Charlotte Hughes 
DoorDash’s new global ad platform, The Trade Desk poaching Uber’s ad chief, and a $4bn-plus run rate point one way: delivery apps are about to sell their order data into the open web. Expect offsite commerce media to surface as a named growth driver on Q3 2026 earnings calls, before year-end.
Shein’s Hong Kong clearance is less about its shrunken price than its venue. The pattern suggests HKEX becomes the default listing route for China-rooted cross-border retailers through the end of Q1 2027.
The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million (about $629 million) for breaching the Digital Services Act, its largest penalty yet for failing to control the sale of illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products. Alibaba has signalled it will appeal, setting up a landmark test of Europe’s platform rulebook.
Nearly 800 supermarket pharmacists across Southern and Central California voted on Thursday to authorize a strike against stores owned by Kroger and Albertsons, setting up …
EasyJet’s board has thrown its weight behind a £5.7 billion ($7.7 billion) take-private led by Apollo Global Management, dropping its earlier support for a rival bid from Castlelake. The switch sets an August 7 deadline for Apollo to firm up its offer for Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier.
Signals point to Amazon, Walmart and Target running overlapping holiday-kickoff events in the first two weeks of October 2026, with Amazon likely to confirm a fall event before Labor Day. The pattern suggests October becomes the true start of the US holiday season.
General Mills reported a $2.1 billion fourth-quarter operating loss on non-cash goodwill and Brazil charges, even as adjusted operating profit rose 13 percent in constant currency. The July 1 results point to flat volumes, a cost-savings drive, and fresh pressure on grocery shelves from private label.
Adyen’s back-to-back Talon.One and Orb deals signal a processor-led M&A wave for agentic-commerce value-added services. At least one more major processor is likely to follow before the 2026 holiday peak.
Visa-OpenAI and Mastercard’s June 2026 launches put scoped, tokenized agent identity at the center of agentic commerce. The pattern points to it hardening into the gate for agentic checkout by the close of Q4 2026.
Ocado has publicly confirmed it is engaged in long-term succession planning for founder and chief executive Tim Steiner, after reports the board approached external candidates. The acknowledgement lands with the online grocery technology group trading roughly 91% below its 2020 peak.