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Dear Readers,

Happy Golden Week to readers in China. I cannot believe its that time again.

The three questions this week:

1. ​Amazon has settled its Prime membership deception case for $2.5 billion without admitting to wrongdoing. What is interesting is how this has been communicated by the FTC and Amazon. Amazon got off lightly - the company generates a settlement in revenue every 33 or 34 hours. That said, Amazon is playing the long game, as another class-action lawsuit has been filed in Washington related to third-party sellers and increased costs.
2. Are Temu and AliExpress local-to-local marketplaces in countries a throwback to marketplace platforms from a decade ago? I had this thought after Vinny O'Brien and I interviewed Rhys Sanford from Exploded Sweets in the UK. Quicker feedback loops, interaction with platform staff to solve issues, and the opportunity to rest product iteration on a new channel. Reminds me of Amazon pre-advertising, when brands and sellers could monetize engaged audiences.
3. How do we define success in e-commerce? This topic is one that I often think about and is one of the reasons I write and create this newsletter. I joined the Evolve Community to discuss a topic close to my heart.

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. I want you to know that all comments are confidential and are not shared.

​Please share this newsletter to help me grow my list.

​Onwards,

Hendrik

Around The World in Marketplaces

Africa

​Jumia and Spiro Launch Electric Bike Delivery in Uganda. Mamboo, an Angolan delivery app offers everything, everywhere [video] Bolt unveils courier service to support Kenya's e-commerce boom.

China

Apple tiptoes into Douyin Live Commerce. Douyin GMV up 34% as shelf e-commerce grows. China pledges to strengthen supervision of online food delivery sector.

Europe

​Amazon UK plans increased focus on online grocery delivery, including expanding partnerships with Morrisons, Co-op, and Iceland.

eBay to acquire C2C social marketplace platform Tise. Prosus' OLX to buy French classified platform La Centrale in $1.3 billion deal.​

​Mubadala reportedly explores selling all Getir stakes in Türkiye. Just Eat to lay off around 450 employees.​

Azerbaijan and Trendyol discuss prospects for implementing joint projects. British marketplace OnBuy grows to 20 European countries by end of 2025, PPRO partners with Temu to expand local payment options for millions of European shoppers.

India

Swiggy to sell stake in Rapido to Prosus, WestBridge for Rs 2,399 Cr. Blinkit tops quick commerce with over 50% market share, set to gain more: BofA. Firstclub wants to be the Costco of quick-commerce.

​Flipkart introduces ‘Trust Shield’ program for consumers: a first-of-its-kind initiative for seamless shopping and post-purchase experience.. Flipkart announces new exchange program for mobiles, electronics, and large appliances. Flipkart faces fresh allegations of dark patterns, basket sneaking, and false advertising. Flipkart secures approval to shift HQ from Singapore to India Ahead of IPO.

​India proposes to ease investment rules in a possible win for Amazon.

Latin America

​MercadoLibre launches a new B2B unit to tap the corporate market. Mercado Libre highlights expansion in Brazil and announces new logistics initiatives [in Portuguese.

Shopee surpasses 1,000 Official brand Stores [in Portuguese]

Middle East

​Keeta food delivery to launch in Dubai this Saturday.

South East Asia and Australia

Alibaba continues its PR leadership across East and Southeast Asia. Coupang will invest more than 60 billion won in Suseong Alpha City, Daegu to build a high-tech smart logistics center.

​Thailand launches an aggressive push for a 200 Million Baht sales goal on the US E-Commerce platform.

Why is Lazada the first stop when Tmall brands expand into Southeast Asia?​

US

Alibaba Tries to Draw Brands from Amazon to AliExpress. Yahoo! Finance / Bloomberg​

AliExpress, Alibaba’s online retail portal for markets outside China, is trying to add more major brands by promising lower shipping fees and offering to take a lower cut of sales than Amazon does, according to people familiar with the matter.

​Chinese sellers reach a global majority on Amazon. Amazon recalls 500K products on its website. Amazon’s commitment to low prices every day. Ordoro has announced a new partner collaboration with Cartology, a full-service Amazon agency specializing in brand strategy and account growth.

How a Small-Town Bookbinder Turned the Page with Temu. Affidavit: Woman embezzled over $30,000 from Spreetail, a Lincoln company

​Aldi joins Uber Eats platform for grocery delivery nationwide. Do trading card mega-sellers need eBay more than eBay needs them?

​The evolution of marketplaces and the impact of agentic AI for retailers and e-commerce.

