"Whatnot hits $20 billion valuation as live-auction commerce goes mainstream retail" 💰 Whatnot closed a $545M funding round on August 7, 2026, pushing its valuation to $20B — nearly double where it stood in October 2025 🛒 The platform runs live-video auctions where sellers broadcast in real time and buyers bid, with individual lots closing in as little as five seconds #ecommerce #retail buff.ly/oU7Jeah

"Amazon Business Reaches $60 Billion" 💰 Amazon Business hit $60B in annualized gross sales, up from $35B in 2023 and $25B in 2021 📊 That's roughly 7% of the $830B Amazon and its sellers sold last year, with growth compounding at ~18% annually since 2021 🛒 More than half of Amazon Business sales come from third-party sellers, meaning an estimated $30B flows to sellers 🔗 Buyers include hospitals, universities, governments, and 97 of the Fortune 100, with fewer than 8,000 sellers driving half of Amazon's estimated $300B in U.S. 3P GMV 🤖 New tools target buyers, not sellers: an account assistant, Savings Insights for bulk discounts, Spend Anomaly Monitoring, and dedicated delivery trucks in 13 states 📈 At the current pace, Amazon Business is on track to reach $100B before the end of the decade #B2Becommerce #marketplace buff.ly/TPzDlb8

"Shoppers increase average order values in most categories" 📊 Health and beauty was the lone decliner, with average order value dropping 7.8% YoY to $62.26 in March 2026, per impact.com 📈 Eight other categories posted AOV gains during the same period, showing the pullback is isolated to health and beauty 🛒 Shoppers aren't spending less overall — they're consolidating trips into fewer, bigger baskets, with order sizes up 1.9% in 2025 even as trip frequency slipped 🎢 Amusement and entertainment spending jumped 14% YoY, with transaction volume up 7%, per Cardlytics data 📉 Beauty's slide isn't new — order values were already down 10.9% during the December 2025 holiday season, typically a peak spending period ⚠️ Falling consumer confidence and a softer labor market are pushing shoppers toward smaller, more cautious beauty purchases #retail #ecommerce via @emarketer buff.ly/KmtFZ48

"How Target is Shaping Shopping Experiences in Conversational AI" 🤖 Target is the first mass retailer with shopping experiences live across three leading AI platforms — Google Search (including AI Mode) and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenAI's ChatGPT 📈 AI-driven traffic to Target surged 2,000% in Q1 year-over-year — compared to roughly 400% growth for retail sites overall 🛒 Target co-developed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) with Google — an open standard for agentic commerce that enables browsing, basket building, and purchase directly inside AI interfaces 🤝 As an early Microsoft Copilot launch partner, Target guests can browse, link their Target Circle loyalty account, and check out — including exclusive discounts and 5% savings with the Target Circle Card — without leaving the Copilot chat 🔗 The Target app in ChatGPT goes furthest — supporting multi-item baskets, fresh food, and same-day fulfillment options including Drive Up, Order Pickup, and shipping, all within a single session 💰 Target Circle members retain their benefits and rewards across all three platforms — loyalty is embedded into the agentic checkout experience, not bolted on #agenticcommerce #retail buff.ly/fMdXRFO