Agentic shopping dominated the tech conversation this week, with Amazon closing the door on Meta’s AI assistant while dunnhumby backed a platform helping brands become more visible to shopping agents.
The Cotswold Company has extended its omnichannel reach through M&S, Majestic launched digital loyalty and John Lewis decided it was already time for Christmas.
Here’s what you might have missed.
Amazon blocks Meta’s AI shopping assistant
Amazon has blocked Meta’s Muse AI assistant from accessing its sites, opening another debate about who gets to participate in the emerging agentic-shopping ecosystem.
Muse can browse websites and complete tasks such as shopping, filling in forms and booking appointments. While platforms including Shopify have allowed it to browse, Amazon said third-party applications making purchases on behalf of customers should operate transparently and respect whether a service provider wishes to participate.
The Cotswold Company expands its reach through M&S
The Cotswold Company has launched a curated furniture collection through M&S, covering bedroom, dining and living-room products.
Orders placed by M&S customers will be fulfilled through The Cotswold Company’s specialist white-glove delivery service. The partnership introduces The Cotswold Company to a wider audience and supports its omnichannel growth strategy, which combines ecommerce, third-party retail partnerships and an expanding showroom estate.
Christmas arrives early at John Lewis
John Lewis opened its in-store Christmas shops 93 days before Christmas Day as searches and sales suggested some shoppers were already preparing for the festive season. Searches for Christmas gift tags and stockings had risen by 50%, while searches for tableware were up 25%. The retailer is also leaning into nostalgia, with vinyl record sales increasing by 98% and sales of the retro Native Union Pop Phone rising by 186% in one week.
John Lewis has increased the number of tickets available for its Santa’s tea parties by 28% following demand last year. Before tickets went on general sale, 65% had already been purchased by My John Lewis members.
Majestic pours digital loyalty into its new app
Majestic is launching its first digital loyalty scheme through a new app. Customers can earn one point for every £1 spent in stores, online, through the app or via a Wine Club or Lock It In subscription. Points can be exchanged through the app for free bottles of wine, with rewards available at several thresholds.
The app also includes a digital loyalty card, wishlists, tasting notes and product ratings. Its Shop Local feature lets customers check stock at their nearest store in real time and order for next-day delivery or click and collect in as little as four hours.
Dunnhumby backs technology for the agentic-shopping era
Dunnhumby ventures has invested in Azoma, a platform that measures and improves how AI shopping agents discover, interpret and recommend products. The investment will help dunnhumby support retailers with their customer-facing AI assistants while giving retailers and consumer-goods brands tools to improve their visibility in generative and answer engines.
Azoma’s technology is intended to identify which prompts brands should monitor, recommend actions and connect changes in AI visibility with commercial results with customers including L’Oréal, Unilever and Mars.
