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Dear Readers,

The three things on my mind this week:?

1. Why aren't we discussing Chinese sellers going directly to markets through marketplaces? This seems to be a developing trend, as I am aware of startups that are helping Chinese sellers enter marketplaces on various continents. These manufacturers and brands are being squeezed by Temu, SHEIN, and others, yet this topic remains largely under the radar.
2. Will marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart save the luxury industry? I ask, as this past week Rebag partnered with Luxury Stores at Amazon and Walmart announced growth and new partnerships for its pre-loved luxury business. Is this a sign of the current economy, the fact that luxury brands have an oversupply problem, or what?
3. I have a hypothetical situation I can't get out of my head. What happens when Saks Global is forced to close? Where do apparel brands then sell their goods? Nordstrom, and who?

Thanks to those who reply to these emails from me. I have learnt plenty by reading and having conversations with readers.

​Onwards, Hendrik

Marketplaces

US

Walmart Marketplace Sellers Experience Record Growth. Marketplace Pulse​

Fresh produce with your package: Amazon testing tighter grocery bundling for same-day deliveries. Some Amazon sellers submit fewer deals for Prime Day as brands hold onto pre-tariff inventory ‘like gold.’ eBay takes live shopping on tour. Amazon Gives Sellers a Deal for Using MCF to Fulfill Walmart Orders. Grubhub users can now order alcohol delivery from 7-Eleven. Live-shopping platform Whatnot has added a wholesale function Pattern Integrates AWS-Powered Generative AI Solution with Amazon Nova to Enhance Its Ecommerce Acceleration Platform.

Latin America

​China’s Didi starts food delivery operations in Brazil, ahead of rival Meituan. With Shop and Search Ads, TikTok becomes a shopping destination in Brazil.

Europe:

Trouva acquired for fifth time in three years. Retail Gazette

eBay Launches Livestreaming, Open Box Program, and Save Seller Feature in UK. Minority Stakes as a Conduit for Cartelization, and No Poach to Boot: The EU Decision in Delivery Hero/Glovo Bought and Wolt bring ultra-fast delivery to the second-hand market — orders arrive in as little as an hour.

The Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) and Trendyol have signed a strategic cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening Türkiye’s cross-border e-commerce ecosystem. AliExpress launches fulfillment in Europe. Yettel expands Wolt delivery partnership to 14 Hungarian cities, Chinese cross-border online marketplaces look to Europe for growth. TikTok expands investment and presence in the UK as number of regular users crosses 30 million. AliExpress Business Introduces Enhanced Supply Chain Suite to Support Creator Commerce.

Africa

Bad news for people who shop on Temu and Shein in South Africa. China-based merchants are joining Jumia, Africa’s biggest online retailer, amid tariff pressure. Baillie Gifford exits Jumia, closing a major chapter in African e-commerce investment.

Middle East:

AliExpress Is the First Big Chinese E-Commerce Platform to Sell Entire Cars Abroad. Dubai's Emaar launches 'Vyom' to buy, sell homes digitally. JD Logistics expands Saudi operations. Egyptian q-commerce startup Rabbit grows fast in Saudi capital.

India:

Amazon goes live with quick commerce service Now in Bengaluru. India OKs loans through Walmart's majority-owned Flipkart. Content to transactions: Flipkart’s big bet on creator-fuelled commerce in India. Walmart is upbeat about Flipkart and PhonePe: Walmart CFO

China

​Big Bird Foods partners with Alibaba to expand global reach. JD.com’s Ochama Brings China’s Biggest Mid-Year Shopping Festival to European Shoppers. TikTok sister app Douyin to woo merchants with lower deposit fees amid heated competition. Former DingTalk executive criticizes Alibaba culture in viral memo, Jack Ma responds. Temu resumes direct sales to the US after the Washington-Beijing trade truce. Mainland e-commerce platforms offer bargain buys for HKers.

South East Asia and Australia:

Grab to raise $1.25b through bond issuance for acquisitions. - Tech In Asia

Amazon Australia Launches B2B Ecommerce Platform. Coupang, VP Caleb Hill highlights diverse data driving South Korea’s e-commerce growth. YouTube doubles down on video commerce in Southeast Asia. Tokopedia sellers bemoan faulty TikTok Shop linkup

Luxury Commerce insights sponsored by Luxlock​

L'Oreal to buy majority stake in British skincare brand Medik8.- Reuters​

L'Oreal has agreed to acquire a majority stake in British skincare brand Medik8, boosting the French cosmetics giant's position in the fast-growing dermatological skincare market.Neither L'Oreal nor UK-based private equity firm Inflexion, which is selling the stake, disclosed the terms of the deal in separate statements.

Canada Goose Built a Luxury Empire by Betting Big on China. - Walrus​

When Dani Reiss became chief executive officer in 2001, the company was worth roughly $3 million. The business expanded to the US, Europe, and Japan. It was the Chinese market, however, that propelled the company to become a $1 billion business.

​https://fashionista.com/2025/06/carina-ertl-tourneau-bucherer-cmo-interview​

Coupang now selling Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana on its R.LUX app. - Korea Joongang Daily​

Coupang’s luxury beauty and fashion vertical service R.LUX has formed a partnership with shopping app FARFETCH to present a selection of luxury goods for Korean customers,

Could Amazon be luxury’s lifeline? Vogue Business​

Can Amazon save Nike, Saks Global, and Rebag? Amazon can help these brands with traffic ans search volume In Nike's case it never should have been away from Amazon (John Donahoe disagreed with this). Saks Global had Amazon as a part of their business plan at the time of their acquisition of Neiman Marcus but can it scale Luxury Stores? I am not sure. Feels like Amazon benefitting amkd struggles from Saks. Rebag cealrly needs an audience for their inventory and has also partnered with Walmart as well.

