March 17th, 2025: Paypal in hot water over its Honey application, AllBirds sales plunge in 2024, why did Walmart buy a mall? And upcoming eCommerce debate event at Shoptalk
Is Paypal Running an Affiliate Scam? That’s What Google’s New Chrome Rules Seem to Be Saying. Many users don’t realize that Paypal’s Honey Application, the plugin which is supposed to secure you discounts on items. Instead, it looks to be cutting certain publishers out of affiliate credits that they would otherwise be due.
You’ll find this and other stories about Shoptalk, AllBirds, and Walmart on this week’s Watson Weekly podcast, coming straight to your earhole wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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It’s March 17, 2025 and this is the Watson Weekly - your essential eCommerce Digest!
Today on our show:
Paypal in Hot Water Over Its Honey Application
AllBirds Sales Plunge in 2024
Why Did Walmart Buy a Mall?
Upcoming eCommerce Debate Event at Shoptalk
- and finally, The Investor Minute which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.
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To hear new episodes of the show every Monday morning, subscribe now at rmwcommerce.com/watsonweekly and wherever you get your podcasts.
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BUT FIRST in our shopping cart full of news….
Paypal in Hot Water Over Its Honey Application
As reported by the Verge, the Chrome extension Honey has gotten itself into trouble - so much that Google has had to change the rules of engagement in its own App Store. The result is not a good look for Paypal.
Apparently what has been happening if you install Honey is that the company has been automatically injecting affiliate links into a user’s workflow without notifying users that this is what has been happening.
Basically, publishers pay Honey to be included in the application, and apparently right before checkout, Honey has been swapping out its publishers affiliate links with its own affiliate links without the user’s knowledge. Ruh Roh, this sounds like a shady business practice.
Apparently Google agrees as certain Youtubers have sued Paypal over the practice, which Google has taken notice of. I have said for a long time that affiliate marketing can be an elevated art form, or more likely it is also the seedy underbelly of the Internet. I’ll let you decide which form Honey has taken here.
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Our Second Story
AllBirds Sales Plunge in 2024
If you were wondering if AllBirds can fall any farther, apparently the answer is YES. As reported by RetailDive, The company claims it is moving towards a more profitable distribution model for its products. The problem is, who wants its products anymore?
A few statistics:
* The company’s revenue fell 25% year over year.
* While gross margin expanded by 170 basis points for 2024, for Q4 the company’s gross margin fell 670 basis points.
All this points to devaluation of the brand, and a company that has lost its mojo.
While many seem to think this is an indictment of Direct to Consumer eCommerce, personally I think nothing can be further from the truth. Personally, any brand manufacturer that tries to launch 2 or 3 new major product lines which flop in the market — it doesn’t matter what channel you try and push that product through, the demand will not follow and that will ultimately lead to discounting and liquidation.
This is what you have now. There are plenty of brands succeeding with Direct to Consumer. The problem is expanding too quickly, resting on your laurels, and falling behind the competition in a trend-driven market which also prioritizes the underlying quality of the product itself.
All told, any rebound in the second half of the year will also depend on the economy which suddenly is not looking quite so strong as it did on Q4 of last year.
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Our Third Story
Why Did Walmart Buy a Mall?
One story in the last month that got a few heads scratching is why Walmart would buy a mall for $34m outside of Pittsburgh - an area it already has a significant number of stores. I think there are a few ways to look at this purchase:
One is through a supply chain lens. With a mall, Walmart has a captive audience of customers that it knows are visiting each day, and so Walmart could provide supply chain services to the brands and retailers in that mall, which could introduce them to a wider array of Walmart digital services. After all, the best customer is the one who has very few alternatives to the landlord's services.
Buy Online Pick Up In Mall could become a thing.
However, the more likely use case is same day delivery from the mall to the catchment area around the mall. This could become a way for Walmart Fulfillment to gain new customers, as well as to improve route density.
Lens two. Advertising. The mall industry is famously behind the times. Outside of Simon, there are very few that have developed significant retail media assets. Walmart has developed a significant number of in-store digital assets that it could deploy throughout other surfaces. In other words, it's the same reason Walmart bought Vizio: more ad slots to sell through.
Similar to Amazon, Walmart's ad engine is hungry and growing. And like the retail industry itself, Amazon and Walmart have shown that lucrative digital services can improve the utilization and sales efficiency of physical properties in ways that traditional retail cannot.
If Walmart can develop a model where it can sell ad inventory not only within the mall itself but also within the stores of its tenants, then Walmart has not only entry to its own property but also a door open to the entire store fleet of its mall tenants that are not managed by Walmart.
Mall of the future is about ads and supply chain. Walmart is tinkering, and at a $34million bargain.
