ontap.daily (September 1st 2026)

September marks the start of serious peak season preparation, and today's episode covers the developments that eCommerce leaders need to action now, from shipping cost stacking that could quietly erode margins, to Shopify platform changes that affect app stability, to Google giving every website owner visibility into how their content appears in AI search results.- USPS peak season surcharge: A 6% rate increase stacking on top of an existing 8% fuel surcharge, why your free shipping thresholds are probably wrong and what to recalculate before October 4- Shopify Polaris semantic versioning: Why Shopify's adoption of version control for its app UI components changes the peak season stability equation for merchants- Best Buy's Ask Blue AI assistant: Another major retailer deploying AI-powered shopping support and what it reveals about the rising product data quality bar- Google Search Console AI reports go global: How to access the new AI performance data and why eCommerce merchants need to start optimising for AI discoverability- Nuuly's subscription growth: What Urban Outfitters' rental service hitting $179M in Q2 net sales tells us about subscription commerce at scaleFor more eCommerce insights and strategy, visit www.ontapgroup.com.