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Dear Readers,

Happy National Ice Cream Day to those who celebrate.The three things on my mind this week:

1. The most interesting thing I read this week is Flipkart offering sellers the opportunity to advertise now on the platform and pay for it later. Can anyone say fintech plays a role in driving advertising on the platform?
2. The dirty marketplace secret - most, if not all, marketplaces contain Chinese sellers. Why? Larger selection of goods at lower prices. One of the byproducts of the trade tariffs is the emergence of marketplaces offering Chinese sellers access to their customers. I did not realize until recently. Coupang has Chinese sellers on its platform. The latest marketplace to offer Chinese sellers the opportunity to sell to their customers: Mercado Libre​
3. Riddle me this: why would an advertising platform like Rokt acquire a marketplace enabler like Canal? To gain access to new customers or what?
4. Bonus - do we not learn anything as a sector? What happened to the autonomous stores in China? So, why would Venhub be a good idea?

I want to thank all the readers who take the time to reply to this email (I spend a considerable amount of time creating this newsletter) and appreciate any comments, even if you disagree with me. All comments are confidential and are not disclosed.

If you'd like to help me, please share this newsletter so I can grow my list.

Onwards, Hendrik

Around The World in Marketplaces

​Five companies now control over 90% of the global food delivery market.

Africa

​Takealot bets on Mr D to drive on-demand delivery expansion. South African entrepreneur facilitates access to the township market for Temu and Shein [video]. Temu responds to counterfeit goods warning in South Africa. Jumia Nigeria gets new CEO. Startups Trade Trucks For Transactions As Africa’s B2B E-Commerce Boom Backfires. MaxAB-Wasoko Secures Egyptian Banking License In Fintech Pivot. Digital marketplaces are driving Ethiopia’s economic transformation. ORA Technologies closes its Series A round with a record $7.5M.

China

How does Beijing really see China’s quick commerce subsidy war? Alibaba to roll out ‘Super Saturdays’ event as China’s on-demand delivery market heats up. Meituan executive bemoans ‘irrational’ instant-commerce price war with Alibaba, JD.com. China’s top market regulator summons Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com over delivery price war and asks for rational competition. Who’s really paying for China’s food delivery price war? Meituan plans to open 1,000 stores under its offline discount supermarket brand Happy Monkey. JD.com offers 9% tax refund for overseas shoppers at its flagship stores. Mercado Libre launches China portal.

Europe

eBay sellers can now send individual shop newsletters. [in German]. eBay Germany offers new services to build trust between buyers and sellers. How Temu Helped Exploded Sweets Take Off in the UK.​Chinese Sellers Turn to Russia’s Booming E-Commerce Market Amid U.S. Tariffs. EU forces global platforms to pay VAT upfront.​Austrian privacy group files complaint against AliExpress, TikTok, and WeChat.

​Wildberries tests ready-to-eat food delivery from restaurants. German Amazon sellers are receiving tax reminders for back payments of between €5,000 and €20,000 [in German]. Amazon, eBay and Otto are constantly losing users in Germany [in German]. Temu local-to-local sales to be 50% by end of 2025 in UK. Prosus offers to slash Delivery Hero stake to address EU concerns about Just Eat deal.

India

Indian quick commerce Blip closes after funding struggles​Meesho Lines Up Its Revenue Pieces Ahead Of IPO. Tata Sons plans $400M fund infusion into struggling e-commerce biz Tata Digital.

​No dark stores, no fleets: Shiprocket’s decentralised quick commerce play. Blinkit plans transition to inventory led model from September 1; pings sellers to switch. “Don’t expect quick commerce to slow down”: BigBasket’s Vipul Parekh says dark stores are profitable..Flipkart rolls out 'Advertise Now, Pay Later' to ease ad access for sellers. Shein downloads cross 2 million, Q-Com channel reports 2-fold growth: Reliance Retail. Snapdeal's parent AceVector confidentially files draft IPO papers with SEBI.

Latin America

​OXXO and Mercado Pago offer cash withdrawals at more than 23,000 stores in Mexico [in Spanish]. Mercado Libre to invest $65 million in a new warehouse in Argentina. Mais Correios: outsourced operations aim for scalability and efficiency [in Portuguese].

Middle East

​Amazon extends Prime Day in the UAE to seven days starting July 25.

South East Asia and Australia

Pokémon Online Store in Singapore Relocates To Lazada. Shopee: no platform support fee for sellers with fewer than 100 orders A month TikTok’s messy merger in Indonesia could be a preview of what’s to come in the U.S. Maybank sees Indonesia's new tax having minimal impact on e-commerce platforms. Temu hikes prices in Pakistan by 300%. Taiwan's e-commerce platforms struggle while service providers thrive. Rakuten opens e-commerce platform to Singapore sellers. Temu opens Local Seller Program to all Australian businesses.

