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Dear Readers,
The three questions for the past week:
- Why is there no discussion about the regulations for marketplace sellers in California and New York? I know from experience that regulations often receive little to no clicks or engagement, but how do sellers prove that they are not selling stolen goods? Is this the end of retail arbitrage? Returns policies on product detail pages?
- Why have Home Depot and Lowe's decided that buying platforms for professionals is the next race? Why has no other home improvement retailer done this?
- Why is Axian Telecom interested in buying Jumia? It bought a minority share at the end of May, and thirty days later, it is supposedly interested in acquiring the company. Jumia has struggled since going public. A mobile phone operator wants to buy a marketplace.
If you'd like to help me, please share this newsletter so I can expand my list. Reply to this email to provide me with feedback. Thanks to various readers for sharing last week's edition.
Onwards, Hendrik
Marketplaces
Why “Shopify for B2B” Might Finally Work—Thanks to AI. Remark raises $16M (this feels like a pivot)
Africa
Jumia draws takeover interest from Axian Telecom. Jumia & Kilimall Reported Kenya’s Main Counterfeit Sources. Egypt's PM inaugurated Jumia’s largest e-commerce logistics warehouse in Egypt. Takealot is considering mass hiring of former Post Office staff.
China
Taobao and Tmall officially launched the new store rating system "Real Experience Score [in Mandarin]. Alibaba’s Taobao to Dish Out $7 Billion in Subsidies to Woo Shoppers and Merchants. Xiaohongshu denies Alibaba acquisition rumors. Alibaba to issue $1.5 billion in exchangeable bonds to fund cloud and global e-commerce growth. China to ban forced excessive discounting at online retailers.
Pinduoduo and SF Express HK part ways. Amazon launches shopping extravaganza tailored for Chinese shoppers. Temu adds fines for data reporting errors, and how Pindudouo enables free shipping in the Gobi Desert.
Europe
Trendyol Wins E-Export Leadership Award at Turkey's Top Trade Ceremony. Bol opens platform to non-EU sellers..
Chinese migrants are turning their UK homes into Temu and Shein warehouses. UK sellers flock to Temu. Temu wants to sell food in Switzerland, according to a media report. Taxes for AliExpress and Shein: Ukrainian businesses call for the abolition of the parcel tax exemption. Temu, Shein, and Co. often lack important product information [In German].
Uzbekistan's platform startup Uzum looks to Coupang, Kakao as a model.. New EU energy labeling rules cover imported pre-owned devices. Alaska Circular: the marketplace that drives the circular economy in the furniture sector [in Spanish]. Wyse London launches second-hand marketplace. Glovo suspends contested heatwave bonus for couriers in Italy.
‘An Odd Collection of Unrelated Assets’ - Is the Age of Portal Empire Building Over? (A thoughtful post on Adevinta.)
India
Amazon expands its presence in India with five new fulfilment centres. Indian e-commerce platform Meesho files confidentially for IPO.
B2B commerce platform Jumbotail has raised $120M in Series D funding. Alibaba.com Launches Trade Assurance in India to Empower SMEs. Quick commerce apps stack up extra fees to curb losses. Swiggy Ends D2C SaaS Bet ‘Minis’ Amid Platform Losses & Diversification Push.
Latin America
Alibaba, Made in China, and JoomPro: understand the differences before importing (in Portuguese). China's Xiamen exports over 38 million e-commerce parcels via air route to Sao Paulo. Mercado Libre: CPG brands ‘barely scratching the surface’ of retail media’s potential. Mexican surplus food marketplace Cheaf enters Argentina [In Spanish]. Brazil’s Competition Authority Introduced the First True Ecosystem Theory of Harm, Apple to found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour in Brazil [In Portuguese]
Middle East
Abu Dhabi Airports and JINGDONG Property announce strategic joint venture to establish E-Commerce Logistics Hub.
South East Asia and Australia
Indonesian government blocks eBay, others over registration rules. Baemin, Naver lead Korea's fast-growing quick delivery market. AliExpress grows to over 9 million monthly users in Korea with localized services. Coupang's GPU bid signals new ambitions. Lazada: To increase marketplace commission fees starting 18 July 2025. Lazada to subsidize shipping in Vietnam. Coupang Eats expands into quick commerce for non-food items. Lazada announced that the number of merchants joining LazMall has increased more than five times, making it a key channel for POP MART in Southeast Asia [in Mandarin].
