Weekly intelligence across AI, ecommerce, luxury, and jewellery.
Issue W04 · January 2026
articles analysed this week
AI-Generated Summary: Claude Code enables non-coders to create programs and apps by generating code based on typed prompts.
Weekly Luxury Intelligence · ~12 minutes
Digital commerce, retail innovation, DTC trends
Market moves, brand strategy, trade insights
AI news, strategy, and business transformation
Luxury brands, consumer trends, fashion
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This Week
Fastenal is prioritizing digital commerce, with technology-enabled sales making up two-thirds of its fourth-quarter revenue. The industrial distributor is leveraging ecommerce, electronic data interchange, and on-site inventory systems to drive growth.
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein discusses the rise of AI shopping, noting a 14x increase in orders from AI agents among Shopify merchants in the past year.
AI choices, charges, and friction are crucial factors for returns in ecommerce, as highlighted in a recent survey by FedEx Corp. and Morning Consult. Both merchants and consumers are recognizing significant shifts in the industry, post-holiday season.
Practical Ecommerce's article on "New Ecommerce Tools: January 21, 2026" covers updates on post-purchase intelligence, inventory optimization, payments, agentic commerce, product recommendations, and chatbots and shopping assistants.
Commercetools has launched AgenticLift, a standalone agentic commerce product that enables enterprises to integrate AI-driven shopping experiences without replatforming. This offering allows companies to connect existing commerce systems to agent-based discovery, carting, and checkout workflows.
Goodwill's e-commerce platform, ShopGoodwill.com, has achieved record sales, benefiting the nonprofit's workforce programs by converting donated goods into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Pacsun is leveraging data from focus groups and surveys to customize its product launches, marketing, and technology to cater to the preferences of Gen Z consumers.
This Week
GN Diamond reported that in 2025, lab-grown and natural diamond sales were nearly equal, with natural diamond sales seeing a significant rise during the holiday season compared to the previous year.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, a major Asian jewellery retailer, is set to expand into the Australian market with the opening of its first store in the country later this year.
Fope's net revenue increased by 27% in 2025, reaching €93.6 million. CEO Diego Nardin expressed satisfaction with the significant growth in sales compared to the previous year.
Auror's report reveals a rise in retail crime in Australia and a decrease in New Zealand, particularly in the jewellery industry, as violent crime rates have declined in New Zealand but increased in Australia.
Secrets Shhh, a fashion jewellery chain with 23 stores that recently collapsed, has been acquired by international investors, as reported by Jeweller - Business News on January 19, 2026.
Valentine's Day is a popular time for proposals, with about 10-11% of engagements happening on this romantic date. Lab-grown diamonds are becoming increasingly popular, so it's important to know the differences before choosing between mined and lab-grown diamonds.
In its third year, the Goldsmiths' Centre awarded Business Catalyst Grants to five early-stage businesses in the jewellery industry to invest in tools and equipment for production expansion and craft refinement. (AI-generated)
This Week
Claude Code enables non-coders to create programs and apps by generating code based on typed prompts.
Democratic nations are urged to ban Chinese AI platforms and establish global regulations to address threats to data security, democratic governance, and human rights posed by Beijing-backed technologies.
Interest in US law schools is increasing due to students seeking career security, but they are met with rising costs and federal loan limits. The impact of artificial intelligence on future legal jobs and salaries adds uncertainty for aspiring legal professionals.
Pope Leo XIV warns about the dangers of generative artificial intelligence, highlighting its potential to impact human identities, relationships, public opinion, and social polarization by reflecting biases embedded in the data it processes.
Princeton University professor Tom Griffiths discusses his new book "The Laws of Thought" on the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, exploring the use of math to understand human and artificial intelligence. The episode delves into how minds, both human and machine, operate.
William Tunstall-Pedoe, co-creator of Alexa, left Amazon to start his own AI startup, UnlikelyAI, after using a six-page memo to make the decision.
DeepMind's Demis Hassabis cautions about the bubble-like nature of AI investment in the tech sector, stating that the company will be prepared if the bubble bursts.
This Week
Burberry surpassed holiday sales expectations by appealing to more Gen-Z consumers in China through a successful marketing strategy.
In 2025, indie fragrance sales experienced a significant 46 percent growth rate, outpacing conglomerate-owned fragrance brands by more than four times, as reported by WWD - Women's Wear Daily.
PETA's investigation questions the effectiveness of 'Responsible Mohair' certification in preventing cruelty at farms, implicating a supplier to brands like Paul Smith.
Brands are shifting towards the high-end market to differentiate themselves from low-cost competitors like Shein and attract luxury consumers affected by rising prices, according to the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2026 report.
Alaska Air Group Inc. saw a rise in its stock after exceeding profit expectations and experiencing strong demand for premium and business flights. However, the company, along with larger competitors, provided a cautious outlook for 2026.
Drapers explores the shift of brands like Levi's, Dr Martens, and Fabletics towards direct-to-consumer models as the new buying season commences for autumn/winter 26. The article discusses the pros and cons of the wholesale channel for these brands and agencies like Oldstrom and Just.
Tyler Rosenlicht from Cohen & Steers discusses infrastructure investing and the potential for data centers to reduce electric bills amidst the booming demand for energy on the Odd Lots podcast by Bloomberg.
