Who will win the battle for last mile delivery?
The WER is brought to you by Danny Silverman of Silverstream Strategic Consulting. With over 20 years in the trenches working across Amazon, digital commerce, and agency leadership, Silverstream helps brands and solution providers unlock smarter growth.
Ecommerce News from the Last Week
Amazon's Building Humanoid Robots to Speed Deliveries to You
Amazon is reportedly developing humanoid robots designed to exit vans and deliver packages directly to customers, and is testing these bots in a dedicated “humanoid park” before scaling to real-world deliveries. The initiative follows Amazon’s use of warehouse robots and drone trials, signaling big ambitions in automated last-mile fulfillment.
Commentary: Self-driving vehicles, plus robots to run packages to the door, sounds very "iRobot." I suspect we’re a ways off from this reality but Amazon remains relentless in its push for efficiency through automation.
Walmart plans to expand drone deliveries to three more states
Walmart is partnering with Alphabet’s drone company, Wing, to roll out drone deliveries from 100 additional U.S. stores over the next year. This expansion covers major metro areas including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa.
Commentary: We've been waiting for drones since Bezos' famous 60 Minutes interview 12 years ago. It somehow feels more viable than robots in self-driving vehicles, but public acceptance of package-carrying drones dropping out of the sky remains an uphill battle. I do believe some combination of robotics, flight, and automation will someday replace the current last-mile delivery models - it's just hard to see that happening at scale in the near term.
Is Online Grocery Shopping Growing Faster Than In-Store Visits?
E‑grocery sales surged over 9% year‑on‑year in 2024, driven primarily by delivery services, and are currently growing about 5.2 times faster than in-store sales. Brick Meets Click projects that by 2025, online will contribute nearly 40% of total grocery market growth, rising above 50% by 2029.
Commentary: With Walmart finally hitting its stride with Walmart+, I expect this trend will only accelerate. And if Instacart, Uber, etc can figure out how to use advertising dollars to offset costs so the home delivery cost is the same as in-store, we will see the shift accelerate even faster.
Walmart workers are sharing photos of price hikes of 38% or more — and some prices are up at Target too
Employees have shared photos on Reddit showing drastic price increases, up to 45%, on items like Jurassic World toys, Baby Born dolls, and fishing reels, attributing the hikes to rising tariffs and supply chain pressure. Walmart says it's trying to keep prices low amid narrow margins, while Target has mirrored some of the increases.
Commentary: Anyone who is saying anything about the impact of tariffs with confidence has no credibility in my book. The only thing certain is more chaos for at least the next few months. Brands need to stay focused on the fundamentals and keep their eyes on the long-term horizon, because short-term reactions is sure to only cost more in the end.
Amazon Quietly Kills Program to Help Brands Drive Sales
Amazon has announced it will fully terminate its Posts program (a social‑media‑style feed for brands) by July 31 due to declining impressions and strategic site redesign, after determining the format did not align with typical shopper behaviors. Experts say the feature “tried to solve a problem that didn’t exist” and struggled to capture user attention.
Comments: Posts were always such an odd product that brands didn't know what to do with, but felt compelled to participate. Injecting social media at the bottom of the funnel felt like putting the cart before the horse. Enhanced content and video on the PDPs, supported by UGC embedded in reviews, is much more natural to the shopper.
Dollar General raises sales outlook, plots next steps for ecommerce and retail media
Dollar General posted a 5.3% year-over-year increase in Q1 net sales, totaling $10.4 billion, and updated its full-year outlook to 3.7–4.7% growth. The retailer is also investing heavily in ecommerce, including its mobile app, DoorDash delivery partnerships, and its DG Media Network, which saw a 25% boost in retail media volume in Q1.
Comments: DG rarely factors into brands' priority list for online retail but don't count them out. Macro economic factors are favoring this retailer and they have over 20k doors (vs Walmart's 5k). They arguably better suited to win last mile delivery than Amazon or Walmart.
Amazon's pricing controls may be anticompetitive, German regulator warns
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office have warned Amazon that its pricing algorithms and caps imposed on third-party sellers may violate EU competition laws. The preliminary probe suggests that these controls impede merchants’ ability to price freely and may limit product visibility.
Comments: EU has always been stricter than the US when it comes to protecting shoppers. Expect to see more Anti-Amazon regulation across Europe, but it's doubtful if much of it will make it to the US with any real teeth, in the near future.
Podcast Episodes from the Last Week
Jason & Scot Show: Retailgentic crossover: Sucharita Kodali - VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:18:00 - In this episode, Scot Wingo is joined by Forrester retail analyst Sucharita Kodali to dive into the emerging world of agentic shopping and the growing influence of generative AI in commerce.
