBank stays in as Meesho $606M IPO becomes India’s first major e-commerce listing

Commerce /

Meesho, an Indian e-commerce rival to Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, is set to launch a roughly $606 million IPO marked by token sell-downs from early backers and no sales from big names such as SoftBank and Prosus, signalling investor conviction in India’s booming online retail market at a time when tech shareholders globally have been

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Onton raises $7.5M to expand its AI-powered shopping site beyond furniture

Commerce /

Major tech companies aren’t just using AI to help you generate or summarize content — they also want you to use it for shopping. OpenAI, Google, and Amazon have heavily invested in AI assistants that research new product categories for you and suggest the right ones to buy. Startups like Perplexity, Daydream, and Cherry have

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OpenAI and Perplexity are launching AI shopping assistants, but competing startups aren’t sweating it

Commerce /

With holiday shopping on the horizon, OpenAI and Perplexity both announced AI shopping features this week, which integrate into their existing chatbots to help users research potential purchases. The tools are markedly similar to one another. OpenAI suggests that users could ask ChatGPT for help finding a “new laptop suitable for gaming under $1000 with

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