Walmart Marketplace triples secondhand luxury fashion sales. - AIM Group​

#1 Laopu Gold, a scam or real luxury? Baiguan​

After Restoring Over 2 Million Handbags, FASHONPHILE Announces Launch of Its First ReNew Handbag Cleaning Kit. Italian fashion group OTB opens subsidiary in Mexico. Gucci, YSL Claim Sample Sale Co.’s “Authenticity” Claims Are a Lie in Lawsuit. Asia’s luxury consumers shift shopping priorities: Bluebell Group LVMH Bets on AI to Navigate Luxury Goods Slowdown.

Fashion e-commerce

High-performing posts from shopping platform LTK will automatically be shared to Pinterest. Under a new partnership announced, high-performing image posts on LTK will be automatically cross-posted to Pinterest; the pilot program is expected to expand in the coming months to include more creators and content formats.

David’s Bridal moved production out of China – now it’s manufacturing clothes for other brands. State of Beauty 2025: Solving a shifting growth puzzle. Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni launch Phia.

Shein and Reliance aim to sell India-made clothes abroad within a year, sources say. How Trump’s trade war is supercharging the fast fashion industry.

How Nigeria’s Vazzel is digitising the fashion economy with AI, inclusive commerce tools. Brandback raises $7.4M to power the next wave of resale-driven retail. Alibaba International Launches PicCopilot Fashion Reels - An AI-Powered Video Maker for Fashion Brands.

Advertising

​FERMÀT Raises $45M Series B to Define the Future of AI-Powered Commerce Experiences. Amazon has started selling AI video ads. What does this mean for digital marketing? Not Enough Web For All This Slop; Amazon Quietly Doubles Up On Prime Ads China now owns 20% of global ad market. The Trade Desk Adds Instacart And Ocado As First SKU-Level Retail Data Sellers For Self-Serve Advertisers. Dick's Sporting Goods Combines Data With Roku in New Retail Media Play. How Ryan Mayward Is Expanding Walmart Connect's Retail Media Empire [podcast]. Google in Mexico faces major potential fine as antitrust ruling nears. What Are Good Google Ads Benchmarks In 2025? [STUDY]

Introducing the New DoorDash Ads: AI-Powered Tools and Acquisition of Ad Tech Platform Symbiosys to Help Restaurants and Brands Grow. Doordash​

Logistics is sponsored by Third Person - a new way for brands to discover 3PLs

The first half of 2025 and what it tells us. - The Delivery.World​

The transformation we're witnessing perhaps represents more than industry evolution – we’re seeing the emergence of a new category of commerce infrastructure that could become as fundamental to local economies as traditional retail or financial services.

​Warp Raises $10M to Scale AI-Powered Freight Network. Optimal Dynamics Raises $40M Series C to Scale the Decision Layer of Logistics. Coco Robotics Raises $80M to Expand Autonomous Delivery and AI Platform. DHL steps up Middle East expansion with $570M in planned investments. SingPost sells entire 4PX stake to Cainiao for $97.5M. WCA eCommerce network has joined together with the World Parcel Alliance,

​General air cargo in decline as China-US e-commerce boom slows. Essendant taps Roadie to strengthen e-commerce delivery capabilities.Cargado Expands Freight Marketplace into Canada, Launches Market Rates Tool. Freightwaves Poczta Polska expands e-commerce platform with TCL.

​Russian Post, Mongol Post to collaborate in e-commerce, logistics.

Consumer

Introducing the 5 Levels of Agentic Shopping Framework. Retailgentic​

The internet killed general-purpose products. AI will bring them back. - Dan Hock's Essays​

In each industry, Porter’s 3rd test of strategy starts to collapse. There will no longer be trade-offs between things like convenience and quality or between personalization and production value. A new kind of product will emerge that can be great at many things simultaneously. Welcome back to the era of general-purpose products.

Gordon Brothers Acquires and Provides Poundland up to £80M in Financing. Rohlik Group is launching Veloq – an AI-driven grocery fulfilment platform that has powered its 37 per cent year-on-year growth across five markets. United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major distributor of groceries was cyber attacked. “Bring the competition on”: Guitar Center CEO says he’s not afraid of big brands like Gibson and Fender selling products direct.

​Online to outpace in-store grocery sales growth through 2029. May E-Grocery Sales Jump 27% Versus Year Ago to $8.7B. Store 251 Rolls Out App as Ethiopia’s E-commerce Scene Faces Shake-Up from Informal Vendors, Telecom Giant.

Payments

Visa, Mastercard race to agentic AI commerce. Payments Dive​

The two top U.S. card networks are speeding to develop payments services that will enable bot-based buying, with digital rival PayPal also making a play.

Delivery Hero alumni raise $32M for Payrails. Lemonway acquires PayGreen to expand into e-commerce payments. Jumia Launches Buy Now, Pay Later in Algeria, Partnership with Diar Dzair. Sezzle sues Shopify in BNPL battle.

Walmart credit cards will be offered by OnePay, working in conjunction with Synchrony and Mastercard.

Stats and Other Interesting News

Amazon has more than 40% market share in Austria. Kazakhstan’s E-Commerce Sector Expands Fivefold Since 2020. Saquon Barkley Tops NFLPA’s Year-End Top 50 Player Sales List​

A Day in the Life of Server #47B-2: An AWS Data Center Memoir - Last Week in AWS​

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The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. The content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.

This was edition number 316, sent on 15 June 2025.