Meta is adding a social shopping spin to Facebook Marketplace in an effort to draw more young adults. The upgrade includes group features, AI insights and an easier checkout experience, the company says. Shoppers can now assemble Pinterest-like collections to share with friends, and people can “react and comment directly on Marketplace listings, helping others learn about item quality and discover unique finds,” Meta says. The company is also testing “collaborative buying,” which allows friends to join in the pre-purchase banter, “making it easier to coordinate pickup, negotiate prices, and get answers to your questions.” Continue reading Facebook Marketplace Gets Social Makeover with Help of AI

A year after launching its ultra-low-price digital shopping destination Haul as a tab on its website and app, e-commerce giant Amazon is launching a standalone app called Amazon Bazaar that sells the same inventory. The Amazon Bazaar standalone will initially bow in 14 additional territories, bringing the total availability of the company’s ultra-low-priced inventory to 25. Haul sells a wide range of fashion, home goods, and lifestyle products, most priced under $10, and some as low as $2. The app has helped Amazon compete with Chinese bargain sites Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop. Continue reading Low-Price Retail App Amazon Bazaar Launches in 14 Regions

Two years after launching in the U.S., TikTok Shop has a reported $19 billion in quarterly sales, rivaling the sales performance of eBay, which still leads by about a billion dollars, according to third-part TikTok analytics tool EchoTik. After getting off to what seemed to be a rocky start, the fact that it took only 24 months for TikTok Shop to became competitive with the 30-year-old eBay is drawing notice. A TikTok representative said TikTok Shop’s live-stream shopping segments were up 72 percent year-over-year as of September, with sales up by 120 percent as of June. Live-stream shopping is only one aspect of TikTok Shop. Others include shoppable videos, a marketplace and creator storefronts.  Continue reading TikTok Shop Reports $19 Billion Sales Quarter, Rivaling eBay

Amazon Q3 revenue was up 13 percent to $180.2 billion in the third quarter, compared with $158.9 billion in 2024. The AWS group that includes AI saw sales increase 20 percent year-over-year to $33 billion. The company reported that gross profit increased 38 percent to $21.2 billion for the quarter, due largely to consumer spending online and the demand for cloud computing. Amazon is the dominant player in the cloud space with about 30 percent of global share. However, investors have been cautious about AWS, which accounted for 65 percent of the company’s total operating income in Q3. Since 2022, competition has heated up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT signing on with Microsoft Azure. Continue reading AWS, Cloud and AI Help Drive Impressive Quarter for Amazon

Amazon wants to save customers time shopping by helping them reach an informed decision more quickly using AI. The new “Help Me Decide” feature aims to pair people with the right product “with the tap of a button” that produces “one clear recommendation.” This includes an explanation of why the product is right for you “based on your specific needs and preferences,” ascertained via analysis of your browsing history. If you’ve been perusing similar products but haven’t yet purchased, the “Help Me Decide” button will appear at the top of the product detail page. It can also be accessed by tapping “Keep shopping for” on the homepage if you want to pick up where you left off in a previous browsing session. Continue reading Amazon: ‘Help Me Decide’ Uses AI to Help Shoppers Choose

Amazon has developed smart glasses to help its delivery drivers navigate the world more efficiently, improving navigation, identifying hazards and having instant access to cargo data. The wearable was “designed and optimized with input from hundreds of Delivery Associates (DAs), drivers who work for Delivery Service Partners (DSPs)” and use “advanced computer vision processing and AI integration for seamless driver experiences,” according to Amazon. The eyewear helps DAs scan packages, follow turn-by-turn walking directions and capture proof of delivery — all without the help of a phone, creating a hands-free documentation experience. Continue reading Smart Glasses Use AI to Help Amazon Drivers with Deliveries

Walmart has partnered with OpenAI to make its products, as well as those from its Sam’s Club wholesale warehouse, available for purchase within ChatGPT. The AI-first shopping experience is designed to shift the purchasing interface “from reactive to proactive as it learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs,” according to Walmart. The transition is expected to take place over the next few months, allowing customers to purchase nearly every product on the Walmart and Sam’s Club websites through the chatbot, except for fresh food. Benefits like points and free shipping will continue to apply. Continue reading Walmart Making Products Available for Purchase via ChatGPT