US

How This Clunky Website From a Major Pizza Chain Launched the Future of Food Delivery. Food & Wine​

In 1994, Pizza Hut launched the first web page for ordering pizza online, dubbed PizzaNet, which customers could access through pizzahut.com.

​Wegmans, Gopuff, and Family Dollar join Uber's SNAP EBT Program.​Gopuff expands SNAP EBT payment options. Wyndham teams up with Grubhub. Her Beauty Regimen marketplace launches, connecting conscious consumers to indie beauty brands. Our Farms launches curated online market featuring farm-raised foods. Ridgerunner launches a platform transforming how fishing brands sell online.

Amazon’s Prime Day celebratory recap was missing one key metric.​Amazon’s ad business benefited from longer Prime Day. Rosenthal Capital Group closes $3M asset-based loan for Amazon brand accelerator. Rokt acquires Canal to launch Rokt Catalog, expanding e-commerce offering. Amazon’s 2024 Sustainability Report reveals company’s direct emissions have increased 162% since announcing Climate Pledge in 2019. A Federal Judge blocked SB1144.​

One big Thought

Emerging Markets Meet Quick Commerce

f you asked me five years ago whether quick commerce would become competitive in India and China, I would have told you no way.

Luxury Commerce

Inside the Shadowy, Lucrative Business of ‘Superfake’ Luxury Handbags. - WSJ ($)

Brands’ relatively small anticounterfeit budgets suggest they aren’t yet seriously worried about the superfake phenomenon. LVMH, the world's largest luxury company, spent more than $11 billion on advertising last year but only $45 million on anti-counterfeit efforts. That seems skimpy. Superfakes counterfeiters are becoming real competitors.

Luxury Fashion: What Future for Multibrand Stores After a Decade-Long Decline? Fashion Network US​

Independent luxury multibrand boutiques have nearly vanished from the retail landscape, following the gradual rise of monobrand stores and the widespread diffusion of budget chains. Yet they can still hope to make up for lost ground, and they do have a card to play, provided they can reinvent themselves.

​Luxury shoppers turn to TikTok for product discovery. Rolex Resale Fight Tests Limits of Trademark Power in the Luxury Watch Market. Swatch sales and profit fall as luxury demand weakens in China. Richemont sees luxury jewellery sales rise. Frasers Group profits rise despite Budget impact and luxury market challenges. Saks Global starts year in red amid transformation post-Neiman Marcus merger.

LVMH alumni launches quiet tech jewelry marque SPKTRL. Industrie Africa Expands Into B2B With Launch of Retail Consultancy. How one indie luxury brand is making it in New York City. LVMH acquires minority stake in French luxury knitwear brand Molli.​

Fashion and Beauty e-commerce

Tapestry Boosts Stake to 10% in Recycled Leather Innovator Gen Phoenix. Her Beauty Regimen Marketplace Launches, Connecting Conscious Consumers to Indie Beauty Brands. Reliance rolls out Ajio Rush to take on Myntra, Newme, Slikk, and other fashion quick commerce startups. Korean fashion brands enter Indian e-commerce space.

​Inditex to reopen budget brand Lefties in France as it takes on Shein. Fashion commerce startup Culture Circle bags an undisclosed amount from Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal at Rs 100 crore valuation. Zulu Club raises $250K, to expand try-at-home fashion delivery. KNOT raises $3M funding to accelerate as Mumbai's fastest fashion delivery platform. Farm Rio launches recommerce offering with Poshmark and ThredUp Meet Sarah Davis: The Visionary Founder and President of Fashionphile [podcast]. Large cosmetics brands thrive as smaller beauty brands exit the Chinese market. Fashion startup founder charged with $300M fraud freed on $1M bail.

AI and Commerce

ChatGPT Secretly Previewing Checkout Feature. Retailgentic​

As ChatGPT and OpenAI continue to look for revenue, I am not surprised that they are looking to collect a commission from sales

​Jumia Egypt and Intella launch a groundbreaking voice ordering experience in Egyptian dialect via Ziila for e-commerce. Alibaba introduces ThinkSound: An AI model generating realistic audio for videos. FAW, Alibaba launch joint lab to build automotive AI models based on Qwen. Alibaba and HONOR Deepen AI Partnership with Launch of New Smartphone.

