Legal

A new wave of artificial intelligence-powered shopping tools is changing how consumers buy online and creating fresh legal exposure for retail brands. In what the industry calls “agentic commerce,” AI assistants do not merely recommend products; they autonomously search, compare, and complete purchases on a consumer’s behalf, often without the consumer ever visiting the retailer’s…

lululemon is ending its feud with founder Chip Wilson. The athletic apparel company entered into an agreement with Wilson on Wednesday that ended a messy proxy contest the founder started late last year as its largest individual shareholder. Under terms of the deal, luluelmon has agreed to appoint two of Wilson’s nominees — former On co-CEO…

Nike was sued on Friday by consumers who accused the athletic apparel and footwear maker of ​not refunding tariff-related costs it passed on in the ‌form of higher prices. In a proposed class action, consumers said Nike should not be allowed to keep "significant" refunds it can expect after ​the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck…

E-commerce is moving at a breakneck pace. To keep up, retailers are plugging in artificial intelligence tools and third-party platforms faster than ever. When you use an AI tool to manage your data or a platform to handle your sales, you aren't just buying a service, you're entering a partnership where the risks are shared…

Companies that use customer data to adjust the prices shoppers see, whether online or in-store, should know that regulators are paying attention and the legal landscape is changing fast. "Surveillance pricing" — the practice of using consumers' personal data to set targeted, individualized prices for a product or service — introduces legal risks for both…

Privacy regulation in the U.S. has moved out of policy and into production. As new state laws emerge in Indiana, Kentucky, and Rhode Island, businesses are navigating a growing patchwork of rules that now shape how digital commerce actually runs. For years, privacy compliance lived with legal and security teams. Today, it shows up in…

In today’s retail market, the hottest item isn’t always the original product. Increasingly, it’s the dupe. Across social media, influencers regularly spotlight lower-cost alternatives to luxury and premium products, and consumers eagerly pursue these “dupes,” turning imitation into a viral shopping strategy. But for retailers, the dupe economy raises an important question: When does an…

For retailers, the mobile inbox has become an extension of the storefront. Promotional alerts, order updates, loyalty rewards and curbside pickup confirmations increasingly reach customers through text messaging. SMS continues to outperform email in engagement, and consumers routinely open and act on messages delivered directly to their phones. Yet as retailers rely more heavily on…

Walmart has agreed to pay $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims that the retailer misled delivery drivers about the pay and tips they could earn. The FTC alleged Walmart caused drivers with its delivery service, Spark, to lose tens of millions of dollars worth of earnings by showing them inflated figures for what…

A group of about 20 Senate Democrats on Monday revealed legislation calling for full refunds following the Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump's imposed tariffs were illegal. Separately, FedEx filed a lawsuit on Monday demanding a full refund, according to the BCC. The Supreme Court ruling last week — which said that Trump overstepped…