🎙️News Review with Armin Alispahic and Pat Petriello

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Welcome to another edition of The Retail Round Up: your monthly recap of the biggest headlines and developments in the retail world.

We've got the full squad back together today. Armin Alispahic is here bringing his sharp eye to operations and organic industry trends. Pat Petriello is back to break down everything happening in media.

Let's get into it!

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"I believe we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what Rufus is going to be. What we think of as Rufus in April 2026 is nothing compared to what we will see Rufus as six months from now."

Pat Petriello

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Pat, and Armin discuss:

• Amazon's AI assistant, Rufus, is now in general availability, meaning it is defaulted to "on" for all advertisers. Brands are now charged a CPC when customers click on Rufus-generated questions, though current spend and volume remain low.

• The Shift to Autonomous Shopping: Rufus now supports historical price tracking, "auto-buy" triggers based on target prices, and scheduled actions. This could shift the customer journey from active searching to a "set and forget" model.

• Amazon Increases Seller Pressure: New updates like the DD+7 payout delay, a fuel and logistics surcharge, and direct proceeds deductions for ad spend are significantly tightening seller cash flow and margins.

• Amazon just doubled down on its Anthropic collaboration with an additional $5 billion investment. At the same time, OpenAI has quietly launched its own Ads Manager, which reportedly mirrors the look and feel of Google Ads.

• Instacart's AI Creative Tools: To remove creative friction, Instacart is piloting AI tools that automatically resize, restyle, and enhance existing brand assets for seasonal moments and specific ad formats.

• Walmart's Local Delivery Edge: Walmart is leveraging its physical footprint by staging 3P marketplace inventory in store backrooms for local delivery and pickup. This leverages the fact that 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart location.

🎙️Interview With Carel van Rooyen and Michael Childers

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Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.

We're officially in the calm before the storm, recording this in April with one eye firmly fixed on the summer ahead. This episode is your comprehensive playbook for Prime Day 2026.

We're breaking it down across three pillars: Media, Organic Content, and Operations. To help us do that, we've brought in two battle-hardened veterans who've seen it all - and also won.

On the media side, we have Carel van Rooyen, and covering account strategy, we have Michael Childers.

Tune in to find out more!

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Prime Day will be treated more as a full-funnel moment rather than just an event. And not every product should be a Prime Day hero anymore.

Carel van Rooyen

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Carel, and Michael discuss:

• Timeline & key deadlines: Lock in deals, inventory, and budgets early. Success starts weeks in advance with strict adherence to submission and shipment cutoffs.

• 2026 strategy vs. last year: It's a refinement year - be more selective with products, protect margins, and plan promotions holistically across multiple Amazon events.

• AI search & PDP readiness: Optimize PDPs for both humans and AI by delivering clear, confidence-building content that answers key shopper questions end-to-end.

• Most important ads evolution: AMC is a game-changer - use it to build and activate high-intent audiences, especially non-buyers and cart abandoners.

• Retail media strategy: Structure campaigns across lead-in, event, and lead-out phases, shifting from awareness to conversion to sustained performance.

• Execution during the event: Real-time monitoring is critical. Stay on top of inventory, Buy Box ownership, budgets, and content issues hour by hour.

• Post-event strategy: Extend momentum with retargeting, cross-selling, and aggressive review generation to lock in organic ranking gains.

• Mindset shift in brands: Brands are thinking more strategically - focusing less on tactics in isolation and more on full-funnel, data-driven execution and experimentation.

🎙️Interview With Lauren Livak Gilbert of Digital Shelf Institute

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Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.

Today, we're excited to welcome back a returning guest and friend of the pod: Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute and co-host of the Unpacking the Digital Shelf podcast.

Lauren joins us to share insights from a recent report DSI co-authored with Azoma, titled "How to Prepare Your PDP for the Agentic Commerce Era". The report digs into why SEO strategies alone aren't enough for the next generation of commerce, how retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target are approaching agentic commerce, and what you can do today to stay visible.

Tune in to find out more!

📚 RESOURCES

How to Prepare Your PDP for the Agentic Commerce Era

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We know that the behavior is changing. So get your content ready to be machine-readable, focus on your brand.com, and really hone in on making sure that your brand is super clear.

Lauren Livak Gilbert

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Lauren discuss:

• Definition of "Agentic Commerce" and its implications for autonomous shopping and discovery

• Current consumer behaviors and the pragmatic pace of AI adoption in shopping

• Importance of foundational ecommerce practices: being "brilliant at the basics" still applies in the AI era

• Overview of Amazon's AI ecosystem (Cosmo & Rufus) and how they influence discovery and product recommendations

• Tactics for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), including Q&A content, natural language, and alt text for images

• Distinctions in how Walmart and Target approach AI shopping compared to Amazon, including their partnerships with tech companies like OpenAI and Google

• Actionable steps for optimizing PDPs on Walmart and Target, such as clear titles, correct taxonomy, and answering key consumer questions

• The evolving role of organizational structure and content management in preparing for AI-driven commerce

• Data management as a prerequisite for AI success, and why brands should focus on getting the basics right before diving into advanced AI strategies

• Reassurance to brands not to panic and to adopt a test-and-learn approach as the agentic commerce landscape evolves