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And Our Last Story
Upcoming eCommerce Debate Event at Shoptalk
Headless is Nonsense. Headless is Nirvana. Which Side Do You Fall On?
How to justify a business case for a replatform? What about our eCommerce platform users - does anyone even speak to them anymore?
These are topics we speak about in side conversations but often not out loud where people can hear us. Often we chalk it up to “innovate or die”. But innovation often doesn’t pass the CFO smell test. It smells more like hope. Which at some point, someone told me was not a strategy.
To fill the void, we have proposed a series of great debates at Shoptalk. And invite you to join us. SCAYLE Commerce Engine and RMW Commerce at Shoptalk for an eCommerce debate like no other. We’re tackling the industry’s most pressing and controversial topics—no scripted panels, just real discussions with strong opinions and even stronger personalities.
Topics on the table:
*Headless Commerce: Essential for growth or unnecessary complexity?
*Replatforming: Necessary evolution or expensive disruption?
*AI in eCommerce: Empowering employees or replacing them?
*Growth vs. Conversion: Where should brands really focus?
*The audience decides the winners. Two debaters enter, only one leaves. It’s the survival of the best storytellers, and you get to call the shots.
Hit me up on LinkedIn if you would like an invitation to the debates!
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It’s That Time Friends, for our Investor Minute. We have 5 items on the menu today.
First
Shop Circle Raises $60M Series B Funding
Shop Circle, a builder and aggregator of e-commerce applications, has raised $60 million in Series B funding that will be used in part to fund its first platform-agnostic acquisition, Aiden, an AI-powered guided selling solution. The company is currently focused on providing apps that Shopify stores can use but is now starting to dabble in platform-agnostic solutions. Does this imply that it is beginning to focus on enterprise customers?
Link: https://shopcircle.co/blogs/news/series-b-2025
Second
Authentic Brands Group Signs License Agreement With Velocity Global Brands for Quiksilver Women
Authentic Brands Group has partnered with Velocity Global Brands to design, manufacture, and distribute Quiksilver women’s apparel in the U.S. and Canada. Quicksilver women was reportedly discontinued in 2013 amid Quicksilver's struggle to stay alive and relevant. It is important to note that Velocity Global Brands has partnered before with Authentic Brands Group and has agreements for brands such as Lucky Brand and Geoffrey Beene. Hopefully, Quicksilver's legacy will be honored.
Link: https://www.fashiondive.com/news/authentic-velocity-quiksilver-womenswear-license/741010/
Third
Celsius Holdings to Acquire Better-For-You Alani Nu For $1.8B
Celsius Holdings will acquire health and wellness drinks brand Alani Nu from its founders and operator Congo Brands in a $1.8 billion deal through cash and stock. Alani Nu was created as a female-focused brand that delivers functional beverages and wellness products. This acquisition enables Alani Nu to utilize Celsius's resources and investment for the subsequent next phase of growth. It also creates a leading better-for-you functional platform that generates a combined $2 billion in expected sales. The better-for-you theme continues.
Fourth
Kontoor Brands Acquires Global Outdoor and Workwear Brand Helly Hansen For $900M
Kontoor Brands, an apparel company that owns iconic brands Wrangler and Lee will acquire Norwegian outdoor and workwear brand Helly Hansen from Canadian Tire for $900 million through a combination of cash on hand and new debt financing. Kontoor Brands acquires a brand that offers complementary geographical growth opportunities as well as access to a growing outdoor and workwear sectors.
AND FINALLY …
HP Acquires Wearable AI-Embedded Pin Maker Humane For $116M
HP has acquired a wearable artificial intelligence pin manufacturer, Humane, for $115 million and will shut it down at the end of February. The company's 300 patents and patent applications, its Cosmos platform, and its employees will join a new AI innovation lab called HP IQ within HP. Humane was founded in 2023, raised over $230 million in capital, and fizzled out. There is no trade-in or replacement program for device owners, and when the device shuts down, it should be recycled according to Humane. A $499 or $699 device ends its life as a paper weight.
Link: https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/humane-ai-shuts-down-flop-20175974.php
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Did you know that RMW Commerce has another podcast? Check out The Watson Weekend for an unfiltered and lively eCommerce chat each week with me, Rick Watson, my co-host Jess Lesesky, and an array of interesting guests and topics. All focused on eCommerce. You can find the Watson Weekend by searching for it on iTunes, Spotify, or Youtube.
That’s all for this week! Till next time Watsonians.....
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Hi, I’m Rick Watson, CEO and Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting and host of the Watson Weekly podcast - your essential eCommerce Digest.
Our production partner for the series is Podcast on the Fly. This podcast is produced by RMW Commerce.
To hear new episodes of the show every Monday morning, subscribe now at rmwcommerce.com/watsonweekly and wherever you get your podcasts.
