E-commerce marketing · Industry brief

Associated Food Stores is launching a pilot retailer media network in October 2026 across 45 stores in Utah and Nevada under its Macey's, Fresh Market, Lin's Fresh Market, Dan's Market and Dick's Market banners, partnering with Digits to power the initiative. The AFS Retail Media Network will offer digital and in-store media tactics including on-site search and display advertising, off-site programmatic display, social advertising, digital coupons and in-store digital screens, with a full-scale CPG program launch planned for Q1 2027. The cooperative-based grocer, which serves nearly 500 independently owned supermarkets across 11 intermountain states, plans to expand the network beyond this initial pilot phase.

India's Ministry of Consumer Affairs notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules 2026 on September 9, 2026, effective January 1, 2027, introducing significant regulatory changes for e-commerce entities. The Amendment Rules impose new compliance obligations including mandatory National Consumer Helpline integration, prohibition on search result manipulation, mandatory disclosure of sponsored listings, 30-day price reduction look-back requirements, yearly dark pattern audits, and restrictions on data use and self-preferencing by marketplace entities. Marketplace e-commerce entities face expanded seller disclosure requirements, expanded ranking transparency requirements listing main parameters in descending order of significance, restrictions on bundled fees for unrelated services, and enhanced seller information display obligations. Inventory e-commerce entities must now disclose best-before dates alongside existing product information requirements. E-commerce stakeholders must review and update platform practices, disclosure frameworks, grievance mechanisms, advertising policies, and data-use practices before January 1, 2027, per Legal500 Intelligence.

A leaked draft of the European Product Act (EPA) reveals a sweeping overhaul of EU product compliance rules set for formal publication on 6 October 2026. The EPA would replace the 2008 New Legislative Framework and Market Surveillance Regulation, establishing a single, digitalized framework with direct enforcement authority. Key proposals include mandatory pre-market registration of all in-scope products via a new European Product Act Registry, strengthened obligations for online marketplaces to verify product compliance information before listing (with automated tools permitted), requirements to remove noncompliant products and suspend repeat offenders, minimum penalties of 1-6% of global annual turnover for infringements, and new direct EU-level investigation powers for the Commission. The regulation aims to address gaps in ecommerce enforcement and third-country supply chains, with online marketplaces facing the most immediate operational changes under the proposed regime.