In this special edition episode recorded at the EMARKETER Creator Trends 2026 Virtual Summit, you will learn how shoppable video, retail media integrations, storefronts, and affiliate programs are reshaping the journey, and the metrics and org models needed to make always-on creator commerce truly work. Minda Smiley, Senior Analyst at EMARKETER hosts a panel with Cory Weaver, Head of Influence at Gap, Inc. and Alexis Call, Director of Digital Merchandising and Site Experience at Stanley 1913. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Email marketing remains a valuable channel for retailers, and incoming AI tools could improve it even more. A new survey by Optimove Insights points to opportunities and challenges for retailers using one of digital marketing’s oldest channels.
The department store’s sales slide and holiday stumbles persist as it leans into value messaging.
Effective IP expansion and local manufacturing drive outsize gains.
GenAI fuels campaigns and live offers, syncing content creation with fan moments.
Ottawa ditches a shutdown for EU-style audits and data gates, keeping 613,000 SMBs active.
Gap Inc. is betting big on entertainment as a path to cultural relevance, creating a new chief entertainment officer role dedicated to what it calls "fashiontainment,” a strategy that blurs the lines between content creation and commerce through partnerships across music, film, sports, and gaming.
Uneven engagement and time spent on social platforms forces marketers to rethink scale-first social campaigns.
Asics bets on race tech: Buying registration platforms aims to lock in runners, the strategy hasn’t paid off in the past.
Gas at $3.48 and weakening jobs numbers threaten fragile demand.
More token-efficient reasoning and deeper workflow automation aim to win customers from Anthropic and Google.
Anthropic sues Trump administration over blacklist, pitting ethics against politics in the latest push to keep AI safe.
New creator tools aim to boost monetization, but weak performance perception could cloud ROI confidence.
CMOs face burnout as oversight of multiple AI tools fuels fatigue, errors, and attrition risk.
Paying for return shipping is the hardest part of returning an online order for 25% of US digital shoppers, nearly double the share who cite waiting for a refund (18%), according to a November 2025 survey from Locus and Dynata.
Lowe’s wants to hook Gen Alpha on home improvement with the introduction of theLowe’s Kids Club, a rewards program with perks like in-store workshops, access to digital content, and a lollipop with every visit.
Criteo bets on ChatGPT commerce in a pitch deck as its new ad pilot promises fast setup and measurable AI traffic.
As device sales stall, AI coaching and community features make subscriptions stickier than fitness gadgets.