Retail news, week of October 19, 2026

Reports ran from 15:36 UTC on Oct 19 to 03:15 UTC on Oct 20.

The outlets that reported this event are listed with links to their reports; no summary of ours passed our automated checks for it, which says nothing about the event (how they work).

Reported by Bloomberg and econotimes.com.

• Bloomberg
• Walmart

Machine summary Sellers on Walmart Marketplace who ship orders themselves may now use eight additional parcel carriers, Walmart announced on Oct. 13, including DoorDash, UniUni, SpeedX, Exelot, SwiftX, TForce Final Mile, Gofo and OSM Worldwide.

1. Metropolitan Warehouse & Delivery was added to Walmart Marketplace's approved list for freight shipments, the report states.
2. Walmart's website says using a non-approved carrier is "not recommended" and may lead to suppression, suspension or termination because tracking information cannot be validated by Walmart.
3. Walmart's preferred carriers for marketplace orders remain the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS; the approved list also includes OnTrac, DHL Express, Canada Post and GLS, the report says.
4. During an August earnings call, EVP and CFO John David Rainey noted that marketplace net sales climbed by more than 50% in Q2, while e-commerce now makes up over 23% of the U.S. mix at Walmart, twice its level from five years ago.

Reported by Supply Chain Dive and Yahoo Finance.

• Walmart
• FedEx
• UPS
• DoorDash
• U.S. Postal Service
• John David Rainey

Machine summary Amazon said on Oct. 20 it will hire more than 300,000 people for the holiday season, up 20 percent from 2025, with temporary pay averaging $20 an hour and new roles posted weekly from October to December. Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects retail seasonal hiring below last year's 450,000 jobs, potentially the weakest since 2008, and Adobe projects $275.1 billion in US online spending in November and December, up 6.7 percent.

Reported by Livemint, About Amazon, Bloomberg.com, Seeking Alpha, Business Insider, StreetInsider, and 24 more outlets.

• Amazon
• Adobe
• Challenger, Gray & Christmas
• eMarketer

Full coverage: every report, when each was published, and who was named (30 outlets)

Reports ran between 11:00 and 12:51 UTC on Oct 20.

The outlets that reported this event are listed with links to their reports; no summary of ours passed our automated checks for it, which says nothing about the event (how they work).

Reported by CNBC and qz.com.

• IGN
• Best Buy
• Grand Theft Auto VI

Machine summary The report states that the system now operates in more than 20 stores across cities throughout the country, while the company plans to broaden the approach for wider national deployment.

1. The report indicates that the system operates in over 20 stores across cities throughout the country.
2. SenseMart OS connects robot makers, unmanned retail operators and franchise partners in an ecosystem covering manufacturers, systems and physical stores, the report says
3. Xu Li, chairman and CEO of SenseTime, said offline retail use of embodied intelligence requires maneuvering in real-world, real-time environments, executing actions and providing feedback
4. Huang Di, chairman and CEO of SenseMart, said retail demand is real and rooted in everyday life and that retail tasks let embodied intelligence accumulate real-world experience
5. According to the report, the company intends to roll out the model for broader use nationwide; no dates, revenue numbers, or identified partners are provided for that rollout.

Reported by China Daily Global Edition and europe.chinadaily.com.cn.

• Embodied Intelligence
• SenseTime
• SenseMart
• SenseMart OS