Coupang cereal blunder triggers flood of bargain orders. Coupang loses lawsuit over 178 million won subcontracting penalty in Korea Shopee Kicks Off 7.7 Celebration Sale..Mercari Japan Launches Full Compensation Buyer & Seller Protection Program - Will US Be Next?TikTok Shop Mall in Malaysia launches 30-day free returns for authentic branded products. A new Vietnamese food delivery platform tries to challenge Grab & Shopee. Kauche raises $13M in Series C funding.
US
Marketplaces' Angle For Section 230 Reprieve As California Law Sets Out To Crack Down On Sales Of Stolen Goods. Despite tariffs, Andy Jassy says Amazon hasn’t ‘seen prices appreciably go up,’ so far. Amazon and Nintendo Deny Switch 2 Removed From US E-commerce Site Due to Unauthorized Sales. US prices for China-made goods on Amazon rise faster than inflation, an analysis shows, as tariffs take effect. Global Amazon Survey: Key Insights From Annual Vendor Negotiations in 2025. Deal-hungry shoppers fuel Amazon Haul expansion.
The shift in eCommerce: How sellers are finding growth beyond legacy marketplaces.
Pike Place Market fish are flying online, but not with Amazon. TikTok Announces Two New Shopping Events To Boost In-App Sales. TikTok Lays Off Staff on U.S. Trust and Safety, Global E-Commerce Teams. Mercari Users Raise Alarm Over Forced Biometric Verification Through Jumio.
Luxury Commerce
Why luxury brands are sliding into the DMs. Vogue Business
Still, it can engender goodwill with the creators who are becoming increasingly powerful in an ever-more fragmented media industry. While a brand can buy an ad in a magazine, there are fewer standardised strategies for ensuring these high-engagement commentators are talking about a show or collection.
Can Bloomingdale’s bring the magic back to department stores? McKinsey and Company
Farfetch hands over County of Milan license to Daddato Next. Saks Global $600M deal with bondholders includes $200M in new financing.Britain's Smythson sold to Oakley Capital's Iconic BrandCo. Wyse London launches second-hand marketplace. Britain’s Soar running brand debuts on Tmall China.
New ECCIA-Bain report: Europe's high-end sector sounds alarm on tariffs, skills and competitiveness. ‘Burning money’: How TV and shifting perceptions changed Vinted’s fortunes. Zalando Gets Green Light From European Commission to Acquire About You. Why luxury brands are chasing Middle East mall space. Louis Vuitton Korea reports data breach amid wave of cyberattacks on luxury brands.
Fashion and Beauty e-commerce
HanKook Kolmar: Pioneering the Global Expansion of Korean Cosmetics. UK-based footwear and workwear distributor Gardiners Group is expanding in the European market with the acquisition of footwear distributor Dubois. Can Baozun transform Sweaty Betty’s China fortunes? Brazilian fashion brand Cris Barros targets international growth with new e-commerce platform. Myntra launches Glamstream to fuel the next phase of content-led commerce, aiming for a 15% uptick in engagement.
Uniqlo hopes for breathing room under US-Vietnam tariff deal. Shein fined €40m in France for ‘deceptive’ discounting. Local brands in Argentina use discounts to battle marketplaces [In Spanish]
Mys Tyler launches FitCheck to cut returns & boost confidence. Citi Survey Finds Adidas’ Brand Perception Catching Up to Nike. L'Oréal signs an agreement to acquire Color Wow. Brazil-based Grupo Boticário to acquire ecommerce platform Beleza na Web. How Investors Fell Back in Love With Fashion Tech.
U.S. Polo Assn. Launches in Brazil With Grupo Pasquini. Mango launches Mango Stylist, its new AI-powered fashion assistant. Lands’ End attracts bids from Authentic Brands, WHP Global, sources say.
Advertising
Google’s token auction: When LLMs write the ads in real time. Temu Resumes Meta, Google Ad Spending in U.S. Google now calls itself an ‘Answer Engine.’ What that mean for furniture marketers, In the age of AI Overviews, Tripadvisor wants to be the destination.
