E Commerce

The Early Scale: Schools scramble as Google unleashes Gemini chatbot on students

Google shakes up education with its Gemini chatbot, Deloitte forecasts a big holiday e-commerce surge, and PMMI reveals cost efficiencies in robotics.

Q2 2026 e-commerce hit $340.2B as AI assistants move toward placing orders

The U.S. Census Bureau puts Q2 e-commerce sales at $340.2B. Digital Commerce 360 says AI assistants are moving beyond customer service chat and into checkout, c

The Early Scale: CNBC: IBM partners with OpenAI to boost enterprise AI

IBM partners with OpenAI to strengthen enterprise AI offerings; B2B digital commerce is surpassing traditional markets. AI is also cutting drug discovery times to months.

Wesco, Watsco Q2 data show B2B digital channels becoming core to distribution

Wesco's data center sales jumped 45% and Watsco's e-commerce revenue grew 13% to 37% of total sales in Q2 2026, while Fastenal saw continued digital momentum.

Fiserv and Stuut partner to bring agentic AI to enterprise order-to-cash automation

Fiserv's Commerce Hub and SnapPay will integrate Stuut's AI agent, which has already processed over $2B in B2B invoices, to automate enterprise receivables end-

The Early Scale: Simile raises $200M at $2B valuation to predict human behavior before AI gets it wrong

Simile doubles to a $2B valuation in five months. Industrial AI moves from pilot to production hardware at Emerson, FOBA, and Mitsubishi. And B2B ecommerce is already reshaping how industrial buyers buy. Here is what operators and marketers need to do about it.

B2B ecommerce is eating industrial sales faster than most distributors are ready for

B2B ecommerce is accelerating across distribution and manufacturing, with real deployments at Bero, Nissin Foods, and Fastenal signaling a structural shift in h

B2B digital commerce is pulling away from traditional channels as distributor earnings confirm the shift

Watsco posted 13% e-commerce growth and Wesco 45% data-center growth in Q2, as distributor earnings show B2B digital commerce pulling ahead.

B2B e-commerce's digital shift is accelerating, and industrial distributors are leading the proof

MSC Industrial topped $1B in Q3 digital sales, Fastenal posted Q2 digital gains, and agentic AI is reshaping how buyers discover suppliers.

B2B digital commerce is restructuring fast, and distributors that aren't moving are already behind

From Fastenal's Q2 digital gains to GPC's industrial split, B2B distributors are racing to align their commerce structures with digital-first buyers.

The Early Scale: Amazon Business crosses $60 billion in annualized sales, and B2B ecommerce will never look the same

Amazon Business hits $60B. AI funding consolidates around two giants. Industrial vacancy falls below 7%. Here's what smart operators do about all three, right now.

The Early Scale: Anthropic Bets $1.5B That Deployment, Not the Model, Is the Hard Part

Anthropic's $1.5B deployment bet, B2B e-commerce outpacing consumer retail 3x, and the 80% manufacturing automation gap, here's what B2B leaders need to act on.

B2B e-commerce's next chapter: scale plays, AI tools, and the operators driving both

MSC Industrial's $1B quarter, Kawasaki's 500% AOV jump, and fresh procurement platform moves show B2B digital commerce shifting from experiment to infrastructur

B2B e-commerce now outpaces retail online sales by more than 3x, what that means for procurement teams

Global B2B e-commerce dwarfs consumer retail online, driven by millennial buyers demanding digital procurement. Here's what operators need to evaluate.

B2B e-commerce is outpacing B2C. Here's what procurement and ops teams need to know

B2B online sales now outpace B2C by more than 3x globally. What that means for procurement teams evaluating digital channels.

The Early Scale: Accenture Confirms Credential-Theft Breach as 80% of US Factories Stay Unautomated

Accenture confirmed a credential-theft breach. 80% of U.S. factories still have no automation. And B2B digital commerce just graduated from pilot to revenue engine. Here's what sharp operators do with all three.

E-commerce's operational cost edge: what the research says for enterprise ops teams

A peer-reviewed study maps how e-commerce cuts inventory, logistics, and overhead costs, and where IT investment is still required.