Luxury Commerce

LuxExperience: Rewriting the playbook for luxury e-commerce. - IMD​

LuxExperience was established in 2025 when German luxury e-commerce site Mytheresa acquired Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter, Yoox, and The Outnet. The deal created one of Europe’s largest multi-brand luxury e-commerce players but also left Kliger with the daunting task of stitching together businesses with very different legacies, infrastructures, and cultures.

Mytheresa narrowly misses the billion mark, LuxExperience at €2.9 billion (-6%). [in German] . Mytheresa increased its GMV to EUR 988 million (+8%) and sales to EUR 916 million (+9%) in the past financial year. Including Yoox and Net-a-Porter, the group, now operating as LuxExperience, has a GMV of EUR 2.9 billion (-6%) and sales of EUR 2.75 billion (-6%).

Break Archive hit by second heist as luxury resale faces growing threat in the UK. Purple Style Labs Files for Rs 660 Cr IPO for Luxury Fashion Growth. Why can’t the art world make e-commerce work? ($)

​Club L London launches on Middle East platform Ounass. Rackhams marketplace launches under new ownership. Valentino in talks with banks as luxury drop prompts debt breach. LVMH expands in South Korea as luxury demand shifts from China and the US.

​Yaso raises £8M to expand beyond beauty with new products in China. Five trends reshaping the global luxury goods market in 2025.

Fashion and Beauty e-commerce

Quince customers mistakenly hit with tariff bills. Modern Retail​

Some Quince customers are receiving tariff bills days or weeks after receiving their orders, according to social media posts on sites like Reddit and X. Through communications in recent weeks, Quince assured customers, “You do not need to pay any additional fees.” The company says it prepays the latest duties on behalf of customers and absorbs the costs.

Zalando penalises "excessive" returns. Depop launches Outfits, a new in-app tool. ARGYLE Haus of Apparel launches fashion incubator. Highsnobiety to wind down loss-making e-commerce division, lay off staff [$].

​Shein’s rise and polyester’s surge threaten certified cotton, report says. France fines Debenhams' PrettyLittleThing 1.3 million euros over deceptive discounts. The tech fashion darling accused of swindling investors out of $300M ($)

AI and Commerce

Microsoft will compete with AWS to offer a marketplace of AI apps and agents.

​Genstore secures $10M in seed funding. Helios AI secures $4.7M to scale “AI-multi agent” tool for predicting agri-food prices. Italian firm TextYess secures €2.4M to expand AI-powered WhatsApp commerce globally. Swedish startup Emfas raises €600K to bring AI automation to e-commerce catalogs. Steph Curry’s VC firm just backed an AI startup that wants to fix food supply chains.

Advertising

Calculating The Odds On The Google Spinoff. - AdExchanger [podcast]

During these early days, a full Google divestiture feels like the position with the longer odds, Hercher guesses, a position informed by the rally of questioning between the judge and lawyers, and the general tenor of the courtroom.

​Google seeks to avoid ad tech breakup as antitrust trial begins. Google Ads updated policies to target dishonest pricing practices. Meta in talks to use Google's Gemini to improve ad business, The Information reports. Netflix and AB InBev launch global partnership for beer integration.​

Kantar: Amazon brands dominate consumers’ preferred ad spaces.

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

Calgary startup Attabotics sold for parts to family-run Kentucky firm. DHL executives forecast subdued but strategic 2025 Peak Season amid global trade shifts. FedEx's large-package delivery deal with Amazon will be fully ramped up by FedEx’s fiscal third quarter.

​JINGDONG Logistics Expands Air Cargo Network with New Shenzhen–Singapore Route Through JD Airlines.

FedEx opens new logistics facility in Estonia. Ex-Amazon executive David Lewkowitz named CEO of Mondial Relay.

Consumer

Ocado Group’s technology solutions under review by Kroger. Amaze to acquire The Food Channel, expanding culinary creator network. Buyers of Radio Shack, Pier 1 Imports and other brands accused of running $112M Ponzi scheme.

Amazon to close all of its Fresh grocery stores in UK. Tesco’s robot warehouse plan in doubt as Attabotics bust.

Enhanced e-commerce guidelines in Singapore.

​Walmart pivots to neighborhood stores as hypermarkets fade in China.

Payments

​PhonePe files for $1.5 billion IPO.

PayPal to speed up localization steps in China. Noon Signs MoU with SAB to boost secure and seamless digital commerce in the region. PayPal commits $100M to accelerate digital growth across the Middle East and Africa.

​Boodil partners with DIMOCO to advance e-commerce payments in Europe.

Stats and Other Interesting News

Home goods power Swedish online sales growth. E-commerce in Europe grows 7 percent. Dutch e-commerce worth 17 billion euros in the first half of 2025. Online sales account for over 15 percent of retail in Russia.

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 331, sent on 29 September 2025.