While 45% of US adults expect free shipping on any order, 16% of those consumers will not make a purchase if they have to pay for shipping, revealed August 2025 data from Radial and Dynata.
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Become a ClientAccording to a PYMNTS study sponsored by Block, 42% of scam victims consider changing to a new bank, and 19% have done so. That may be nearly 10 percentage points higher than bank switching in the general population. The financial losses FIs face from compensating customers for fraud and chasing down lost funds may eclipse their loss of business from customers who have been scammed. FIs’ brand value may also fall when they fail to put in place the right protections.
Walmart and Target will both transition to new CEOs on February 1, but the circumstances behind the changes diverge sharply. Walmart is handing John Furner a business with strong momentum, expanding ecommerce capabilities, rising membership adoption, and continued innovation, including its partnership with OpenAI. Target, by contrast, is passing leadership to Michael Fiddelke as sales soften, traffic slows, and its digital efforts lag behind key rivals. The continuity approach aligns with Walmart’s stable trajectory, but Target’s persistent challenges suggest it would benefit from broader strategic shifts to regain competitiveness.
Google offered remedies to settle an antitrust case in the European Union following a nearly €3 billion ($3.5 billion) fine arguing that Google abuses its dominance in digital advertising. The EU’s tough stance signals that the global regulatory environment is intensifying.
A Snapchat, Publicis Media, and Ipsos study revealed creator preferences for brand collaborations, outlining the path ahead for brands who increasingly rely on influencer marketing. Accounting for creator preferences is key to striking influencer partnerships that last and make a tangible impact.
Chinese sellers are facing intensifying pressure as the EU fast-tracks the closure of its de minimis loophole amid a rapid rise in low-value parcel imports, complicating efforts by platforms like Shein and Temu already contending with poor reception, legal scrutiny, and safety violations in Europe. With Chinese regulators also tightening oversight by demanding detailed sales data, sellers built around rock-bottom pricing are encountering diminishing returns. The environment is pushing brands to pivot toward stronger compliance and higher product quality, a shift that mirrors the success of players like Anker and is becoming increasingly necessary as global rules harden.
Amazon quietly introduced agentic shopping capabilities to its Rufus chatbot last week. Customers can now ask Rufus to monitor products and make a purchase when an item reaches a target price or discount level. Amazon’s “Auto Buy” feature could make Rufus more useful for deal-seeking shoppers this holiday season—provided they know the option exists and trust the chatbot’s accuracy. Over the long term, adding more agentic features to Rufus—which has been used by 250 million active customers this year alone—could enable Amazon to satisfy shoppers’ desire for AI assistance without ceding ground to platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Some Capital One debit cardholders feel dissatisfied with the shift from Mastercard to the Discover network, per The Wall Street Journal. Taking a slow, comprehensive approach to changing card products is critical to maintaining cardholder trust and loyalty. Consumers need assurance that their card will be accepted wherever they shop. Competing issuers can flex their cards’ stability through the Mastercard-Visa duopoly or emphasize their broadening acceptance internationally, like American Express. As travel becomes a tentpole feature of premium rewards, emphasizing acceptance in far-flung locales can entice high-spending wealthy consumers to stick with issuers on major network providers, instead of using a smaller competitor.
Global Payments released a modular, countertop point-of-sale (POS) platform for Genius to serve merchants of all sizes, per a press release. The platform can run as a countertop device, customer-facing display or kiosk, or a wall mount. Launching flexible devices could help lure back merchants looking for value, especially SMBs hoping to slowly build out their POS base platform as they grow. However, economic uncertainty is tamping down consumer spending—and hitting hardest the small- and medium-sized businesses that are most likely to seek out modular solutions. Pairing AI software solutions with customizable POS platforms could help entice merchants that want to automate the busywork from their businesses and reclaim time for critical tasks.