From the Field
Field Report
NextNow Is Heading to Shoptalk Fall in Nashville
NextNow will report from Shoptalk Fall 2026 in Nashville on the technology, commerce and customer decisions defining retail’s next operating cycle.
NextNow / Archive
Topic: Commerce
NextCommerce
Analysis
TikTok’s Back-to-School Gains Show Where Commerce Media Is Moving
Agency data points to stronger back-to-school spending on TikTok, showing how discovery, creator influence and commerce are converging inside one media plan.
NextCommerce
Analysis
YouTube Brings Amazon Shopping Inside Creator Videos
Eligible U.S. creators can tag Amazon products in Shorts, long videos and livestreams, tightening the link between influence and checkout.
NextCommerce
Developing
Zillow, Redfin Settle FTC Rental Listings Antitrust Case
A proposed 10-year order would require Redfin to rebuild its rental advertising business while preserving a narrower listings partnership with Zillow.
NextCommerce
Analysis
DoorDash Wants to Own the Delivery Stack, Not Just the Marketplace
DoorDash’s order volume is still growing quickly, but the more consequential shift is underneath the marketplace: a delivery network increasingly designed to choose among human couriers, robots and drones order by order.
NextCommerce
Analysis
The Box Office Is Up. Moviegoing Still Hasn’t Recovered.
U.S. box-office revenue is running ahead of last year, but attendance remains far below 2019. The recovery is increasingly being driven by higher ticket prices, premium formats and event films rather than a broad return to moviegoing.
NextWork
News Brief
Etsy Cuts 12% of Staff in Product and Engineering Restructuring
The marketplace is eliminating about 220 roles while saying the change was not caused by AI, even as it prepares teams for new tools and skills.
Now
Analysis
Retail Media Is Entering Its Measurement Reckoning
Retail-media networks built their value around first-party data and closed-loop attribution. As investment climbs, brands are demanding common standards, credible incrementality and evidence that reported returns translate into genuine business growth.
NextCommerce
News Brief
Google’s AI Search Transition Has Not Yet Broken Its Advertising Engine
Search and Other advertising revenue grew 17% while AI Mode and AI Overviews expanded, showing that Google can still grow its core business during a radical product transition—at least for now.
NextCommerce
News Brief
AI Agents Can Find the Product. Now They Need Permission to Pay
Natural raised $30 million to build wallets, payments and controls for autonomous software, exposing the financial infrastructure that agentic commerce still lacks.