Retail Media Breakfast Club: Why AI Search Advertising Could Reach $25 Billion By 2029
Thu, 05 Jun - EMARKETER's bold projection—AI-powered search ads surging from $1B to over $25B by 2029—isn’t just hype. From structured product feeds in LLMs to Shopify’s latest catalog API, the foundations of conversational commerce are already reshaping the retail media landscape. I unpack the key infrastructure shifts, consumer behavior trends, and strategic moves by giants like Walmart, Amazon, and Shopify.
In the last week, Retail Media Breakfast Club also released:
How an RMN's tech stack impacts your advertising results - why the technology stack behind these networks isn’t just a backend concern—it’s the backbone of your campaign outcomes.
How These 4 Retail Media Leaders Make Conference Season Count - strategies for maximizing ROI, creating intentional networking goals, and discovering emerging tech before your competitors do, with Brian Dudzinski (ex KIND snacks), Brea Keating (Wilton), Louis Antunes Filho (Organika), and (yours truly!) Danny Silverman (Silverstream Consulting).
AM | PM Podcast: #450 - Building Rockets and Brands: Jerry Vida on Scaling Smarter with AI & Data
Thu, 05 Jun 2025 - Join us for an exciting conversation with Jerry Vida, an 8-figure Amazon seller with 17 years of e-commerce experience and a rocket-building hobby on the side. He shares his remarkable journey of navigating the Amazon landscape and achieving substantial sales success. Jerry opens up about his transition from struggling with PPC agencies to founding his own successful PPC agency. He recounts a pivotal moment from a Helium 10 Elite hack that helped him optimize lightning deals scheduling and significantly boost sales. Together, we reflect on the power of actionable insights, the role of AI in business, and the value of staying informed through curated content like newsletters.
Commerce Collective: This Month Above the Fold w/ Patrick Miller - Flywheel's CLTV Dashboard, LUMA's State of Digital 2025, & Ben Evans' 2025 Presentation
Wed, 04 Jun 2025 - In this episode Patrick and Emma start by covering how Flywheel's recently launched CLTV Dashboard helps brands turn insights from AMC's 5 years of purchase data into impact. Next, they touch on the key themes from LUMA's State of Digital 2025 report as well as Ben Evans' annual predictions presentation, "AI Eats the World."
Better Advertising with BTR Media: How We Structure Campaigns at Scale
Thu, 05 Jun 2025 - In this episode, Destaney sits down with Adam Mellott, a key player at BTR Media who helps some of the most complex brands keep their ad accounts organized and running strong. Adam works closely with brands that have thousands of products, and he’s known for making sense of messy catalogs and turning them into a system and strategy that works.
The CPG View: Think Global, Act Local: The Power of Market-Centric Execution (Melda Hamarat, Global Head of Digital Commerce Strategy at Unilever)
Thu, 05 Jun 2025 - You’ve led the development of e-commerce strategies across multiple markets. What are the key elements of a successful e-commerce strategy, and how do you ensure it is flexible enough to adapt to different consumer behaviors and market conditions globally?
CPG Guys: Retail Media & Consumer Insights in South America with Walmart Chile's Lucas Barros & Pamela Castro
Sat, 07 Jun 2025 - In this episode, the CPG Guys are joined by Lucas Barros, Head of Walmart Connect and Pamela Castro, Commercial Manager for Walmart Phronesis at Walmart Chile, the largest grocery retailer in Chile, operating under the "Lider" banner.
In the past week, CPG Guys also released: Media that Drives Retail Sales with Costco’s Mark Williamson
FMCG Guys: 244. Christina Rapsomanikis, VP Connected Commerce at Mars Petcare: From Channel to Central: The changing role of Digital in modern FMCG
Sat, 07 Jun 2025 - Christina Rapsomanikis is VP of Connected Commerce at Mars Petcare . From sales at Unilever to launching her own DTC business and leading digital at Coty and now Mars, Christina has seen the evolution of e-commerce from every angle. She joins us live from Mars’ London offices to talk about how digital has moved from the sidelines to the center of FMCG strategy.
EMARKETER Behind the Numbers: How Americans’ Feelings Towards AI Are Getting More Complicated—and the Revolt That’s Simmering | Behind the Numbers
Mon, 09 Jun 2025 - On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how Americans’ feelings towards AI have changed this year, the gaps in concern between AI experts and the general public, and the best ways to get started with AI. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Analyst Grace Harmon, and Senior Vice President of Media Content and Strategy Henry Powderly. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.