AI shopping features offered by ChatGPT, Google, and Microsoft Copilot are broadly similar, but there are variations in the overall experience worth noting. Marketers should know how these tools compare to invest in the right place.

As ecommerce scales, online returns are becoming a permanent margin drag. Fees and tighter policies can shift consumer behavior but put sales and loyalty at risk, forcing retailers to balance cost control with convenience expectations.

Agentic shopping could account for more than a quarter of ecommerce spending within the next few years, according to a September 2025 Boston Consulting Group report. But that potential hinges on retailers integrating AI into the shopping journey in ways that feel beneficial to consumers.

Allbirds and Warby Parker built their brands as digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs), cutting out the middleman to offer lower-priced products directly to consumers. Now, they’re confronting many of the same challenges as legacy brands: slowing ecommerce growth, rising customer acquisition costs, and an increasingly crowded competitive landscape.

Google has entered the AI shopping arena: The company’s AI Mode experience aims to assist consumers throughout every step of the shopping experience—from finding inspiration to buying at the right moment.

AI-powered search and AR try-ons promise a smoother buying journey, but with social commerce on the rise, Google has to fight for attention.

Retail returns will top $1 trillion in 2025: But growth will slow as retailers impose stricter policies, albeit at the risk of hurting sales.

Walmart bets on AR: The retailer experiments with several use cases for the technology that it hopes can make shopping online as immersive, interactive, and social as in-person experience.

Retailers turn to virtual experiences to boost engagement, awareness: Walmart, Ikea, and Skechers are among the many trying to increase their appeal to younger shoppers while driving sales.

Retailers look to redefine the customer experience: That’s leading them to invest in immersive experiences such as AR, VR, gamified social shopping, and AI-enabled personalization.

ByteDance's CapCut dives into the business sector: The popular app is introducing AI-driven tools to help content marketers.

Snap sees AR making a difference for brands: Product marketing lead tells our principal analyst that use of augmented reality tools delivers “meaningful impact” to the bottom lines of business partners.

Snap believes AR can transform the online shopping experience: Our principal analyst spoke with the company’s global AR product strategy lead about how Snap is helping brands increase conversions and reduce returns.

Amazon’s fashion expansion continues with forays into luxury and physical retail: The company’s high-end ambitions are at odds with its emphasis on value and low prices.

On today's episode, we discuss the social media regulations coming this year, whether virtual try-on will ever take off, how not to interrupt the consumer, whether shipping is the new ecommerce frontier, Formula One racing's newfound US popularity, an unpopular opinion about in-store shopping, some facts about sea creatures, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our senior director of Briefings Stephanie Taglianetti, director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, and analyst Bill Fisher.

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) continue to expand their reach as new devices and applications make them more accessible to consumers.

Budget cuts and advertising pullbacks are giving companies in industries like retail, accessories and entertainment new reasons to explore the benefits of these technologies.

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming more widely available on social platforms. It’s mainly been a tool for entertainment and brand awareness, but the pandemic is pushing marketers to explore new use cases.