🚨 Hey hustlers, this week’s eComm shakeup is WILD!
Walmart just teamed up with Minecraft—are metaverse malls next? 🏪 Meanwhile, AI shopping is taking over, D2C brands are scrambling to rethink their strategies, and Shopify is making scaling easier. Plus, smart stores could finally fix self-checkout chaos.
Get all the insights here!🚀
ECOMMERCE AI
🎮Walmart Digs Deeper Into the Metaverse With Minecraft Partnership
Walmart is expanding its metaverse presence by launching Skyward, a limited-time interactive experience on a Minecraft Java server. Players aged 13 and older can explore planets, hunt for a Golden Child, and engage with the game through Walmart’s dedicated Skyward Discord server.
🔎 Key Details:
Walmart is selling Minecraft-themed merchandise through a dedicated page on its eCommerce site.
Walmart Unlimited, a 3D commerce experience, was recently launched with Spatial and Unity to integrate real-time product sales into virtual worlds.
Unity developers can now embed Walmart’s commerce APIs directly into their games and apps.
🌍 Metaverse’s Mixed Future
Infinite Reality, an XR company, raised $3 billion in January to develop new virtual spaces.
Meta’s Horizon Worlds faces uncertainty—executives say 2024 will determine if it’s a visionary success or a failed experiment.
As AI breathes new life into virtual worlds, Walmart continues investing in metaverse commerce—while Meta struggles to keep its VR vision alive.
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ECOMMERCE IoT
🏪 Overcoming Retail Challenges: Smart Stores to the Rescue
Self-service retail was supposed to be frictionless, but instead, it led to rising theft, customer frustration, and operational headaches. Now, retailers are pivoting to smart self-service solutions—powered by AI, IoT, and real-time analytics—to tackle shrink, labor shortages, and security risks.
🔎 Key Details:
44% of self-checkout users who steal admit they’d do it again.
Target capped self-checkout at 10 items; Dollar General removed it from 300 high-theft stores.
43% of U.S. shoppers now support removing self-checkout entirely.
AI-powered shelf sensors and tracking cameras (99% accuracy) prevent theft, while Smart Stores boost sales—one college saw a 250% weekly increase after replacing vending machines. These solutions allow retailers to expand into high-theft areas, cutting shrink from 12% to zero in some cases.
Smart self-service isn’t just automation—it’s a new era of retail, blending security, efficiency, and real-time analytics to create seamless shopping experiences.
ECOMMERCE AI
🤖 Perplexity & firmly Partner to Power GenAI Commerce
Perplexity.ai is teaming up with firmly.ai to revolutionize GenAI-driven shopping, allowing users to browse and buy products without leaving the platform. This partnership gives merchants access to Perplexity’s 15M+ users, streamlining the path from inquiry to checkout with real-time inventory and transaction management.
🔎 Key Details:
Smart shopping integration: Users can purchase directly within Perplexity, avoiding the “blue link chase.”
Merchant-friendly model: firmly connects merchants via one simple API, eliminating complex integrations.
GenAI-powered recommendations: Perplexity personalizes shopping by tracking user behavior and query patterns.
Perplexity’s “answer engine” helps shoppers make data-driven purchases in real time. Merchants retain control of transactions, while firmly ensures seamless backend integration. This allows fast, frictionless shopping for tech gear, household essentials, travel, and more.
This is more than just plugging in checkout—Perplexity aims to redefine eCommerce with AI-driven, personalized shopping experiences that keep users engaged.
👉 Would you shop directly through an AI-powered platform?
ECOMMERCE NEWS
🛍️ D2C Brands Are Rethinking the Middleman
The direct-to-consumer (D2C) model promised to cut out wholesalers and retail stores, but now many brands are turning back to traditional retail to survive. Companies like Warby Parker, Allbirds, and Peloton have all expanded into wholesale and physical retail after struggling with D2C-only growth.
🔎 Key Details:
Retail resurgence: Warby Parker now operates 270+ stores and has launched shop-in-shops at Target.
Struggles in D2C: Allbirds scaled back after over-expanding; Casper’s retail partnerships grew 78% while D2C stagnated.
Nike’s shift: Nike’s D2C sales fell 12%, pushing the brand to focus more on wholesale channels like Foot Locker.
Consumers still value online shopping but prefer brands that offer both digital and in-store experiences. Research shows that 71% of shoppers say physical stores remain essential, while 39% use digital tools to enhance their shopping.
D2C brands are embracing a hybrid model, blending wholesale, eCommerce, and physical stores to meet consumer demand for convenience, immediacy, and rewards.
ECOMMERCE NEWS
đź”— Shopify and Pipe17 Partner to Help Merchants Expand
Shopify and Pipe17 have teamed up to simplify order management and help merchants scale across new sales channels. This partnership enables Shopify sellers to seamlessly connect to marketplaces, 3PLs, and other commerce apps, eliminating operational bottlenecks.
🔎 Key Details:
Seamless integration: Pipe17 links Shopify stores with marketplaces, logistics providers, and enterprise apps like ERP and WMS.
Real-time inventory: Merchants can sync stock levels across all channels, reducing overselling and order delays.
B2B & enterprise focus: Shopify aims to attract larger brands, while Pipe17 provides the infrastructure to scale effortlessly.
With eCommerce growing more complex, businesses need automation to manage orders efficiently. Shopify’s 12% market share in U.S. eCommerce and expansion in Europe and Japan position it as a leader in unified commerce.
👉 Are seamless integrations the key to eCommerce scalability?
Signing off,
The Merchant @CartHustle