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The Retail (Blue)Sky is Falling — Week of May 19

Ecommerce and retail stories that caught my attention, plus, some of my honorable mention Bluesky posts from this week.

Retail & ecommerce stories that caught my eye

Friday: Nike reportedly to hike prices on some items — and resume selling on Amazon

Thursday: TikTok Adds a Dedicated AI Assistant for In-App Sellers

Wednesday: Google rolls out agentic AI checkout, expands virtual try-on

Tuesday: Study: Rising prices shaking up consumer loyalty and shopping behavior

Monday: Target removes same-day delivery markups for loyalty members

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Recapping the top retail news stories

bluesky posts of the week

When an AI chatbot is more than a chatbot but is really just a chatbot. Okay, got it! www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-... #Ecommerce #retail #tiktokshop #tiktok #AI

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM

Earnings roundup: 👍 TJX chainstoreage.com/tjx-sales-ri... 👍 BJ chainstoreage.com/bjs-earnings... 👍 LOW www.cnbc.com/2025/05/21/l... 👎 TGT omnitalk.blog/2025/05/22/t... #earnings #ecommerce #retail

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM

Discretionary retailers become, well, discretionary. They need a strong back-to-school season! omnitalk.blog/2025/05/22/t... #ecommerce #retail #target #tariffs

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM

More capabilities for Alexa+ chainstoreage.com/amazon-pilot... #Ecommerce #retail #Alexa

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 22, 2025 at 8:57 AM

So much drama in the VSc chainstoreage.com/victorias-se... #retail #ecommerce

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM

The race to dramatically alter the brand-customer relationship is on. More on this from me soon. chainstoreage.com/google-rolls... #ecommerce #retail #AI #shopping #google

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 21, 2025 at 10:53 AM

"That's a bold move, Cotton." Sacrificing profits for sales — probably assuming per-shopper AOV will increase (and it will probably will). I'll allow it! www.retailcustomerexperience.com/news/home-de... #tariffs #homedepot #retail #ecommerce #economy

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM

Loyalty, in the traditional sense, has been mostly dead for some time. I view the new definition of loyalty as, your brand being the first option when someone decides they want to buy. chainstoreage.com/study-rising... #ecommerce #retail #loyalty #customerloyalty #economy

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 20, 2025 at 4:11 PM

Absolutely trying to create more value for its subscribers and compete with Walmart+ chainstoreage.com/target-remov... #ecommerce #retail #target #walmart

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— Greg Zakowicz (@gregzakowicz.com) May 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM