ontap.daily (August 19th 2026)

In today's episode, John examines what Klarna's significant Q2 earnings miss means for eCommerce merchants who depend on BNPL at checkout, unpacks a major nine-month AI Overview study covering over 51,000 tracked events, and walks through Shopify's latest batch of operational improvements, including a new store credit cancellation refund that could change how merchants handle order cancellations before peak season.Key topics covered:- Klarna's reduced 2026 outlook, CFO and CMO departures, and why eCommerce merchants should be testing BNPL incrementality now- Search Engine Land's nine-month AI Overview data study and what it reveals about traffic patterns and citation behaviour- Google's August 2026 spam update and Branded Searches conversion measurement changes affecting Performance Max- Shopify's store credit cancellation refund feature and what it means for customer retention- IKEA's UK second-hand marketplace launch and the growing circular commerce opportunity- Harvey Nichols' website going offline after the Frasers Group takeover, a lesson in acquisition-era digital continuity- Microsoft Advertising's new Conversions API documentation for server-side trackingWhether you're preparing for peak season or rethinking your payment provider strategy, this episode is packed with actionable insights for eCommerce leaders.Learn more at www.ontapgroup.com.