Walmart has taken on a hot new designer in its fashion division: generative AI.

The retail giant last month revealed a new proprietary tech solution called Trend-to-Product, which uses AI and generative AI to scrub the web for trends and come up with new styles. The technology is radically shortening the production process from the industry standard of around six months to six to eight weeks, according to the company.

As Walmart explained on its website announcement, the tech synthesizes internal data with a mix of external inputs, such as social media posts and videos from runway shows and red carpet events. This, it says, allows for cutting back on the time designers spend researching and conceptualizing a new product: rather than human designers assembling a mood board replete with names, colors, and textures, AI is generating boards and other reference materials at the click of a button.

The whole ideation process now takes less than an hour, according to the company.

Keep reading here.—AV

A new Gallup poll released last week found that 89% of Americans believe it’s likely the Trump administration’s tariffs will raise the price of goods for consumers.

Meanwhile, in the corporate world, retail executives are signaling that keeping prices low remains not only a possibility, but for some a top priority.

In its latest earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told shareholders “there’s never been a more important time in recent memory” for keeping prices low, and that the e-commerce giant is “maniacally focused” on this goal.

And so far, tariffs have yet to put a damper on demand or push up prices. While there has been evidence of consumers stocking up in some categories, Jassy said demand is holding steady and the average selling price of retail items has yet to “appreciably go up.”

Keep reading here.—AV

Last month, Best Buy rolled out a new creator program called Best Buy Creator that allows participants to create virtual storefronts featuring products from the electronics retailer and earn money from sales made through those storefronts.

Around the same time that the new program rolled out, though, Best Buy’s long-standing affiliate program hit some bumps in the road. Last month, the retailer delayed payouts to members and earlier this month, it slashed payout rates, according to emails sent to program partners.

Due to “broader economic factors, Best Buy will be temporarily adjusting affiliate payouts starting this month” through early May to a “temporary 0% baseline,” according to one email from April, which Marketing Brew reviewed. According to a March email seen by Marketing Brew, commission payments earned by affiliate partners that month were temporarily delayed.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—JS