Good morning,

Walmart is turning store shelves into smart shopping guides.

Finding one item in a Walmart can feel like a small treasure hunt. Walmart wants to make that hunt a lot easier.

The retailer is rolling out Shop to Light, a feature that connects its digital shelf labels to the Walmart app. Shoppers can search for an item, get directions to the right aisle, and then make the product’s shelf label light up when they arrive.

And shoppers aren't the only ones getting the upgrade. Walmart is also using the same technology for Pick to Light, helping employees find products for online orders, and Stock to Light, helping them restock shelves. All three features are expected to reach Walmart stores nationwide by the holiday season.

Let’s dive into today’s edition.

Amazon is planning a major expansion of its U.S. delivery network after strained negotiations with the Postal Service exposed the risks of relying too heavily on outside carriers. According to Business Insider, an internal plan, known as Project Aurelian, calls for Amazon to reach roughly 39,400 U.S. ZIP codes by 2029, covering about 95% of the nation’s ZIP codes and 99.9% of customer demand.

Key Details: The strategy would give Amazon “dual coverage” across its network, with every addressable ZIP code served by both Amazon’s own delivery operation and at least one third-party carrier. That would allow the company to maintain delivery capacity if a partner changes its contract, reduces volumes, or becomes unavailable.

Big Picture: Amazon is not, however, planning to abandon USPS. Its current postal contract runs through September 2029, and the company expects the partnership to continue. But Amazon estimates that losing USPS would require its network to absorb 5.2 million additional packages during an average peak week, build dozens of delivery sites and spend about $323 million in additional capital.

TikTok Shop is adding box-free, label-free returns through Happy Returns, the reverse-logistics company owned by UPS, as the social commerce platform looks to make returns faster and easier for shoppers.

Key Details: The integration gives participating TikTok Shop merchants access to Happy Returns’ return network, whether they handle fulfillment themselves or use TikTok Shop’s fulfillment services. Customers can return products without packaging or printing a shipping label, with the service also offering instant refunds at about 10,000 Return Bar locations across the U.S.

Big Picture: The partnership gives Happy Returns access to one of the fastest-growing social commerce ecosystems. TikTok Shop recorded more than 103 billion searches in the U.S. in 2025, according to the company, making returns infrastructure an increasingly important part of the shopping experience as more purchases begin on social platforms.

Nike reported a mixed fiscal first quarter, with revenue falling 4% to $11.21 billion as continued weakness in China weighed on the business. China revenue fell 26%, while net income declined 2% to $712 million. Nike’s North America revenue reached $5.13 billion, slightly ahead of expectations.

Key Details: Nike said it expects full-year fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage, with adjusted earnings per share forecast between $1.15 and $1.35. Shares fell about 3% in extended trading following the results.

Nike is also launching a restructuring program called Pace, which will reorganize the company into three geographic regions, modernize its supply chain and change its workforce structure. The plan is expected to deliver about $2.5 billion in savings through fiscal 2031.

The restructuring will lead to layoffs beginning in 2027, although Nike did not disclose how many jobs it will eliminate. It marks the company’s third round of layoffs this year as CEO Elliott Hill seeks to streamline operations and redirect investment toward product innovation and its strongest brands.

DoorDash is expanding deeper into retail logistics with a new returns service and a self-built drone delivery system, adding reverse logistics and another delivery mode to its growing last-mile network.

What’s the news? Its new Dasher Returns service is already live in select cities and is expected to reach nationwide coverage in November. Customers pay a flat $7.99 fee, with no box or shipping label required. DoorDash drivers can pick up a return from a customer in as little as 30 minutes, take it back to the retailer and leave the store to process the refund.

Big Picture: The move puts DoorDash into competition with parcel carriers such as FedEx and UPS, which have increasingly focused on ecommerce returns.

DoorDash is betting that its existing network of gig drivers and proximity to retail stores can make returns faster and more convenient than traditional drop-off models. Uber Eats has also entered the market with a paid returns service.

Meta’s new AI agent Muse is moving into ecommerce, allowing users to search retail sites, compare products and prepare purchases for approval without leaving the Meta ecosystem.

The company says shopping has quickly become one of Muse’s biggest uses, with users able to specify brands, prices and availability before the agent searches participating retailers

New Partnerships: Meta has lined up partnerships with Walmart, Gap, Sephora, Expedia, Wayfair, Best Buy and Ticketmaster, giving Muse direct connections to major retailers and marketplaces. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will take a small fee from transactions made through the platform, pointing to a potential new revenue stream built around AI-driven commerce.

Big Picture: The shift also raises questions around data privacy and AI-driven pricing. A January Morning Consult survey found that 59% of U.S. adults considered price-gouging a major concern with AI-powered dynamic pricing, while retailers are increasingly using AI to collect customer data and personalize prices.

U.S. retail sales increased for an 11th consecutive month in August, pointing to continued consumer spending despite households remaining cautious about their budgets.

Key Details: Sales excluding automobile dealers and petrol stations rose 0.22% month over month and 3.87% year over year, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Retail Monitor.

Core retail sales, which also exclude restaurants, increased 0.17% from July and 3.47% from a year earlier. Low unemployment and steady wage growth supported the gains, while consumers continued to look for promotions and discounts, particularly during the back-to-school shopping period.

NRF chief executive Matthew Shay said consumers remained “budget-conscious”, suggesting that the growth in spending is being driven alongside a continued focus on value.

Target is cutting prices on nearly 2,000 home, apparel, and accessory products as it looks to attract budget-conscious shoppers heading into the crucial holiday season. The retailer is responding to a cautious consumer environment, with higher household costs pushing major U.S. retailers to focus more on value.

Key Details: The latest reductions add to a broader pricing push at Target. The company has now cut prices on more than 10,000 products over the past year, including more than 3,000 earlier this year. Some apparel and footwear items will be priced 20% or more below last year's levels, while prices across its bedding assortment will average about 15% lower.

Rival Move: Target's move comes as rivals are also stepping up price cuts. Walmart plans to lower prices on about 11,000 products, after reporting its slowest quarterly comparable-sales growth in August. Walmart said the reductions were helped in part by $2.9 billion in tariff refunds.

Temu’s sales in the UK more than doubled last year to $171 million, as the Chinese ecommerce platform continued to benefit from a customs-duty exemption for low-value parcels shipped directly to consumers.

Key Details: Revenue rose 171% through December 2025, underscoring the rapid growth of Temu’s low-cost model in the UK market. Temu’s UK operation remains relatively small despite its growing sales.

The company had just 31 employees in 2025, compared with none the previous year, and reported a $6 million profit. Its UK entity, whose stated role is providing corporate support to other affiliates, paid $985,000 in corporation tax.

Low Cost Rise: Temu, along with rivals such as Shein, has built its business around selling inexpensive products directly from predominantly Chinese merchants to consumers.

The companies have also benefited from a UK rule that exempts imports worth less than £135 from customs duty. HM Revenue & Customs said more than £3 billion worth of these parcels were shipped from China to the UK in 2024–25, up from £1.3 billion the previous year.