Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Ozempic Comes for Halloween, Walmart Booms & AI Shoppers Spend More

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Ozempic Comes for Halloween, Walmart Booms & AI Shoppers Spend More · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Selling on Giants.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today is August 25th, 2026, and this week the retail calendar is sending a warning.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Consumers are beginning shopping seasons earlier, but they are waiting longer to finish.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart is turning that compressed demand into an increasingly powerful marketplace business, and artificial intelligence is beginning to send retailers some of their most valuable customers.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with back to school because it may be our best preview of the holiday season.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: National Retail Federation data shows that shoppers had completed only about 44% of their back to school lists by early August.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: That was up from 23% in early July, but consumers were still behind where they would normally be at that point in the season.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is not simple procrastination.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Shoppers are spreading purchases across multiple paychecks, waiting for better promotions and holding off until they know exactly what is required.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Consumers may begin researching earlier, but the actual conversion window is becoming shorter and more intense.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: That matters because many brands will misread the first half of the holiday season.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: They will see shoppers browsing without buying, assume demand is weak, and start discounting or cutting advertising too early.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then demand arrives all at once, inventory tightens, advertising costs spike, and the brand does not have enough time to recover.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The operating lesson is that research and conversion are separating.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Your holiday customer may enter the funnel in October and wait until late November to buy.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: That means you need enough budget to stay visible, enough inventory to capture the compressed demand, and enough patience to avoid panicking before the customer reaches checkout.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart's latest earnings make this even more important because Walmart is becoming much better at capturing that demand across the entire shopping journey.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart's global e-commerce business grew 23% during the second quarter.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart e-commerce in the United States grew 24%.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Marketplace net sales increased more than 50%.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart Connect grew 43%, and store fulfilled delivery increased 40%.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: The number that deserves the most attention is that nearly half of Walmart's marketplace business now flows through Walmart Fulfillment Services.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart is building a connected commerce system.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Marketplace expands the assortment.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Stores and Walmart fulfillment services improve delivery speed.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: More transactions create better shopper data.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart Connect monetizes that data, and the advertising revenue helps Walmart reinvest in prices, technology, and fulfillment.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is the same type of reinforcing loop that helped make Amazon so difficult to compete with, but Walmart is building it around assets Amazon cannot easily copy.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart has thousands of stores located close to consumers, an enormous grocery business, and regular contact with shoppers across nearly every income group.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: This does not mean every Amazon brand needs to throw its full catalog onto Walmart.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is usually how brands create a second underperforming channel.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The better approach is to identify the products already showing Walmart demand, understand how Walmart shoppers use those products, place the right inventory into Walmart Fulfillment Services, and support the assortment with advertising that reflects the economics of the channel.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart cannot be managed as an Amazon listing with a different logo at the top of the page.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The shopper is different, the search behavior is different, the promotional calendar is different, and the margin structure can be different.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: That calendar is already becoming urgent.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart wants inventory position by September 1st for its October event and by September 15th for its larger annual holiday event.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart also recommends 8 to 12 weeks of coverage for important seasonal products.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Those deadlines are not a reason to send 12 weeks of every product into the network.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Protect the proven sellers, the promotional items, and the products where faster delivery clearly improves conversion.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: More inventory does not create demand.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: It only magnifies the quality of the forecast, whether that forecast is good or bad.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Delivery speed is becoming more influential well beyond Walmart.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon plans to expand prime air drone delivery from 11 locations to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of this year.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: More than 60% of the products customers frequently purchase from Amazon meet the basic size and weight requirements, with delivery available in as little as 30 minutes.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, Home Depot is rolling out three-hour delivery nationwide by using more than 2,000 stores as local fulfillment hubs.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: The drone is the attention-grabbing part, but the business trend is much larger.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: E-commerce is moving from planned convenience toward immediate problem solving.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: A missing charger, cosmetic, medication, tool, or household item is no longer competing only against another website.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: It is competing against the quickest trip a customer could make to a nearby store.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Two-day delivery once felt remarkable.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: In more categories, it is starting to feel slow.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is also where marketplace management becomes difficult because advertising, inventory, fulfillment, pricing, and catalog health cannot be managed as separate conversations.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: If your team is spending more time debating reports than making decisions, Bellavix helps turn that complexity into a clear operating plan.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: We have helped brands sell more than$500 million on Amazon.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: We are a verified ad partner, and we focus on hands-on strategies that connect the data to what actually needs to happen inside the account.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: You can learn more at BellVicks.com.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now the second major story this week may reshape how brands think about product discovery.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Adobe Analytics found that traffic arriving at United States retail websites from artificial intelligence tools increased 62% year over year in July.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Compared with October of 2024, that traffic has increased more than 1200%.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Growth from a small base is easy to dismiss, but the quality of this traffic is the real story.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: AI referred shoppers generated 53% more revenue per visit and converted at a rate 60% higher than other website traffic.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: This was the 11th consecutive month that AI traffic outperformed other traffic on conversion.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: These shoppers also spent more time on the website, bounced less often, and added products to their carts more frequently.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: That tells us AI is not simply creating another source of casual traffic.