​Amazon to invest another $100M In AWS Generative AI Innovation Center. Rwazi Raises $12M in Series A. Backstroke Lands $2.8M for AI-driven email marketing platform. Klaviyo introduces an AI shopping assistant. Be​hr teams with Google for AI color selection agent. .eBay Restricts Developers from Using Its Data to Train AI. Instacart backer Kris Fredrickson launches $175M Verified Capital to fund AI startups.

​Rakuten partners with Japan’s GENIAC project to propel generative AI innovation. Ant International Expands Merchant Payment AI Functions With Antom Copilot 2.0. Voice AI is Working. Here’s Where It Wins First. TikTok to fully switch to GMV Max, its advertising AI tool. Accenture research finds Gen AI becoming top source for travel discovery.

Advertising

​Future has agreed a data partnership with Ocado Ads. The Acacia Group Backs Common Thread Collective. Research Shows That Snap Delivers Better Results for E-Commerce Brands, Why has commerce media networks grown so quickly.

PubMatic launches real-time sports ad marketplace. Criteo and Mirakl Ads launch global integration. HP Is Launching an Ad Business With Laptop-Targeted Ads and a Streaming Service. Google advertisers can now push campaign changes via Gmail. Google Shopping ad clicks surge 18% in Q2 as Amazon, Temu pull back. Gmail tests Demand Gen e-commerce ads in the promotions tab. Google Ads Tracks Call Assets, QR Codes Or Send Email. A ‘disruption in discovery’: What Google and Instagram’s new search partnership means for brands. Amazon.com defeats lawsuit by Prime Video subscribers ove commercials.

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

​The Road to Autonomous Trucking: Scale, Feasibility, and Economic Impact. Emirates expands courier express service to Australia, enhancing cross-border deliveries. ColdTrack Announces 100% Pack Accuracy Guarantee Following Multi-Million Dollar Team & Tech Investment. Maui Gold Pineapple partners with Amazon Air Cargo for mainland wholesale shipping. Maersk Opens Panama Pacifico Logistics Centre as a Gateway to Latin America. Cainiao Expands APAC Supply Chain, Now Operating Warehousing and Fulfillment in 10 Markets. SEKO Logistics Launches New Singapore Logistics Hub to Strengthen APAC Operations. Synagistics and China Post Hong Kong Join Forces. FedEx Signs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CJ Olive Young to Boost Overseas Expansion. The Integration Group (TIG) acquired Matrix Management,

​Vinted expands delivery partnership with Evri. Barcelona’s Theker raises $21 million to scale real-time AI robotics. Omniva becomes exclusive delivery partner for Zalando in the Baltics. Efret expands e-commerce operation following continued growth. NYK Group acquires healthcare logistics business of the Walden Group.

Consumer

​Tariffs are coming hard for your morning caffeine fix. Nonessential spending slumps amid tariff price hikes. US Online grocery sales hit $9.8 billion in June. Inside the growth of Albertsons’ digital business. Walmart is restructuring some support and training roles, memo says. 2025 US retail predictions: Mid-year reality check. Shopify quietly sets boundaries for AI agents on merchant sites. How crowdfunding changed everything. Wella Company's Bianca Bolouri on Building Global E-commerce Strategies [podcast]. From collabs to cultural capital: how Luckin Coffee is brewing a global brand, the Chinese way​BBC Studios Launches Global E-commerce Shop to Serve Growing Digital Fandoms.

​Linkage Global announces $3.5M convertible note financing with framework for up to $30M in total funding. Ekho Raises $17.3 Million to Power the Future of Vehicle Commerce. Little Sesame, Hummus brand raises $8.5M. Pottery Barn to launch in the UK. Chayanyuese enters North America via online stores. SupplyHouse Receives Strategic Investment from KKR.

Payments

​Can stablecoins displace the old guard in cross-border finance? The state of stablecoins in cross-border payments: The 2025 industry primer. Dutch payments fintech Mollie is launching in Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic​PayU raises over Rs 303 Cr in fresh equity from Prosus arm. Trendyol inks deal with Baykar, ADQ, and Ant International for next-generation fintech platform. London-based yetipay raises €4M to develop their payments platform for the hospitality, retail, and services sectors.

Stats and Other Interesting News

​Deliverect achieves milestone of one billion global orders and accelerates Investment To Drive MENA Growth. Nepal’s new e-commerce law targets shady online sellers — but will it work? In Q2, Mexico surpasses Brazil In venture dollars for the first time In over a decade. digital fraud affects 63% of consumers in Brazil, according to a study. The rise of online shopping and e-commerce in Egypt. SpaceX sends 24 satellites into orbit for Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

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 321, sent on 20 July 2025.