Pinterest shifts to yield; its leadership change reinforces focus on performance, commerce, and higher ARPU.

Stripe launched its Agentic Commerce Suite, enabling affiliated merchants to service agentic checkout, per a press release. Merchants will be able to upload their inventories to databases that are scannable by AI agents without updating their own tech stack. Gen Z and millennials shoppers are becoming more comfortable using AI agents to shop for discretionary and essential shopping hauls. Merchants that make it easy for consumers to transfer repeat purchases to programmable agentic purchases stand to score great volume opportunities as shoppers look for a low-touch restock experience.

Q3 consumer spending looked steady, but the gains were fueled mainly by higher-income shoppers, revealing a split landscape that bolstered value and essentials retailers while squeezing brands dependent on discretionary and big-ticket projects.

The US housing market remains frozen as affordability challenges, elevated rates, and tariffs choke activity, leaving prices nearly flat YoY and 75% of top markets overvalued. The slowdown has hurt major home-improvement chains—Home Depot and Lowe’s both trimmed guidance as big-ticket projects and financed spending weaken. Yet higher-end and digitally savvy retailers like Wayfair and Williams-Sonoma have held up better, with AI-driven personalization and affluent customer bases helping offset broader softness. The split underscores a K-shaped retail economy unlikely to rebalance until affordability and buyer confidence improve.

AppLovin’s launch of Axon marks its transformation from mobile gaming to full-scale AI ad platform — and one of ad tech’s boldest pivots yet. The new Axon Ads Manager promises real-time AI bidding, Shopify integrations, and transparent attribution as the company positions itself as a performance-driven alternative to Meta and Google. The rollout comes as the SEC investigates AppLovin’s data practices, spotlighting the tension between AI-powered innovation and compliance. Marketers see opportunity — regulators see risk.

Ikea’s parent company Ingka Group is acquiring US logistics tech firm Locus to strengthen its ecommerce operations and speed up deliveries. Locus’ AI-driven tools will optimize route planning, real-time tracking, and resource use, potentially saving Ikea around €100 million annually. The deal reflects Ikea’s push to improve digital experiences and compete with online retailers like Wayfair as ecommerce rises to 28% of sales. Combined with its smaller urban stores and new retail partnerships, the investment underscores Ikea’s strategy to create a more flexible, customer-focused model for long-term growth in the US market.

Wayfair’s US sales rose 1.6% YoY in Q1: Despite growing macroeconomic headwinds and a frozen housing market, demand remained strong.

Wayfair to open a 150,000-square-foot store in Atlanta: The retailer’s physical stores act as three-dimensional billboards, driving sales by keeping the brand front-of-mind.

Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Wayfair launch spring sales: Retailers are likely to lean on tentpole events to drive cost-conscious shoppers to spend.

Record holiday sales helped retailers, but purchasing patterns across income groups diverged starkly. Middle- and lower-income consumers grew more selective, carefully weighing where and when to spend amid economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, higher-income shoppers continued to spend freely.

Amazon and Walmart dominate the landscape, but the other half of US ecommerce sales is still up for grabs.

Walmart bought a mall, Coca-Cola launched a soda, and Nike partnered with SKIMS in February, marking some of the month’s most interesting retail moves. Here are the eight most interesting retailers and brands from last month, as ranked on our “Behind the Numbers” podcast.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of February. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Analyst Arielle Feger and Senior Analyst Sara Lebow will defend their list against Vice President Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Analyst Blake Droesch, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

Wayfair is in a tough spot: A weak housing market and economic headwinds are shifting consumers’ focus away from home furnishings.

Existing home sales fell to the lowest level since 1995 last year: Conditions likely won’t improve much this year, which could spell trouble for housing-related retailers.

Wayfair pivots from Germany to focus on physical retail: The country’s challenging economic climate is one reason the retailer is reallocating resources to areas with better long-term potential.

Loyalty membership is up in the US as consumers seek personalized deals and discounts.

This deck provides an in-depth analysis of the home furnishings sector in ecommerce, including forecasts for sales growth, digital ad spending, and KPIs. It also highlights consumer shopping behaviors, spending trends, and the growing influence of social media.