The show floor had energy to match the stakes. Sephora and OpenAI announced they're building a Sephora app inside ChatGPT, Beauty Insider loyalty perks and all. Gap became the first major fashion brand to let shoppers check out directly inside Google Gemini. One footwear brand wowed the crowd with an agent that photographs your busted sneakers, settles the claim on the spot, and ships a replacement in 30 seconds. The vibe wasn’t “look what’s coming,” because the retailers on stage weren’t previewing future roadmaps, they were reporting live results from AI bets made 12 to 24 months ago.

But the most refreshing part of Shoptalk wasn’t the tech flex. It was honesty. Executives dropped the bravado and admitted they don’t know what to prioritize. They asked peers for help, with a level of candor we haven’t seen since the early pandemic days. The takeaway that never made it onto a slide, but stayed with everyone, is simple: Not investing in AI now carries the same risk as getting it wrong. So maybe place your bets accordingly. Read More ➜

ECONOMY

In-Fuel-ation

In-Fuel-ation

Oil prices make headlines. But consumer confidence? That's what actually keeps businesses up at night. Since U.S. and Israeli strikes hit Iran on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz has effectively shut down, cutting off 20% of the world's seaborne oil and sending Brent crude to a peak of $119 per barrel. The impact landed almost instantly at the pump, with the national average for a gallon of gas surging 33% to nearly $4, from pre-war price of $3, with some West Coast markets clearing $5. And when people spend more filling up, they spend less everywhere else.

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index dropped nearly 6% in March to its lowest since December 2025, with declines cutting across every age group and political party. Even middle- and higher-income consumers showed the steepest drops, rattled by rising gas prices and an S&P 500 that's fallen nearly 7.4% since the conflict began. Discretionary-heavy retailers like Five Below and Target are among the most exposed, as shoppers under pressure quietly trade down. The spontaneous splurge, the weekend treat, and the “I deserve this” purchase are the first things that disappear from the cart when the news feels heavy.

The silver lining, and yes there is one, is that mood and spending don’t always move together. Despite sentiment sitting near historic lows, Americans kept their wallets open through record-high inflation and rising debts. Research from Telsey Advisory Group found that oil price spikes alone don’t derail consumer spending, it’s deeper economic downturns that do the real damage. Retailers with strong loyalty and premium positioning have historically seen same-store sales hold or rise even alongside oil inflation. Sentiment is a mood. Spending is a habit. And habits built on trust and loyalty are a lot harder to break than a confidence index suggests. Read More ➜

AI

Vibe Check

Vibe Check

Remember when “learn to code” was the career advice of the decade? Bootcamps, YouTube tutorials, the whole thing. Google just made that conversation a lot more complicated. Google AI Studio's new vibe coding experience turns plain-language prompts into fully functional apps, multiplayer experiences, databases, and modern web frameworks, without ever leaving the platform. Announced on March 20, the update pairs the Antigravity coding agent with Firebase support, taking a simple idea all the way to a production-ready application. And the best part is you don’t need to know what any of that means to use it.

That’s the wild part about where 2026 has landed. Vibe coding, or building an app by describing what you want in plain English and letting AI do the building, isn’t a novelty anymore. Bolt.new, Lovable, Replit Agent, and now Google are all betting the next wave of builders won’t come from engineering schools. They’ll come from marketing teams, operations floors, and founders with a napkin sketch and a deadline. In fact, the gap between “idea” and “live product” just collapsed by roughly 80%. What used to take a team and a quarter now takes an afternoon and a good prompt.

Not everyone’s vibing, though. Cursor CEO Michael Truell, whose AI coding tool just crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue, has thoughts. He likened pure vibe coding to building a house by putting up four walls and a roof without knowing what’s going on under the floorboards or with the wiring, and warned that as you keep adding floors, things start to crumble. His point isn’t anti-AI. It’s more pro-discipline. Because of course, the vibe is fun until the foundation cracks. The companies that win this era won’t just be the fastest builders, they’ll be the ones who know when to prompt, when to pause, and when to actually look at the code. Turns out the bootcamp advice wasn’t wrong. It just needed an update. Read More ➜

April Fools' Around And Find Out

80%

That’s the share of consumers more likely to buy again from a brand that makes them laugh, while 41% would walk away from one that doesn’t. Turns out, loyalty looks less like a rewards program and more like a well-timed punchline. And this April Fools’ Day, every brand gets one shot to prove it. Read More ➜

TOTB_full-1

This week, we’re literally thinking about the box. The box is the garment’s last impression. Most brands send it out generic, or worse, wrinkled.

Maceoo, a luxury menswear brand, applies an algorithm to eliminate the fit problems traditional manufacturing just accepts as inevitable, like the boxy shoulders or the sleeve that’s always half an inch off. The whole brand is built on the premise that “close enough” is not a design philosophy.

Before finding the right fulfillment partner—back when they were with Quiet Logistics, pre-acquisition by Stord—the brand shipped in generic packaging, siloed systems, a forgettable final mile, like everyone else. There’s something almost comedically misaligned about engineering a mathematically perfect garment, then dropped into a plain brown box with a packing slip. The product survives the journey. The experience doesn’t.

Founder Maceoo Raad’s question was a simple one that most brands never actually sit with, “How do I parallel the experience I have in the store?” Not approximate it. Not gesture toward it. Parallel it, at scale, consistently, for every customer who never set foot in their flagship store in Las Vegas.

That question has an answer. It just requires a fulfillment partner who knows the box is part of the experience.

TOP READS

Pay to Peek: Meta’s new Instagram subscription lets you stalk… I mean, view stealthily for $1.

Bot in Charge: 15% of Americans would trade their boss for a bot—would you?

Terms & Consequences: After losing a landmark addiction case, Meta and Google face a new era of scrutiny.

UPCOMING E-COMMERCE EVENTS

Stord Summit Spring 2026, April 22-24 in Glen Cove, New York

Join us for an unforgettable three-day experience filled with inspiring talks, curated adventures, incredible food, and a community of operators ready to elevate your brand. Request your spot today!

American Supply Chain Summit, April 27-28 in Dallas, Texas.

A premier gathering for senior supply chain leaders to exchange proven insights and define what’s next. Join top executives for strategic discussions.

The Beverage Forum, April 28-29, Manhattan Beach, California.

Clink glasses with experts at the global hub for beverage industry leaders, where insights, ideas, and executive conversations drive innovation.

National Postal Forum, May 3-6 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Explore the future of mailing and shipping, connect with industry leaders, and uncover what’s next at NPF 2026.

See you next week for more commerce news and updates.

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