Best Buy Launches on TikTok Shop, Meta Turns AI Agents Loose on Small Business Back Offices
4 min read · September 30, 2026 · Covering September 29 · 8 stories from 6 sources
Yesterday in ecommerce: Best Buy said it will launch a store on TikTok Shop in late October, and Meta unveiled an Enterprise Platform that puts AI agents to work on small business accounting, marketing and payments. 8 stories, about 4 minutes.
01Social Commerce
Best Buy will sell on TikTok Shop starting in October
Best Buy said it will launch a store on TikTok Shop in late October with about 10,000 products from brands like Microsoft, Dyson, Bose and Oura. Shoppers can buy without leaving the app, and Best Buy handles fulfillment and returns in-store or by mail. Creators in Best Buy's affiliate program can tag products and drive traffic straight to checkout. VP of ecommerce Jonathan Greer said the move lets Best Buy "meet customers at that exact moment of discovery."
For your store:If your store isn't on TikTok Shop yet, watch how Best Buy handles returns and creator commissions before you copy its playbook.
Meta wants its AI agent running your back office, not just your ads
Meta launched an Enterprise Platform pairing new hire, former MongoDB CEO Chirantan "CJ" Desai, with AI agents meant to handle accounting, marketing and payments for small businesses, adding an Intuit integration a day later. PYMNTS research found 58% of small businesses rank easy integration as very or extremely important when picking new software. Mastercard's Sabrina Tharani said "it's not just about the agent itself, it's about the infrastructure that underpins" these small business tools.
For your store:Before connecting any AI agent to your books or ad accounts, check what data it can see and whether you can switch it off.
Target cuts prices on 2,000 items as shoppers turn cautious
Target is cutting prices on nearly 2,000 home, apparel and accessories products ahead of the holidays, including women's t-shirts down from $15 to $12 and a 15% cut on kids' winter boots. It's part of 10,000 price cuts over the past year. The move comes as US consumer sentiment hit a four-month low on fuel costs and tariffs; CEO Michael Fiddelke said "price matters to consumers right now."
For your store:If your margins allow it, cutting prices on a handful of visible, frequently bought items can do more for trust than a blanket sale.
M&S and Sephora build a beauty shop inside 100 UK stores
Marks & Spencer and Sephora will open a joint beauty destination in about 100 M&S stores and on M&S.com from spring 2027, mixing skincare, makeup and fragrance from big names, emerging brands and Sephora exclusives, with delivery and Click & Collect online. M&S managing director John Lyttle said beauty can "attract new customers and increase shopping frequency." Sephora's Catherine Spindler called it a model that "complements existing formats."
For your store:A shop-in-shop or brand partnership can bring a whole new category, and its shoppers, into your store without you having to build it from scratch.
The US Senate passes a bill to formally retire the penny
The Senate passed the Common Cents Act, which lets merchants round cash transactions to the nearest nickel and formally ends US penny production, though pennies stay legal tender. It doesn't touch card or online payments. The bill now goes to the President. NRF's Dylan Jeon called it "a solution to a real problem for retailers," giving businesses clear rounding rules as pennies grow scarce; the Treasury expects to save $56 million a year.
For your store:If you still take cash in-store, set a clear, visible rounding policy now so staff and customers aren't guessing at the register.
Card issuers win class action status against Apple Pay fees
A federal judge certified a class action from card issuers who say Apple charges anticompetitive fees, 0.15% on credit transactions and half a cent per debit transaction, for tap-to-pay on iPhones, while Google Pay and Samsung Pay charge issuers nothing. The case, filed in 2022 by three credit unions, now covers every US entity that issued an Apple Pay enabled card and paid those fees.
For your store:Wallet fees like this typically get passed down through card costs, so a ruling against Apple could eventually shift what you pay in interchange.
Hanna Andersson joins Amazon with a mostly exclusive assortment
Children's clothing brand Hanna Andersson debuts on Amazon on October 1, with 90% of the storefront's inventory, mostly playwear, sleepwear and gifting sets, unique to the platform. CEO Aimee Lapic said the goal is "reaching mom when she needs something now," like a same-day outfit, while keeping elevated dresses and family pajamas on its own site. She expects the two channels to "work in tandem together."
For your store:If you sell direct, an Amazon storefront with a distinct, non-competing assortment can add reach without cannibalizing your own site's sales.
Puma and A.P. Moller-Maersk expanded their partnership so Maersk now runs over 2 million square feet of Puma's automated US distribution, across Arizona, California and Indiana, using AutoStore retrieval systems that serve retail, online and wholesale orders from the same facilities. Maersk operates more than 70 US fulfillment centers in total. A Puma VP said the goal is "an agile, efficient supply chain" that can shift with demand.
For your store:Splitting inventory by channel gets expensive fast; a single automated facility serving every channel is worth pricing out as you scale.
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, Modern Retail, PYMNTS, Payments Dive, Retail Dive, Retail Gazette.