Newell Brands VP of Ecommerce Tambi Younes states that the parent of Yankee Candle and Rubbermaid is leveraging agentic AI from CommerceIQ to streamline its ecommerce operations. Faced with the challenge of managing a vast assortment of SKUs across over 50 brands, Newell sought AI solutions to enhance efficiency and ensure compliance with partner retailer requirements. The AI technology helps automate content management tasks, supporting Newell's goal of growth and operational excellence.

Recent automation upgrades in Walmart's warehouse operations have enabled merchandise to arrive at stores pre-sorted for shelves, freeing up backroom space for ecommerce fulfillment. The retailer is leveraging AI to optimize product placement based on local demand. Walmart is piloting a program in Dallas that uses backrooms to hold inventory from third-party sellers on its online marketplace, speeding up delivery times by placing products closer to shoppers.

Lowe's introduced the Mulch Me Now feature this spring to help customers more accurately estimate their mulch needs for yard projects. Integrated into the Mylow AI assistant, this tool asks users questions about their yard size and preferred mulch depth, then calculates the required amount and recommends suitable products and colors. The feature streamlines the process by allowing customers to add products to the cart and guiding them to checkout.

Sam's Club has started adding expert review videos to product pages via its Member Access Platform, featuring experts from relevant fields discussing product benefits, which appear alongside product images. This move could also benefit companies by being aggregated by AI agents that might scrape video content. The initiative is part of a broader effort that includes an influencer program and real-time member feedback via tablets at demo carts, appealing to shoppers who value trustworthy, peer-driven insights.

AI-driven fashion platform OneOff has secured new investments from celebrities Aryna Sabalenka, Shay Mitchell and Quavo, bringing its total funding to $4 million. The platform aims to redefine fashion discovery by integrating AI with personal style, offering a seamless shopping experience that combines inspiration, validation and purchase. OneOff plans to use the funds to enhance product development, expand talent profiles and grow its community, with a vision to become the "Spotify of fashion."

Mondelez International is preparing for the rise of agentic commerce by hiring a global lead for emerging commerce platforms, focusing on AI-driven shopping bots. This move comes as Mondelez expects 30% of retailer site traffic to be agentic by 2028, with the worldwide market for agentic commerce projected to reach up to $5 trillion by 2030. "We're at the beginning of a fundamental shift in commerce -- moving from clicks and channels to intelligent agents that guide decisions, discovery and transactions," stated Andrew Lederman, vice president of global digital commerce at Mondelez.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will step down in September, with John Ternus, current hardware engineering chief, set to take over. This leadership change is accompanied by the promotion of Johny Srouji to chief hardware officer, consolidating Apple's focus on its silicon development, a key component in its AI strategy that distinguishes it from competitors who rely on rented compute resources.