Shadow Buyers: How to Reach ‘Invisible’ Purchasers - Retail TouchPoints
Meet the shadow buyers: decision makers who research and influence purchasing decisions without leaving obvious signals of interest.| Retail TouchPoints
Ebay and publisher Condé Nast have entered a multi-year partnership aimed at accelerating the movement toward pre-loved and circular fashion. Ebay will now serve as the official Pre-Loved Partner of Condé Nast in an initiative that will span the Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, Architectural Digest, Teen Vogue and Glamour publications in the U.S., UK and Germany. The […]| Retail TouchPoints
Grubhub and Instacart are teaming up to bring a wider selection of groceries to Grubhub customers. Grubhub’s 20 million customers can now order from Instacart’s network of more than 1,000 national, regional and local grocery retailers directly through the Grubhub app and website. The experience begins rolling out on Grubhub today and will be available […]| Retail TouchPoints
Meet the shadow buyers: decision makers who research and influence purchasing decisions without leaving obvious signals of interest.| Retail TouchPoints
This story is part of Retail TouchPoints’ ongoing “Small Business, Big Ideas” series, focusing on smaller retail brands that have found big success and have even bigger ambitions. On the path to creating a category-disrupting product, coming up with an idea is often the easiest part. For entrepreneurs who decide they want to take action […]| Retail TouchPoints
Amazon has long been known as the Everything Store, and while the platform’s wide selection is one of its biggest selling points, it also can be one of its biggest pain points. To help, Amazon has released a new AI tool in the U.S. called “Help Me Decide” to assist customers deciding between similar products. […]| Retail TouchPoints
E.l.f. Cosmetics will collaborate with Amazon-owned video game livestreaming platform Twitch to allow viewers to seamlessly purchase E.l.f. products directly through Twitch streams. The “eyes.lips.first.” shoppable element, powered by Amazon Ads, will initially appear on the official E.l.f. Twitch channel, e.l.f.YOU! Since launching on Twitch in 2020, E.l.f. has built a community engaging with gamers, […]| Retail TouchPoints
AI will drive $260 billion in global online sales and $1.6 trillion in in-store sales this holiday season, according to Salesforce. Not entirely surprising given that 62% of consumers say they now trust AI to guide their brand decisions, on par with traditional search. But as consumers rapidly test out and become regular users of these new tools, brands […]| Retail TouchPoints
It’s no secret that cybercrime is a growing threat to every organization, and retail companies are no exception. In fact, 80% of retailers experienced a cyberattack, according to a 2024 report, and 22% faced as many as 15 attacks. These incidents don’t just result in lost sales: they can significantly damage brand reputation and erode […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart has teamed up with Stadium Goods to bring a selection of top sneaker brands to its marketplace. The deal follows similar integrations with other collector-driven marketplaces, including comics site Shortboxed, luxury resale platform Rebag and sneaker site StockX. “Our customers trust Walmart to deliver not only everyday essentials, but also the latest and most […]| Retail TouchPoints
The future of shopping is supposed to look like this: you tell your AI agent — whether powered by ChatGPT or Perplexity — that you need batteries, a new desk chair and maybe a vacation. Minutes later, the items are purchased, the trip is booked, and all you had to do was…nothing. This vision — […]| Retail TouchPoints
As consumers increasingly begin their shopping journeys with conversational AI tools like Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity, there’s been a growing sense that’s it’s only a matter of time before the whole shopping journey — from initial query to purchase — will happen in these platforms. That time has come, with Shopify, Etsy, Salesforce and […]| Retail TouchPoints
Nearly 95% of consumers check online reviews before purchasing a product or service. They provide a valuable signal of trust for buyers based on other people’s firsthand experiences, and sellers rely on them to boost their reputations and sales in the crowded online marketplace. However, a new trend threatens to undermine this. Fake reviews generated […]| Retail TouchPoints
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is forecasting a 15.8% return rate in 2025, totaling $849.9 billion, according to the 2025 Retail Returns Landscape report created in partnership with Happy Returns, a UPS company. This represents a slight decrease from the 2024 return rate of 16.9% and $890 billion in sales of products that were eventually […]| Retail TouchPoints
The divide between brand and performance marketing is costing retailers revenue. Against today’s collapsed marketing funnel, the old playbook of awareness first, conversion later no longer applies. Shoppers move fast and unpredictably. They discover a product on TikTok, research reviews on Google, see a retargeted ad days later and still abandon their cart. Customers don’t […]| Retail TouchPoints
Walmart will join Shopify, Etsy and Salesforce in linking its online catalog with the new ChatGPT Instant Checkout, enabling its customers to shop and buy its products directly within ChatGPT conversations. The Walmart-ChatGPT integration will take effect later this fall and will encompass both Walmart and Sam’s Club offerings. Walmart framed the move as another […]| Retail TouchPoints
[Update as of Oct. 14, 2025] Ecommerce customers of Salesforce — which include many large retail conglomerates such as L’Oréal Group, Pandora and Saks — will now be able to join Shopify and Etsy merchants in selling directly to customers within ChatGPT conversations. (Walmart also announced that it will integrating later this fall.) Salesforce has expanded […]| Retail TouchPoints
Ulta Beauty’s online marketplace is now live on the beauty retailer’s website and app. Plans to add a marketplace, built on the Mirakl platform, were first announced in March as part of the company’s Beauty Unleashed strategy, aimed at combating declining sales and market share losses. Ulta has framed the move as a way to […]| Retail TouchPoints
When autonomous shopping agents start making product decisions on behalf of consumers at scale, the retail world will change forever. Retailers already are experimenting with AI-powered product recommendations, dynamic promotions and personalization. But in this new era of agentic commerce, when AI agents research, compare and complete purchases for people — autonomously — one critical […]| Retail TouchPoints
The modern retail calendar is packed with mega-events like Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and others that can make or break a brand’s quarterly goals. These are no longer just moments; they’re movements. And while consumers may wait for the clock to strike midnight on a sale, savvy marketers know the real work starts […]| Retail TouchPoints
A new partnership between United Airlines and Instacart will give the airline’s loyalty members $0 delivery fees for orders placed before, during or after they take a domestic flight, making it easier to replace forgotten items on the go or restock the fridge for their return home. United MileagePlus members who link their accounts with […]| Retail TouchPoints
For many retailers, international orders are shifting from side business to core revenue, but along with increased opportunity comes hidden payment costs.| Retail TouchPoints
Food and beverage brands already know the value of reaching grocery shoppers digitally. Grocery ecommerce is transforming the entire shopper journey.| Retail TouchPoints
