Good morning,

Amazon is making a small change to its order confirmation emails that could create a bigger problem for shoppers, according to a Bloomberg report.

The company has begun replacing specific product names and images with vague labels such as “Household item” and “Essentials item,” saying the move is intended to protect customer privacy by reducing the information shared outside Amazon.

Cybersecurity experts warn that the change could make phishing emails harder to distinguish from legitimate Amazon messages, potentially giving scammers a more convincing template.

Let’s dive into today’s edition.

Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 24% in the second quarter, helping drive 5.9% overall revenue growth as shoppers continued to favor speed and convenience. Global e-commerce sales rose 23%, while deliveries fulfilled from local stores increased 43%.

Same Day Delivery: Walmart said more than half of its online orders are delivered the same day, with 37% of store-fulfilled orders arriving in under three hours. The retailer is using its stores as local fulfillment hubs, supported by drivers on its Spark platform. E-commerce now accounts for more than 23% of Walmart U.S. revenue, roughly double its share five years ago.

The company says expedited delivery and clearer delivery promises are helping convert more online shoppers, particularly for larger products where long delivery windows can discourage purchases.

Value Loss: However, Walmart’s broader U.S. comparable sales growth slowed to 2.6%, from 4.6% a year earlier, missing the 3.8% analysts expected and raising concerns about weakening consumer demand. Walmart shares fell more than 9% following the earnings report, wiping out over $80 billion in market value.

Target is gaining momentum in its turnaround under new CEO Michael Fiddelke, raising its annual sales-growth forecast to about 5% from 4%.

Key Numbers: Comparable sales rose 3.8% in the second quarter, comfortably ahead of the 2.5% analyst estimate. Store traffic increased 3.6%, while digital comparable sales jumped 8.7% as shoppers increasingly used same-day delivery. The performance marks Target’s third consecutive strong quarter. It also comes as the retailer prepares for the crucial holiday shopping season.

Path to Recovery: Much of the recovery has been driven by a renewed focus on value and merchandise. Target has cut prices on more than 10,000 products over the past year, with about 95% of its school supplies priced below last year’s levels. The company is also expanding baby care, health and wellness, grocery and other categories to bring shoppers back.

It has committed another $2 billion to fixing merchandising problems, on top of a previously announced $4 billion investment. Those efforts helped push second-quarter gross margin up about 100 basis points to 33.7%.

Shein is heading to Hong Kong with a valuation of up to $27 billion, roughly 70% below its private-market peak of $98.2 billion four years ago, according to reports.

What’s Happening? The fast-fashion giant is seeking to raise up to $1.77 billion by selling 280 million shares. The listing follows abandoned attempts to go public in New York and London. Shein is expected to set its final IPO price on Aug. 31 and begin trading on Sept. 1. The deal will be Hong Kong’s largest new share offering of 2026.

Slow Fashion: The lower valuation reflects a tougher environment for a business once defined by hyper-growth. Shein expects first-half revenue growth to remain around the 1.1% pace recorded in the first quarter, while its operating margin is expected to decline slightly.

Higher trade costs, new European import charges, regulatory scrutiny and weaker demand have all weighed on the business. U.S. revenue fell 14.3% in the first quarter after the removal of the de minimis duty exemption for small packages. Shein also swung to a $99 million quarterly loss.

Home Depot is rolling out Express Delivery nationwide, promising delivery in three hours or less across U.S. markets.

Key Details: The service uses more than 2,000 stores as local fulfillment hubs and is available to both professional contractors and DIY customers for a flat fee. Thousands of products, from plumbing and electrical supplies to tools and hardware, are eligible.

Faster Delivery: The expansion builds on Home Depot’s broader push to make its store network a faster fulfillment infrastructure. The retailer already offers free same-day delivery on orders of $25 or more placed by 4 p.m.

Its delivery centers handle thousands of products, with more than 65% of in-stock parcel items reaching customers the same day or next day. Next-day appliance delivery now covers about 60% of the U.S. population for selected products.

What’s Next? For Home Depot, speed is becoming a competitive advantage, particularly for contractors who cannot afford to wait for critical supplies. The retailer plans to expand population coverage and the number of eligible products throughout the year. It also expects to shorten the three-hour promise further in the months ahead.

Uber is partnering with drone company Zipline to launch Uber Eats drone deliveries in Dallas and Houston by the end of this year, with plans to expand across the U.S. The companies are targeting 1 million drone deliveries a day by 2029, turning what is now a niche service into a major part of Uber’s delivery network.

What’s the deal? Zipline’s drones can complete deliveries in five to 10 minutes, compared with roughly 30 minutes for a typical Uber Eats order. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said demand for faster delivery remains “insatiable” as consumers grow accustomed to shorter wait times. Uber will also make an undisclosed investment in Zipline as part of the deal.

Drone-Prone: Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash, and Uber are among the major players turning drone delivery into a mainstream last-mile service. Walmart has scaled drone delivery through Wing and Zipline. DoorDash recently launched DoorDash Air after securing FAA approval to operate its own drone-delivery network.

Proya, China’s largest beauty company, is expanding into the U.S. through a partnership with Ulta Beauty as it looks overseas for growth amid tougher competition at home.

Key Details: The company will launch its flagship Ruby and Original Repair skincare lines in 400 Ulta stores and online. The deal gives Proya a rare path into mainstream U.S. retail for a Chinese skincare brand, where Western players such as L’Oréal and Estée Lauder still dominate.

Proya has also been expanding elsewhere in Asia, including a planned rollout across more than 200 Guardian stores in Malaysia.

Big Picture: The overseas push comes as China’s beauty market shows signs of slowing and price competition intensifies. Proya’s annual revenue fell about 1.7% in 2025, ending years of double-digit growth. The Ulta partnership could give the company access to a much larger consumer market while allowing it to build recognition beyond China’s crowded beauty sector.

Walmart is launching Scenario, a new women’s clothing and accessories brand aimed at younger, more trend-conscious shoppers, with most products priced below $25.

Key Numbers: The line will replace much of the space currently occupied by Time and Tru, Walmart’s existing women’s brand that generates more than $2 billion in annual sales.

Fashion Solution: The move comes as Walmart seeks to turn more of its grocery shoppers into fashion customers and compete more directly with Amazon, Gap and specialty apparel retailers. Walmart’s clothing and accessories business has grown for seven consecutive quarters, giving executives confidence that the strategy is gaining traction.

Big Picture: The fashion push reflects Walmart’s effort to capture more apparel spending, with 80% of its customers’ clothing spend going to higher-priced retailers. Walmart has since expanded its fashion lineup and opened a New York design office with 165 employees, while sales of apparel priced at $25 or more have increased.

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on personalized pricing, putting retailers and other businesses on notice over the use of personal data to determine what individual customers pay.

Key Details: The agency says consumers generally expect the same listed price rather than a price calculated from their data and perceived willingness to pay. While the FTC cannot prohibit personalized pricing outright, companies that fail to disclose how data influences prices could violate federal law. The move comes as several states are also moving to restrict surveillance-based pricing. More than two dozen states have introduced over 40 related bills.

What’s Happening? AI has made personalized pricing easier to deploy, drawing on data such as location, purchase history, and income. Consumer Reports found grocery prices on Instacart could differ by as much as 23% for the same item, while Uber and Lyft fares showed a median gap of about 42%.

Two-thirds of U.S. consumers oppose personalized pricing, according to a 2024 Consumer Reports study. The FTC has specifically flagged cases where sensitive personal circumstances could trigger higher prices.