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: It is doing a portion of the research before the customer arrives.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: The shopper asks a detailed question, compares options, narrows the decision, and clicks through with stronger intent.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Traditional search often gives the customer a list of possible answers.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: AI increasingly tries to give the customer one recommended answer.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: That is a much higher value position, but it also means second place may become less visible.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: The mistake brands will make is treating this like another keyword exercise.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: AI discovery depends on whether machines can clearly understand what the product is, who it is for, how it differs, what it costs, whether it is available, and whether the claims are supported consistently across the brand's digital footprint.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Adobe found that 39% of the retail home pages in its broader sample were not fully machine readable.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: That means many brands are spending heavily to attract shoppers while making it difficult for the next generation of discovery tools to understand what they sell.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: The first step is not creating 100 articles written by AI.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is cleaning up product information, make specifications consistent, answer real customer questions, explain use cases clearly, keep pricing, availability, ingredients, compatibility, sizing, and policies accurate across your website and marketplace content.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then test it.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ask different AI assistants to recommend products in your category.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: See whether your brand appears, whether the information is accurate, and which competitors are being recommended instead.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is not a perfect measurement system yet, but it exposes gaps that most brands are not even looking for.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: AI Search is not replacing Amazon, Google, or retail media tomorrow.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is becoming another influential layer before the shopper reaches those channels, and the brands that wait for perfect attribution will give competitors time to establish the authority first.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: The economics behind all of this are becoming more complicated because the tariff environment moved again this week.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: New United States tariffs of 50% took effect on roughly$20 billion of Canadian exports, and Canada announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning September 8th.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: For e-commerce operators, this is a two-sided exposure.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Brands importing Canadian products or components can face higher landed costs now, while brands selling into Canada may face another pricing adjustment in September.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do not assume that North American trade agreement eligibility automatically protects the product.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Exposure depends on the product classification and the current treatment.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: There is another wrinkle.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart recognized nearly$2.9 billion in tariff refunds during the quarter.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Target recognized almost$1 billion, and Ross received roughly a quarter of a billion dollars.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those are one-time benefits, but they create very different competitive economics.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: A major retailer may be promoting inventory after receiving a substantial refund, while your next replacement order still arrives at a higher landed cost.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Matching that retailer's price without understanding why it can afford the promotion is how brands win the sale and lose the business.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Price the next unit, not the last unit.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now for the strange side of consumer demand because Halloween candy is apparently feeling the impact of weight loss drugs.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hershey is expanding its Halloween assortment beyond traditional candy with popcorn, cheese puffs, pretzels, and other savory snacks as health trends, and GLP1 medications change how consumers snack.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hershey's Zero Sugar Candy, mint, and gum business grew more than four times between 2020 and 2025.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Chocolate is not disappearing.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hershey says it remains the preferred Halloween treat.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: The more interesting move is that Hershey is expanding around the occasion instead of defending a narrow definition of its category.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is also using artificial intelligence to shorten product development by roughly three months and identify trends such as the growth of trunk or treat events.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: The lesson is that changing behavior can create permission to enter a new buying occasion.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: The strongest brands do not ask only how to sell more of the current product.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: They ask where the customer's routine is moving next.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: K-pop Demon Hunters gave us another brand lesson this week.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Christian metal band Demon Hunters sued Netflix and a concert promoter over the name as the hit franchise expands into live events and merchandise.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: The complaint includes an example of a parent allegedly spending more than$500 on tickets to the wrong event.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Netflix disputes the allegations, and no court has ruled that infringement occurred.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: For operators, the lesson is simpler.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon brand registry protects rights that you already own.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is not trademark clearance, and it does not tell you whether your brand name is safe as you expand into new categories, products, entertainment, or merchandise.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Success usually makes intellectual property problems more expensive.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: The time to understand the rights around a brand is before the viral moment, not after it.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of viral moments, Popmart is showing the right way to manage one.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: The Monsters family, which includes Labo Boo, still generated more than 4 billion UN during the first half of the year, but its share of company revenue declined from nearly 35% to 26%.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, Twinkle Twinkle revenue grew more than 580%, and six Popmart franchises each generated more than 1 billion Wen.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: The smartest thing Popmart is doing with Labobu is building a business that does not have to depend entirely on Labubu.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Every seller wants the viral product.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Durable companies use the attention, cash flow, and customer acquisition from that product to create the next winner before the algorithm moves on.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Virality is rented.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: A portfolio is owned.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: The common thread this week is compression.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Consumers are researching earlier and buying later.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Retailers are delivering faster.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: AI is shortening product discovery.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Tariffs are forcing quicker pricing decisions, and cultural trends are reshaping categories faster than most product roadmaps can respond.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: The answer is not simply to move faster, it is to build an operation that can move faster without losing control of inventory, margin, compliance, or the brand.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode helps you look at the market differently, take a moment to like the show or leave us a review wherever you are tuning in.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: It helps more operators find selling on giants, and I genuinely appreciate the support.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Will Hare and this is Selling on Giants.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Keep building, stay ready, and I'll see you next week.