E-Commerce

E-Commerce

According to the company's 2025 Replay report released on December 16, users conduct more than 50 million searches on the platform per day, most of them discovery-led rather than tied to specific games - users are looking for broad themes or activities, such as "roleplay," "horror" or "dance," for example, especially since avatars were given "movement" capabilities. Users also update their avatars an average of 274 million times daily,

I don't think brands need to do anything different, or that it changes things for brands,

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

This year, Amazon is turning the frenzy into a full-blown online event, and while the retailer is keeping the exact deals under wraps for now, we're expecting Black Friday-level steals (with many items still slated to arrive by Christmas, depending on where you live). The best part? Amazon has already started rolling out early Super Saturday savings that we can't pass up.

Because of the sheer number of furnishings, this roundup will be different from previous Personal Shoppers. Instead of listing out every single piece we looked at, we've narrowed down the total number to five of the best sofas at Raymour & Flanigan. This condensed rundown consists of our favorite living room seating picks that'll fit best into a variety of spaces, whether you're moving into your first city apartment, working with very limited square footage, or looking for your next family-friendly sectional.

The department store is selling the most beautiful gift wrap that you'll likely see all year. As you package those last-minute gifts, consider this stunning Walmart find that's under $7. "PSA: Run to Walmart," Danielle Lapenta Bostick (@fourthandeastmain) wrote in a recent Instagram caption. "Flocked velvet gift wrap for $6 (large roll!!) and matching gift bags the entire set for only $6. This one's going to disappear fast. Cannot recommend enough."

Mylow, a shopping assistant powered by ChatGPT that launched in March, is already driving double the conversion rate for online shoppers compared to those who don't use it. But looking ahead, Joe Cano, Lowe's svp of digital commerce, said the company envisions doing more with AI-powered visualization to help people figure out what to buy - for example, what products they need to create a midcentury modern dream kitchen, or what furniture and fixtures would complete their country cottage office.

If you're looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, check out the Motorized Coin Pusher Arcade Game Building Set on sale at Amazon. Available for $61.74 (was $80), it lets you build a functional replica of the fun coin pushing games found at the arcade. This is the first real discount we've seen for the product, and it looks like a neat project to work on over the holidays.

Show your lifelong friends how much they mean to you with our top picks for Christmas gifts in 2025! Shop our gift guide to make them feel truly celebrated. Christmas Gifts for Best Friends: Give them this gift for the home, a lovely pairing of monogrammed soaps with monogrammed guest towels. The disposable towels are custom-embossed with gold leaf. This set will add a nice touch of flair to their bathroom. The set includes 3 monogrammed guest soaps and 12 matching guest towels.

Just days after Saturday Night Live dropped a satirical skit about an "Uber Eats wrapped," Uber brought the feature to life with a year-end recap. Around this time each year, platforms from Spotify to YouTube start rolling out personalized recaps, breaking down how users spent their time over the past 12 months. The next logical step? A full accounting of every Uber trip taken and every guilt-ridden Uber Eats order placed this year.

As someone who's constantly on the go (and always shopping on Amazon), I have a soft spot for the little holiday gifts that make travel smoother, especially when they fit perfectly inside a holiday stocking. Sure, unwrapping a big gift is fun, but there's something extra special about discovering a thoughtful gift that your loved one will actually use. I scoured the Amazon Holiday Shop and pulled together a few tried-and-true Travel + Leisure favorites that travelers can't stop raving about.

When a user lands on a product page, they are in a high-intent state. They are ready to buy now. When we tell a user, "We don't have this, but give us your email," we are forcing them to switch from Active Buying Mode to Passive Waiting Mode. We are essentially telling them to stop shopping. Most designers treat "Out of Stock" as a system status. On treats it as a design challenge.

A handful of Lego Sonic the Hedgehog sets are discounted for a limited time at Amazon, and since most of the best deals are on building sets Lego is retiring soon, this may be your last chance to secure deals from a major retailer. The best deal is on the current priciest set in the collection. The 540-piece Super Sonic vs. Egg Drillster is up for grabs for $64 (was $80) at Amazon and the Lego Store.

The weekly chore of driving to the store, pushing a cart down all of the aisles while trying to remember exactly what you need - and also keeping an eye out for the best deals - these are things of the past. Nowadays, one can easily punch a grocery list into their phone on a Sunday morning before even getting out of bed, and just a few hours later the weekly shop simply shows up at the doorstep.

When it comes to gifting, there's no one single price point sweet spot - it's the thought that goes into the present, after all, that really counts. That being said, if there was an optimal monetary value that allowed access to a top tier of holiday gifts while not totally blowing up your December budget, we imagine it would probably end up somewhere in the range of $250.

Shoppable in-store and online for just $16.78, this scalloped woven storage tray is a total steal - I've seen similar ones for at least three times the price, if not for more. And Walmart didn't skimp on quality, either. This piece is made from natural-toned water hyacinth fibers and finished with an adorable scalloped edge that truly takes the design from basic to the next level.

By building a full-funnel strategy with Amazon Ads, Tinuiti captured peak demand , boosted visibility, and drove increased conversion and new-to-brand growth.

It wasn't just shoppers with strapped budgets that boosted buy-now, pay-later services to a record-setting $1 billion in transactions on Cyber Monday.

According to the lawsuit, Uber charged consumers for the Uber One subscription without their consent, billed them before the end of a free trial, and shared misleading claims about how much consumers can save with the subscription. Uber One subscribers were allegedly forced to go through a lengthy and difficult process to cancel the subscription, which could mean tapping through up to 23 screens and taking 32 actions.

The time-honored tradition of taking your stockings off the mantel and spilling out the contents is a testament to the saying "good things come in small packages." It's always one of my favorite parts of Christmas morning! But actually finding the perfect mix of unique, useful, and affordable in a pint-size package can be a bit of a challenge. I welcome a challenge, though, and this year, I think I've finally cracked the code.