Macy's vs Walmart

Bluemercury Evolves Lune+Aster, Advancing Its Vision for a Personalized and Curated Beauty Experience

Bluemercury, a Macy's, Inc. brand, has evolved its Lune+Aster brand and appointed Stacie Borteck Dattner as Head of Merchandising.

Bloomingdale's Merchant Stacie Borteck Dattner Joins Bluemercury

Bluemercury, a luxury beauty retailer owned by Macy's Inc., has appointed Stacie Borteck Dattner as Head of Merchandising. Dattner, who spent nearly two decades at Bloomingdale's, including seven years leading its beauty and fragrance division, will report to Bluemercury CEO Alexandre Choueiri. In her new role, she will oversee merchandising strategy, proprietary brands, and vendor marketing, aiming to strengthen Bluemercury's luxury beauty positioning. The move highlights the strong ties between Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury within Macy's Inc., as both banners outperform the namesake department store. Bluemercury recently posted its sixth consecutive year of growth, with Q2 comps rising over 6%.

• Stacie Borteck Dattner appointed Head of Merchandising at Bluemercury, effective Monday.
• She will report to Bluemercury CEO Alexandre Choueiri, who joined in August.
• Dattner spent nearly two decades at Bloomingdale's, including seven years leading beauty and fragrance.

DoorDash Adds Retailers, Launches Text Shopping Assistant

DoorDash has added Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans, and Timberland to its retail marketplace, expanding beyond restaurant delivery. The company also launched Dasher Returns, a service that coordinates pickups for product returns. On the technology side, DoorDash announced Text DoorDash, an expansion of its Ask DoorDash in-app assistant, allowing customers to place orders via text messaging. These moves follow a milestone partnership with Costco and the expansion of its SNAP/EBT program with seven new grocers. DoorDash aims to build a 'mall in your pocket' by reducing friction in online shopping, leveraging AI and agentic assistants to improve discovery and conversion. The company reports over 4.5 million users have added SNAP cards, and 75,000 stores accept the benefit. The focus is on serving routine shopping habits and providing value through savings and convenience.

• DoorDash added Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans, and Timberland to its retail marketplace.
• DoorDash launched Dasher Returns, a service for coordinating product return pickups.
• DoorDash announced Text DoorDash, an expansion of its Ask DoorDash assistant for ordering via text.

AdFury launches AI-native rich media tool for Walmart

AdFury, an AI-native content and managed services partner for retail media and the digital shelf, announced the availability of its self-service, agentic rich media tool. The tool automatically generates compliant rich media content, such as video carousels, feature sets, comparison charts, and FAQ modules, directly from a brand's existing product detail page (PDP). It is initially available for Walmart, with Amazon and other retailers in development. The solution saves up to 75% of content development time and can increase conversions by up to 40%. All modules are validated against Walmart's OmniSpec APIs and Item Spec 5.0 requirements. The tool is part of the AdFury platform and is designed to help brands create below-the-fold content quickly and cost-effectively.

• AdFury announced the availability of its self-service, agentic rich media tool.
• The tool initially supports Walmart, with Amazon and other retailers in development.
• It generates content from 10 pre-designed modules including Feature Set, FAQ, Comparison Table, and Image Carousel.

Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus Now Bundled for $10/Month

Walmart has introduced a combined membership merging Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus for $120 per year, available starting October 20, 2026. This bundle saves customers nearly $100 compared to buying the memberships separately, offering benefits such as free delivery, members-only pricing, 2% Sam's Cash, fuel discounts of 10 cents per gallon at over 17,000 stations, and a choice between Peacock and Paramount+ streaming. Existing members can switch or link accounts, with Walmart+ annual members able to upgrade for an additional $22 and Sam's Club Plus members activating Walmart+ at no extra cost. Walmart expects no material impact on its financial guidance. The move intensifies competition with Amazon Prime and Costco, leveraging Walmart's vast physical footprint to attract cost-conscious consumers seeking consolidated retail and streaming benefits.

• Walmart bundles Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus for $120 per year, saving nearly $100 versus separate memberships, available starting October 20, 2026.
• Benefits include gas savings of 10 cents per gallon at over 17,000 stations, free delivery, 2% Sam's Cash, members-only pricing, and a choice of Peacock or Paramount+ streaming.
• Existing Walmart+ annual members can upgrade for $22 more per year; Sam's Club members can upgrade for $60, while Sam's Club Plus members get Walmart+ free.

Flipkart Tests Food Delivery to Challenge Zomato, Swiggy

Flipkart, the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce giant, is preparing to enter India's food-delivery market, currently dominated by Zomato and Swiggy. The company has expanded its internal food-delivery trial to over 8,000 employees and deployed a dedicated rider fleet via its logistics arm, Ekart. The service, branded "Eat-in by Minutes," appears in the Flipkart app and utilizes restaurants from the ONDC network. Flipkart plans a public launch by the end of October, expanding to five or six cities by year-end. Restaurants are attracted by Flipkart's proposed base commission of about 10%, significantly lower than the 20-25% charged by incumbents. This move follows failed attempts by Amazon and Google and comes as Flipkart's IPO timeline remains uncertain.

• Flipkart expanded its internal food-delivery trial to over 8,000 employees.
• Flipkart deployed a dedicated rider fleet through its logistics arm Ekart.
• The service, branded 'Eat-in by Minutes', is available in the Flipkart app.