In today's episode, John breaks down why Moody's is maintaining a negative outlook for global retail in 2026 and what the resulting margin squeeze means for ecommerce merchants caught between rising costs and cautious consumers. He explores how AI search is evolving beyond simple relevance matching, with Microsoft revealing how Bing is rebuilding its index around factual accuracy and source attribution - a shift every online brand needs to understand. Plus, a practical warning about managed WordPress hosts that may be silently blocking AI crawlers from accessing your content.

• Moody's negative retail outlook: who wins, who loses, and what mid-market brands should do now

• Microsoft's vision for AI-ready search indexes and what it means for eCommerce visibility

• Why your managed WordPress host might be hiding you from AI discovery tools

• Google Analytics Data API adds cross-channel conversion reporting in alpha

• Hyvä Checkout Braintree 1.3.0 lands with Tailwind 4 support and critical PayPal fixes ahead of Magento 2.4.9

• Target overhauls its creator strategy - what the bifurcation of influencer programmes signals for social commerce
  

Stay ahead of the trends shaping eCommerce. Visit www.ontapgroup.com for more insights and to connect with the On Tap team.