E-commerce Growth, AI Shopping, and Tightening Seller Economics

Q2 2026 U.S. e-commerce reached $340.2 billion and Amazon sales rose 20%, but shipping, advertising, returns, tariffs, marketplace fees, and holiday surcharges pressure margins. Agentic shopping, Amazon's ChatGPT advertising pilot, cross-border tools, AI logistics, and 3PL compliance workflows are developing, while Amazon's possible November 2 insurance expansion requires scope verification.