David’s Bridal is investing more heavily in creators as part of a broader push to modernize the business.

Tariffs

Why Dame is refunding $10,000 in tariff surcharges to customers

March 03, 2026

Dame is refunding customers who paid its “Trump Tariff Surcharge” last year, becoming one of the first brands to proactively return money tied to President Donald Trump’s now-invalidated tariffs.

Marketplace Briefing: Online merchants aren’t lowering prices despite Supreme Court ruling

February 26, 2026

Many Amazon sellers and online brands say they won’t cut prices despite the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump’s tariffs.

Other news to know

  • Amazon sellers’ new struggles
  • Amazon hit pause on a controversial change to its advertising payment system after backlash from sellers who said the update would strain their finances.
  • Amazon merchants are bracing for more cash flow troubles and margin pressure this year, thanks to a bevy of new fees and policy changes. 
  • One major part of Amazon’s business was largely absent from CEO Andy Jassy’s annual shareholder letter this year: the millions of sellers who power the company’s marketplace.
Top Stories Apr 20

Lowe’s aims to make mulch buying easier with AI

April 20, 2026

Lowe's is using AI to improve the mulch-buying process -- a critical piece of spring sales for the home improvement retailer. Through a new AI-powered feature called "Mulch Me Now," Lowe's Mylow AI assistant will help customers calculate how much mulch they need.

Sam’s Club hires ‘experts’ to make video reviews for product pages

April 20, 2026

Sam's Club is beginning to add videos with "expert reviews" to product pages for brands wanting to boost credibility and engagement.

The growing debate over digital price tags

April 18, 2026

This week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast digs into the debate around electronic shelf labels.

Modern Retail+ Research: Expectations around AI are straining brand-agency relationships

April 20, 2026

Overall, agencies’ top concerns this year are client spending and the effects of AI. Thirty-eight percent of agency professionals anticipated that the biggest challenge the agency industry will face in 2026 is reduced client budgets, while 38% said the same about the effects of AI. That’s according to a Modern Retail+ Research survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025 among 62 agency professionals.

Tariffs

Why Dame is refunding $10,000 in tariff surcharges to customers

March 03, 2026

Dame is refunding customers who paid its “Trump Tariff Surcharge” last year, becoming one of the first brands to proactively return money tied to President Donald Trump’s now-invalidated tariffs.

Marketplace Briefing: Online merchants aren’t lowering prices despite Supreme Court ruling

February 26, 2026

Many Amazon sellers and online brands say they won’t cut prices despite the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump’s tariffs.

Red and black sneaker on a black hightop on an orange background

Footwear brands navigate uncertainty after latest tariffs flip-flop

February 25, 2026

Shoe brands, which are out billions of dollars from U.S.-imposed duties, are trying to find their footing after recent tariffs whiplash.

Shoptalk

Coach won over Gen Z in North America. Now it’s stepping up its focus abroad

March 31, 2026

After seeing success with its Gen Z strategy in North America, Coach is now scaling that approach internationally.

E.l.f. Beauty’s chief digital officer shares her strategy for the AI era

March 30, 2026

In an interview with Modern Retail, E.l.f. Beauty’s chief digital officer, Ekta Chopra, shared the four pillars that guide the beauty brand’s approach to AI implementation.

Lowe’s wants to roll out personalized website to all customers by end of 2026

March 27, 2026

The humble e-commerce site is getting a major upgrade at Lowe’s. The company is expanding a feature that uses customer data to personalize its website and, essentially, hopes that all customers will have a personalized website by the end of 2026.

Podcasts

Technology

Marketplace Briefing: How DoorDash is winning over apparel brands

April 16, 2026

DoorDash is expanding beyond food delivery into retail and apparel partnerships. Mike Goldblatt, DoorDash’s VP of enterprise sales and business development for grocery and retail, says the expansion is a natural extension of the company’s original vision.

Puma’s AI head says the brand is still giving ‘the keys to the consumer’ as it invests in tech like a digital concierge

April 15, 2026

Puma is diving headfirst into artificial intelligence, a few years after it launched a Roblox experience and tested out NFTs. Here’s how it’s using AI to power everything from a store concierge to football jerseys.

Retailers like Pact, MaryRuth’s and Ollie turn customer experience into a growth function

April 15, 2026

For years, the business case for customer experience was defensive: keep costs down, handle volume and prevent complaints from going viral. CX teams existed to contain damage, not create value. That framing is collapsing — and the retailers leading the shift aren’t just running their support operations more efficiently. They’re redefining the function of CX. […]

Marketing

Dad hat brand ’47 goes global with a new marketing campaign, ‘Worn Worldwide’

April 17, 2026

For its latest campaign, Boston-based baseball cap brand ’47 taped five different “vignettes” to show how people from artists to fishermen are wearing their hats abroad.

How Portland Leather Goods did $1M in sales in 20 days on TikTok Shop thanks to an affiliate blitz

April 16, 2026

Portland Leather Goods saw its first six-figure day on TikTok Shop after a week of affiliate contests to drive videos.

Red rubix cube with the word "ad" written on it sitting on a red background

A closer look at OpenAI’s ads manager – and how much work it still needs

April 16, 2026

OpenAI’s ads manager — which is still in testing — bears a passing resemblance to Google’s own, according to a video of the dashboard that Digiday reviewed. Whether the functionality follows is another matter. 

Operations

Goop Kitchen expands delivery business with New York City launch

April 17, 2026

Five years after launching in Los Angeles, Goop Kitchen is coming to New York City with three locations this year. The company is hoping to bring its food-as-medicine concept to the masses.

A worker with white gloves on lifts a table

Why home retailers are plagued with financial challenges

April 15, 2026

The housing market, alongside the pressure of inflation, fluctuating tariff policies and other financial situations such as being crushed with hundreds of millions in debt, has resulted in bankruptcy, closures or acquisitions for many prominent home chains. Most recently, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. announced it was acquiring The Container Store.

Unpacked: How loyalty programs power lifecycle marketing strategies

April 16, 2026

This Unpacked guide, sponsored by SheerID, explores how loyalty is no longer earned through rewards alone; it’s built through relevance, transparency and sustained commitment to understanding customers over time.  Shifts in consumer behavior — specifically the desire for data privacy and instant, personalized recognition — and AI’s acceleration of the buying process are making traditional […]