Best Buy, Lowe’s chief marketing officers explain why they launched new influencer programs. Berlin-based loyalty and promotion platform Talon.One raises €114 million. Dotdigital Group acquires Snowball for USD $35m. TD Synnex Acquires E-Commerce-Focused Apptium.
Logistics is sponsored by Third Person - a new way for brands to discover 3PLs
Amazon’s robotics patent portfolio has grown 28x since its Kiva acquisition. - R & D World
While Amazon built its robotics arsenal over 20 years (3,097 international patents and counting), Walmart’s 2017 surge saw newly granted robotics patents jump 185% in a single year.
What the largest private CRE transaction in history means for logistics. - JLL
Global investor Blackstone Group LP bought a portfolio of U.S. industrial assets from Singapore-based logistics provider GLP for US$18.7 billion, the largest private real estate deal in history and a clear indication of the impact e-commerce has had on the warehouse sector.
Amazon projected to ship more than USPS by 2028: Pitney Bowes. eBay to Raise ESE Standard Envelope Rates.
£50m investment in cutting-edge Evri lockers. JINGDONG Property Acquires Prime Logistics Development in Rugby, UK. Globavend and Strawberrynet Cosmetics Execute Strategic Partnership. Snitch partners with ClickPost. Saudia Cargo partners with China Cargo Airlines. Maersk and Saudi Post enter a strategic partnership.
BackOps AI raises $6M to solve warehouse inefficiencies, Aircon Closes $8M in Funding to Transform Global Air Cargo with AI. HIVED raises $42M to fix parcel delivery in the UK. Tailor, a ‘headless’ ERP startup, raises $22M Series A. UniUni closes US $70M Series “D” funding round. Fincart.io revolutionizes e-commerce logistics for SMBs in the Middle East.
Attabotics files for bankruptcy protection. Alsendo expands into Western Europe with the acquisition of Italian shipping platform Spedire.com. JD.com’s logistic arm debuts self-driving van. How ESW Optimizes Inventory Management for Worldwide E-Commerce [Podcast]
Consumer
Exploring Trends in Direct-to-Consumer Software for the Wine Industry. WineBusiness
WineBusiness Monthly compiled a comparative overview of each software suite's capabilities-based on publicly available information found through online research
Everest stops buying JDE Peet’s products after another price hike. Retail Detail Europe
The chains behind Everest (German Edeka, French Intermarché, and Jumbo and Picnic from the Netherlands) had halted their purchases due to price increases,
Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds and the age of the celebrity brand. The Economist ($)
From fizzy drinks and footwear to fragrances, over the years celebrities have peddled them all. In the past, most stars were happy simply lending their faces to ad campaigns in return for a bit of extra pocket money.
The $2B Category Hiding in Plain Sight: Why "After-Sun" Deserves Your Attention. CPG + D2C + AI: 10 Takeaways From Our Consumer Founder Forum. A record $305 million was spent on trading cards in June. Del Monte files for bankruptcy. Kenya’s BuuPass Secures Funding From Yango Ventures. Kroger is striving for e-commerce profitability. What will it take to get there?
London-based Ferovinum bottles €468 million to expand global funding for the drinks trade. Eggoz raises $20 million funding. RTD brand Pimentae lands £1.5m investment. Marked-up matcha: Kyoto vendors battle online scalpers, knockoffs. Ocado’s rising debt casts shadow over turnaround plans.
Payments
What the rise of “buy now, pay later” services tells us about the economy. Visa, Mastercard trials postponed. Webuy Integrates Coinbase to Accept Stablecoin Payments. Alibaba.com adds 'pay later' option for U.S. businesses with Balance. Checkout friction is hindering e-commerce. Godfrey Sullivan explains how Visa plans to fix it Shift4 Payments Acquires Global Blue. China's tech giants are lobbying for offshore yuan stablecoin, sources say.
Stats and Other Interesting News
Surge in freelancing as e-commerce grows in Oman. E-commerce sales in Saudi Arabia exceeded $18.4 billion during Q1. “Groceries in Belgium are cheaper than in the Netherlands” [In Dutch]. ‘Smaller online stores in DACH struggle as revenue declines’. It’s ‘crunch week’ for China Cognac tariffs. Chart: American imports post record monthly decline. Scotch makes history as the first international GI in Argentina. Monetate Acquires SiteSpect. Next-gen procurement platform Levelpath nabs $55M.
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 319, sent on 6 July 2025.
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