Renowned fashion buyer Gab Waller is gearing up for the launch of her technology platform Sourced By this March. Waller is betting on the predictive ability of generative AI and image recognition to speed up the process of sourcing hard-to-find fashion items for stylists and personal shoppers.

Waller started out as a fashion sourcer in 2018, primarily using Instagram direct messages to answer queries. Over time, she has carved a niche for herself to find exclusive items, notoriously difficult for most people to access—including the Margaux bag by The Row, dubbed the new Birkin by Vogue. Waller’s work has gained prominence among high-profile names like Hailey Bieber and Khloé Kardashian, who are listed as clients on her website.

On the sidelines of CES, Waller sat down with Retail Brew to talk about the launch of Sourced By in Q1. In a follow-up email, a few weeks later, Waller added that Sourced By is launching to its first set of beta users in March.

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Microsoft, which shuttered its retail media platform, PromoteIQ, last year, maintains it is still committed to the retail media game.

“We are 100% in the retail media and e-commerce business; we are committed to commerce media,” Paul Longo, GM of AI in Ads at Microsoft, told Retail Brew, on the sidelines of CES. “It’s not an exit out of the retail media business, but a shift in focus to driving commerce media solutions at scale.”

Microsoft’s partnership with third-party ad platform Criteo is a key part of this shift in strategy, Longo added: “We’re really excited about that. We’re hoping to have more to announce on that progress this year. I can’t share a ton of details on that right now, but that partnership is all about scale.”

Criteo entered into a partnership with Microsoft in July last year to grow its inventory of curated deals offered to advertisers to reach more shoppers. “Plugging our demand into Criteo’s supply—that’s a way to unlock more scale for the retail media ecosystem,” Longo added.

At CES, Microsoft Advertising also expanded its retail media capabilities with two other offerings: Curate for Commerce and Sponsored Promotions by Brands.

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Discretionary spending is moderating again as consumers pull back after the holidays, according to a new report from Circana.

Discretionary spending jumped 9% in the five-week holiday shopping season running from Black Friday to January 4. There was also a 1% bump in spending on discretionary general merchandise, despite some experts predicting that consumers would prioritize experiences over goods. Relatedly, sales of non-edible consumer packaged goods increased 2% in dollars and 1% in unit sales.

Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry advisor for Circana, said in a statement that a resilient consumer helped make up for the shorter holiday season and uncertainty around the US presidential election, resulting in “moderate growth anticipated at the season’s start.”

Keep reading here.—AV