The Watson Weekly - Your Essential eCommerce Digest

Today on our show:Amazon Reports Earnings, Dogged by AI QuestionsShopify Q2 Earnings Show Its Not Going AnywhereKlaviyo Delivers Growth, But Efficiency Still LackingRecap from Austin: Auctane’s Spicy Innovation Delivered Event- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 4 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Bigcommerce Rebrands as Just CommerceUPS Q2 Earnings Highlights Strange Economic TimesLast Flight of the Aggregator: OpenStore Valuation BurnsAmazon Pulled out of Google Shopping for AI, not for Advertising- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

In this debut episode of The CEO Spot, Rick Watson sits down with Dipti Desai, Founder and CEO of crstl, for an unfiltered look into one of the most quietly powerful protocols in commerce—EDI.From her early days as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley to building mission-critical infrastructure for today’s omni-channel brands, Dipti shares the journey that led her to found crstl—a SaaS network designed to modernize the way suppliers and retailers communicate.We explore:The surprising origin story of crstl during the PPE crisisWhy EDI is more like the English language than a piece of legacy techThe difference between the application layer and the protocol layer—and why it mattersHow penalties, complexity, and digital transformation are reshaping supplier operationsWhy crstl doesn’t charge by seat and how it's enabling real collaboration at scaleThe future of B2B commerce in an age of AI, API, and protocol convergenceWhether you’re a founder, brand operator, or just EDI-curious, this episode unpacks how structured data exchange is fueling the future of retail—and why ignoring the "boring" infrastructure could be your biggest mistake.

Today on our show:NRF Files Suit Against NY State LawWhy Is There No Best Practice for ECommerce Org StructureAmazon Quietly Cornering Market on Robot PatentsLuluLemon in Markdown Hell- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Klarna CEO Claims They Will Be a Super AppWalmart Investor Event Sheds New LightShould You Put a Chatbot In Front Of Your Retail StoreMusings from CommerceNext and Mirakl’s Summit- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Saks Global Still Sounds in TroubleFacebook Says eCommerce is Great -- For Other PeopleJassy’s AI Memo Was a Snoozefest, In a Good WayAmazon Extending Prime Day Doesn’t Give me Warm Fuzzies- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Palantir Partners with BoltAmazon Releases AI Video Generation ToolsSezzle Sues Shopify For AntiCompetitive PracticesWalmart Releases New AI Tools- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Shopify MCP Server Raises More Questions Than AnswersCould the AI Race Become a Hardware Race?Temu Half Off - Just In Time For Summer- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Today on our show:Salesforce to acquire InformaticaSocial Commerce Panel Reveals Influencer ImportanceLowes Launches Its MarketplaceTariff Feud Event with Passport Recap- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

In this special CEO spotlight edition of the Watson Weekly, host Rick Watson welcomes Scott Eckert, newly appointed CEO of Mirakl, for an inside look at how his leadership is poised to accelerate Mirakl’s role at the heart of modern commerce.With a distinguished career spanning innovation leadership roles at Dell, Rethink Robotics, and Walmart’s Store No. 8, Scott brings deep experience navigating the intersection of scale, agility, and emerging technology. Now at Mirakl, he’s guiding a platform that is redefining how retailers, brands, and third-party sellers thrive in an increasingly ecosystem-driven world.💡 Key Themes Include:Scott’s journey from enterprise innovation to platform leadershipWhy now is a pivotal moment for marketplaces and retail mediaMirakl’s vision: enabling, not owning, the commerce ecosystemHow AI and first-party data are reshaping competitive advantageBuilding a flywheel for retailers, sellers, and consumers alike💬 Scott also shares:What drew him to Mirakl at this stage of his careerHis priorities for Mirakl in the next 12 monthsWhat U.S. retailers must get right when launching a marketplaceWhy platform thinking beats platform ownership in today’s landscapehttps://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly