April 2026 eCommerce Round-Up
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If April felt busy, that is because it was. Between Shopify tearing down its B2B paywall for good, Google making agentic commerce genuinely functional with multi-cart and loyalty linking in UCP, and Sidekick quietly becoming the most proactive AI tool in any eCommerce admin, there was a lot happening beneath the surface of what most people were paying attention to. This is the roundup that pulls it all together, so you are not catching up next month on things that already moved. Dig in!
Platform Updates
Shopify Opens Native B2B to Every Paid Plan
On April 2, Shopify opened its full B2B suite, company profiles, customer-specific catalogs, net payment terms, and B2B checkout, to every paid plan starting at $39/month, ending the Shopify Plus exclusivity that previously required a $2,000/month commitment. This puts a proper wholesale engine in the hands of DTC brands that had to rely on third-party app workarounds to serve wholesale buyers. For mid-market merchants, this is one of the more practically useful changes Shopify has made in years.
Shopify Sidekick Gets Proactive with Pulse and Theme Editing
Sidekick Pulse now surfaces recommendations from store data on its own without waiting to be asked, pushing relevant insights directly into the admin home feed. Natural-language theme editing also rolled out this month, letting merchants change design elements by describing what they want in plain English. Teams can now save and share their best Sidekick prompts as reusable shortcuts, turning recurring tasks into one-click workflows.
Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service Adds B2B Drop-Ins and Edge Delivery Storefront Support
Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service now ships with full B2B drop-in components for Edge Delivery Services storefronts, covering company management, purchase orders, negotiable quotes, requisition lists, and company switching. Merchants can now build complete B2B experiences on Edge Delivery without custom development from scratch, significantly cutting down implementation time. The accompanying B2B Storefront Compatibility Package also enhances the GraphQL schema, making it easier for development teams to build and extend B2B systems cleanly.
Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service Brings Tier Pricing, Admin Reports, and Custom Shipping
Adobe's Cloud Service platform added tier pricing support for catalog price rules, meaning merchants can now combine bulk purchase discounts with promotional catalog rule discounts in the same rule, something that previously required workarounds. Admin reports for Customers, Marketing, Products, and Sales are now available directly inside the Cloud Service Admin, removing a gap that had existed since the platform launched. Custom shipping methods got a boost too, with enhanced webhook payloads now carrying shipping address custom attributes so merchants can implement more complex shipping logic out of process.
Industry Updates
Google Expands UCP with Multi-Cart, Catalog Data, and Loyalty Linking
Google's Universal Commerce Protocol received its first major capability update in April, adding multi-item cart support, real-time catalog access for agents, and Identity Linking so shoppers keep their loyalty benefits and member pricing inside AI surfaces. Launched in January with strong platform backing, UCP is now meaningfully more functional for real shopping behaviour rather than single-item demos. For retailers who have been watching from the sidelines, these additions make the case for adoption harder to dismiss.
UAE eCommerce Market Hits $12.3 Billion in 2026
The UAE's eCommerce market reached $12.3 billion in 2026, up from $8.8 billion in 2024, with projections pointing to $21 billion by 2031, a CAGR of 11.29%. Mobile now drives 78% of all orders, digital wallets account for over 53% of transactions, and the Central Bank's March 2026 ban on SMS OTPs is pushing authentication toward biometrics, which is cutting checkout friction significantly. Consumer electronics is the fastest-growing segment, up 31% in online distribution channels. For brands and agencies operating in the region, the infrastructure is maturing fast and the window to establish strong digital presence ahead of the next growth curve is now.
Walmart FY2026: eCommerce Up 4.3%, AI Across the Entire Operation
Walmart's FY2026 annual report showed US eCommerce contributing 4.3% to comparable sales growth, with CEO John Furner describing AI as reshaping how customers shop and how the company operates internally. The retailer is applying AI across fulfilment, staffing, inventory, and customer-facing surfaces simultaneously, not as isolated experiments but as integrated operating infrastructure. For competitors, the compounding effect of that breadth is the harder problem to solve.
Global eCommerce Crossed $6.42 Trillion in 2025
A report released in late April put 2025 global online retail at $6.42 trillion, over 20% of all retail worldwide, with projections pointing to $7.9 trillion by 2028. TikTok Shop grew from $1.5 billion in 2023 to nearly $16 billion in 2025, and 70% of global eCommerce orders are now placed on mobile. Nearly half of US shoppers said AI recommendations influenced a purchase last year, making AI visibility as foundational as SEO once was.
Upcoming Events
eTail Canada 2026
If you are headed to Toronto this May, eTail Canada is worth marking in your calendar. Running May 4–5 at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, it brings together senior retail and eCommerce leaders to dig into retail media, digital growth strategy, and the future of commerce across the North American market. A focused, practitioner-first event that tends to deliver real takeaways over broad overviews.
Big Box Malaysia 2026
For those with an eye on Southeast Asia, Big Box Malaysia on May 20 in Kuala Lumpur is a focused single-day summit for eCommerce and retail leaders across the SEA market. It covers growth strategy, retail media, and the digital commerce trends specific to the region. A good stop if you are expanding into or already operating across Southeast Asia.
Pulse eCommerce Summit 2026
Head to London on May 13–14 and Pulse eCommerce Summit at The Brewery is the event to be at for premium retail brands. With 1,800+ attendees, a 70% retailer rate, and 70+ sessions across AI, performance marketing, omnichannel, loyalty, and attribution, it is the UK's largest eCommerce event, built around real conversation rather than keynote theatre. The go-to if you work in eCommerce at a brand or agency.
