Online shopping stories

Elastic argues that in an AI-obsessed market, robust search across messy data is the real foundation of trustworthy, profitable experiences.

UK awareness of 'Pay by Bank' has plunged even as open banking payments surge, sparking calls for a single, standardised label at checkout.

UK transport and storage firms turn their backs on homeworking, with uptake plunging as other sectors stick with flexible work models.

UK shoppers are embracing AI shopping agents for better deals and ease, but rising data privacy fears risk slowing wider adoption.

As 88% of shoppers blend online and in-store, retailers must design digital high streets that ease anxieties around fit, returns and delivery.

Bloq.it and Evri will roll out 1,000 smart lockers and returns units across the UK, targeting soaring eCommerce returns worth GBP £4.2 billion.

UK Mother's Day spending is set to reach GBP £2.52bn this year, with men planning to splash out significantly more than women.

New BS ISO 21800 standard aims to cut fine print and make online contracts clearer for consumers across booming UK digital markets.

UK fashion retailers risk missing early summer spend as sites push winter lines even as Google searches for warm-weather looks surge.

Vudoo partners with PubMatic to bring shoppable, commerce-enabled ads to its programmatic marketplace via a single deal ID integration.

HIVED launches HIVED One, a unified all-electric parcel service aimed at simplifying nationwide deliveries for UK eCommerce SMEs.

Women hit by UK fraud report deeper anxiety and money woes than men, with younger women facing the harshest ongoing fallout.

Criteo joins OpenAI's ChatGPT ad pilot as first adtech partner, testing conversational commerce ads across ChatGPT Free and Go in the US.

Sharp swings in online peak spending and 64% checkout abandonment risk derailing retailers' forecasts and promo plans for 2026.

Linnworks report finds mid-market retail growth closely tied to operational maturity, automation, AI use and stronger multichannel logistics.

UK retail sales jumped in January as online spending saw its fastest annual rise since 2021, signalling a more resilient consumer mood.

Ecommpay launches a free fraud guide for online retailers as UK payment fraud hits GBP £1.17 billion and AI-driven scams rapidly escalate.

Retailers risk USD $796bn in losses from returns and shrink in 2025, with omnichannel gaps fuelling preventable fraud and abuse.

Fashion and electronics see the sharpest online price swings, as Decodo data shows retailers repricing items every few hours worldwide.

Valentine's Day drove a surge in UK online orders, with early-week volumes more than doubling as delivery timing trumped last-minute buys.