Kroger's AI Assistant Wins Over Every Age Group, ASOS Returns to Growth + 7 More Stories
4 min read · September 26, 2026 · Covering September 25 · 9 stories from 7 sources
Yesterday in ecommerce: Kroger showed that AI shopping tools appeal well beyond young shoppers, while ASOS and Stitch Fix proved a smaller customer base can still mean a return to growth. Nine stories, about four minutes.
01AI & Agents
Kroger's AI push works across ages, not just younger shoppers
At the Groceryshop conference, Kroger's chief digital officer Yael Cossett said its new AI shopping assistant and a staff-facing AI tool aim to remove friction between digital and in-store shopping. Shoppers using the assistant browse more products even as checkout gets faster, and adoption cuts across every age group, not just younger customers. Cossett said Kroger avoids AI-driven automatic reordering because there is still "significant emotional connection between customer and family meal decisions."
For your store:AI tools can boost browsing and basket size at once. Don't assume only younger shoppers will use them.
ASOS grows again, but with a smaller customer base
ASOS returned to growth in the quarter ending August 30, with gross merchandise value up in low single digits after a year of decline. Active customers held at 16.4 million, down from 17 million a year earlier, but grew quarter over quarter for the first time since 2022. Womenswear GMV rose 8% in the second half, and ASOS sold its UK and US distribution centers to cut costs and debt while leaning more on partner brands.
For your store:A shrinking customer base can still return to growth if you protect margin and lean on partners for fulfillment.
Stitch Fix returns to growth as AI visuals lift spending
Stitch Fix's fiscal 2026 revenue rose 6.4% to $1.35 billion, and its Q4 net loss narrowed to $12.6 million from $28.8 million. Active clients fell 1.4% to 2.28 million, but revenue per client climbed 7.8% to $592. The company credits Vision, its AI-generated outfit visuals shared over 22 million times, with a "significant lift" in later spending. CEO Matt Baer said AI suits routine buys, but clothing still needs "a lot more nuance."
For your store:Fewer, higher-spending customers can beat a bigger but shallower base. Try AI visuals that spark return visits.
Block has joined the x402 Foundation, the Linux Foundation-run body of 40 organizations that governs an open standard for agentic payments built on the HTTP "402 Payment Required" code. Block will contribute its payments expertise and bring Bitcoin Lightning into the protocol, aiming at fast, low-value transactions AI agents make on a buyer's behalf. Block's Steve Reis said the agentic economy should run on "open rails" that no single company controls.
For your store:AI shopping agents will need a way to pay for customers. Watch which payment rails they settle on.
Payments group says AI shopping agents are years from being trusted
FIDO Alliance CEO Andrew Shikiar said agentic commerce could reach a $3 trillion market by 2030, per McKinsey, but trust between merchants, shoppers and payment networks is still missing. The alliance, whose members include Visa, PayPal, Apple and JPMorgan, is building "know-your-agent" authentication to verify the human behind an AI agent and stop rogue transactions and unclear liability. Shikiar called verified human identity "imperative" as AI enables new fraud, including deepfakes.
For your store:Before letting an AI agent check out on your store, ask who is liable if the order turns out fraudulent.
Zuora lets AI execute subscription changes, not just suggest them
Zuora, whose subscription billing software serves over 1,000 companies, launched "Supervised Mode," letting its AI directly execute tasks such as subscription changes, write-offs and revenue adjustments with a human still signing off, instead of only analyzing data. The move follows a broader shift among billing platforms like Chargebee toward handling complex pricing beyond simple recurring charges, from usage-based fees to bundles, as subscription businesses focus more on retaining existing customers than on new sign-ups.
For your store:If you run a subscription box or membership, expect billing tools to start acting on your behalf.
McDonald's pilots a $1 billion retail media network
McDonald's is piloting a media network across 450 US company-owned restaurants, letting third-party brands advertise through its app, kiosks, menu boards and in-store screens, with a potential $1 billion revenue opportunity. Unlike grocery retail media built around shopping baskets, McDonald's version centers on engagement with its digital ordering ecosystem. It is part of the chain's broader NEXT growth strategy and puts it alongside retailers like B&Q and John Lewis in monetizing first-party data and foot traffic.
For your store:High-traffic digital touchpoints are becoming ad inventory even outside retail. Consider what your own store could monetize.
TJX says its warehouse-first model shields it from weather shocks
TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said the off-price retailer's "hold and flow" distribution model, where inventory stays staged in warehouses instead of flowing straight to stores, lets it react to sell-through data and weather swings like El Nino. Most brick-and-mortar retailers use a flow-through model that pushes inventory out of warehouses within a day or two, leaving less room to adjust. Herrman said the team is "really good at reacting to any wild swings in weather."
For your store:Holding stock centrally instead of pushing it all out gives you room to react to demand swings.
Nearly half of suppliers are invisible to their customers' finance systems
A PYMNTS Intelligence tracker finds that only 40 to 51% of suppliers across major industries are integrated into their corporate customers' order and payment systems, meaning roughly half stay invisible to CFO software. Retail and marketplaces sit in the middle at 47%, manufacturing lowest at 40%. Separately, 58% of small and mid-sized businesses call integration very or extremely important when picking finance technology, and most top-performing finance teams already use tools like virtual cards.
For your store:If your payment status is invisible to big customers' finance systems, you likely wait longer to get paid.
The Daily Checkout is a daily summary written by KonvertiQ. Every story links to its original source, where you will find full reporting and context. Covered today: Digital Commerce 360, Ecommerce News Europe, Internet Retailing, PYMNTS, Payments Dive, Retail Dive, Retail Gazette.