Pinterest has added multiple “where-to-buy” options it says make it easier for consumers to shop with Pins. This new menu of links allows brand advertisers to drive potential customers to a selection of purchase sites instead of a single source, surfacing multiple in-stock retailer options for a product directly from an ad. Pinterest claims the new presentation format offers richer purchase data and new CPG opportunities. Advertisers will no longer face the “tough choice” of directing shoppers to a retail site for a familiar purchase experience but losing valuable insights or linking to their own site and sacrificing lower-funnel performance. Continue reading Pinterest Says Where-to-Buy Links Add Richer Purchase Data

Amazon has introduced Lens Live, an AI-powered update to the Amazon Lens shopping tool. The app, which works in concert with Amazon’s Rufus shopping assistant, uses smartphone cameras much like Google Lens does with visual search. Pinterest Lens is another such app. But the purpose-built Rufus ties it even more closely to the shopping experience with instant scanning, real-time product matches and insights from Rufus. Lens Live is already available to tens of millions of U.S. users on iOS in the Amazon Shopping app with plans to roll out to all U.S. customers in the coming months. Continue reading Amazon’s Lens Live Brings Real-Time AI Shopping to Mobile

TikTok is reporting that TikTok Shop’s U.S. sales have increased 120 percent in 2025 compared to the same period last year. However, this announcement was made as reports surfaced that TikTok owner ByteDance is disappointed that the U.S. performance of TikTok Shop is falling far short of its original tenfold growth goal to $17.5 billion in 2025. The company reportedly moved to “drastically lower that objective” prior to touting its performance this month. Meanwhile, President Trump recently extended the deadline for ByteDance to sell the U.S. operations of TikTok, pushing the cutoff to September 17. Continue reading TikTok Shop’s U.S. Sales Improve but Still Fall Short of Goals

Bookshop.org was launched in 2020 as a way for local bookstores to compete nationally against top names such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The outlet lets independent bookstores — even those without websites — set up a storefront on Bookshop.org, creating curated lists and themed pages. Readers could then visit these virtual bookstores and select one as their preferred shop. The idea was to bring local bookstore charm to the generic experiences available through larger services, and it has been called a lifeline for small shops. Now the company is adding ebooks with a reader app for Android, iOS and the Web. Continue reading Bookshop.org Adds Ebooks to Help Level Field for Indie Sellers

YouTube has expanded its relationship with Shopify, allowing more merchants to make their products available for creators to tag in their shopping content. All eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. are now able to sign up for YouTube Shopping’s affiliate program through the Google & YouTube app on Shopify, which is expected to significantly increase the number of participating brands and products. According to YouTube, viewers watched over 30 billion hours of shopping-related videos in 2023. Broadening the scope of its Shopify deal is expected to make YouTube more competitive with TikTok Shop. Continue reading YouTube Expands Retail Relationship with Shopify in the U.S.

Music streaming service SoundCloud has added a digital merch outpost, the SoundCloud Store, where select artists who have signed up for the paid Next Pro tier can design exclusive merchandise for their fans — “with minimal effort — letting them focus on their craft while driving meaningful revenue beyond streaming.” The items will be manufactured by SoundCloud, which is launching what it calls “the first edition” of the SoundCloud Store in the U.S., Canada and European Union. Only artists that own 100 percent of their merchandise rights are invited to apply to participate. Continue reading SoundCloud Helping Artists to Design for New Merch Stores

After five months of testing, e-commerce giant Amazon is releasing its AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, on mobile throughout the U.S. via the Amazon Shopping app. By tapping the icon, shoppers can access a chat interface and query Rufus on topics such as the best portable speakers or summer dresses under $50. In time for this week’s Prime Day event, the new assistant can also provide status updates on orders. Rufus was trained on the Amazon catalog and other Internet content, so it can provide information on a wide variety of topics and reportedly also answer questions about politics and write short stories. Continue reading Amazon’s AI Shopping Assistant Rufus Is Ready for Prime Day

Amazon reported $143.3 billion in Q1 revenue, a 13 percent increase year-over-year, excluding the impact from foreign exchange rates, with net income at just over $10.3 billion, a nearly 229 percent surge that set a first quarter record for the company. Both categories outperformed Wall Street expectations, with strong online sales and a booming cloud business thanks to the increased demands of artificial intelligence deployment by enterprise clients credited as driving the boom. Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy called it “a good start to the year.” Continue reading Amazon Q1 Profits Surge on Strong Retail and AWS Comeback