Online shopping stories
UK town centres have lost 122,682 stores since 2016, outstripping Parcelhero's 2030 closure forecast and deepening pressure on the High Street.
Retailers chasing rapid checkout promises are seeing more failed drops, as most UK shoppers prefer dependable two-to-four-day delivery windows.
Poor address records are driving misdeliveries, extra fuel use and customer churn, costing retailers GBP £11.60 a parcel on average.
Rising delivery demands are pushing retailers and marketplaces to seek faster, cheaper fulfilment without the cost of owning fleets or warehouses.
Control of AI-led shopping standards is widening as five more firms join the Universal Commerce Protocol body, doubling its council to 10.
Wider access to affiliate tools could help smaller creators cash in as US social commerce heads towards USD $100 billion next year.
The payment option is generating more completed sales, with approval rates for online guest checkouts rising to 75.18% in April 2026.
Businesses and shoppers are being urged to spot fake sites before clicking, as phishing pages and scam shops fuel rising fraud losses.
Businesses selling into the EU face tighter accessibility scrutiny, with Accessiway targeting retailers and other firms using a new monitoring platform.
Consumers now switch between screens and shopping modes so quickly that MiQ says advertisers are misreading how purchases really happen.
OpenClaw users will be able to let AI agents pay with existing cards as Mastercard's controls add limits, authentication and audit trails.
Shoppers can now buy eligible beauty products in Google’s AI tools, as Ulta pushes discovery and checkout into conversational search.
Shoppers can now get tailored product advice online as the retailer’s new tool expands from beta to all users after brisk testing.
Shoppers in three Southeast Asian markets will get AI product help and photo-based prompts as Nestlé and Lazada test conversational buying tools.
Shoppers using AI tools are increasingly valuable to retailers, even as Adobe finds product pages still lag in machine readability.
Canadian shoppers can now use tokenised Visa details at checkout in Chrome and Android, reducing card exposure to merchants.
Delayed stock updates and failing devices can quickly turn busy promotions into longer queues and frustrated shoppers.
Shoppers in Malaysia will gain a single AI-led journey across AEON services as the retailer starts linking buying, payments and rewards with Google Cloud.
Brands can now tie ad spend more closely to real purchases, as Wayvia adds confirmed retail sales data to its updated shoppable platform.
Australian retailers risk being overlooked as shoppers increasingly use AI tools to research and buy products without visiting brand websites.