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Dear Readers,

Apologies - this is late. I have had a busy week and got behind with my reading.

The three questions this week:

1. Alibaba is starting to use Lazada as a Trojan horse. By partnering with Gmarket, Lazada is able to move South Korean products (and in particular beauty products) into SEA. Being able to move products into SEA, it's likely to me that these products could also be moving into China VIA Lazada's partnership with Tmall. I tend to believe that this is the next iteration of marketplace platforms, moving products in two directions to help sellers and consumers access the desired products.
2. Are we rebuilding e-commerce via LLMs? First, it was affiliate commerce (hello Daydream), and now we have price comparison. So entrepreneurs are raising large rounds of funding (anywhere between $10M to $100M), and then you create something that has existed for years. Do better. Just do better.
3. This past week has shown me that we are likely to see walled gardens in LLM commerce in the West. Rick Watson called it a Silicon Valley catfight. ChatGPT partnered with Stripe to co-develop the Agentic Commerce Protocol. On the other side of the wall is Google, which uses the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), who partnered with PayPal Who is left with the bag is brands who will have be a part of both ecosystems.

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

​"Zonke" by Takealot Advertising connects brands with SA shoppers. Chpter co-founders Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti step down in major leadership reshuffle. Why Jumia is also struggling in North Africa.

China

JD.com unveils open-source AI engine using Chinese chips. JD enters coffee market with 7Fresh Coffee. After burning 30 billion, none of the food delivery giants have emerged victorious.

Pinduoduo launches free home delivery service in Hong Kong. Amap daily users surpass 360 million as Golden Week travel kicks off.

Europe

​Wildberries to open platform to sellers in Georgia. Avito collaborates with mobile phone operator Beeline on recommerce. Wildberries-Russ company secured a 100% stake in the operating company of the perfume retailer Rive Gauche.

Amazon launches Haul in Spain. Rakuten Ichiba adds six more countries. Temu Brand Guardian boosts trademark protection and IP enforcement.

​InPost reportedly to launch Allegro competitor in 2026. Allegro’s new API restrictions may be aimed at impeding rivals.

India

​Flipkart group companies cut FY25 losses as Myntra stays on profit track. Flipkart and Amazon are under government investigation​ for charging extra for cash-on-delivery orders. Blinkit CEO issues warning to brands over fake listing claim. Indian meat delivery app Zappfresh parent closes $7.1m IPO. Quick medicine delivery startup Plazza raises $1.4M.

Latin America

Mercado Libre and WWF: together against the illegal trade of wild animals. How long will Aerolíneas Argentinas and Mercado Libre cargo flights to Neuquén last? [Spanish]. Bubba Bags enters Mercado Libre in Peru. MercadoLibre sinks as rival Amazon boosts presence in Brazil ($)

Home appliances lead used sales in the first half of the year on OLX Brasil [in Portuguese].

Middle East

Speaking their language: How Chinese merchants are winning the Middle East. Delivery portal Keeta to set up UAE headquarters. Visa And Noon Payments launch Visa Payment Passkey for merchants. Trendyol’s Çağlayan Çetin on redefining e-commerce in the region.​

South East Asia and Australia

​Gmarket and Lazada partner to export Korean products to SE Asia. AliExpress leverages AI and partnerships to strengthen Korean market position. Inside Coupang threat intelligence strategy.

Indonesia fines TikTok nearly $900k over late Tokopedia deal notification. Indonesia lifts TikTok licence suspension as app shares data.

eBay will mandate all deliveries to the United States from the 17th of October through a "Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) program."

Aussie furniture warehouse sales surge after joining Temu marketplace.

US

Amazon debuts 'Add to Delivery' button as new Prime perk. Buy with Prime Expands with new brands Dearfoams and Baggallini. Pattern launches free GEO scorecard to show e-commerce brands how they rank against competitors on LLM Engines.

​USPS warns of fake stamps for sale on online marketplaces. Duke sues Temu, Walmart and eBay sellers for counterfeit Duke-branded merchandise. Shein fends off US antitrust, trade-secret claims in Temu lawsuit.​

​Base.com to strengthen Temu’s customer experience.

Luxury Commerce

Farfetch executives win dismissal of investor suit over growth. ($) In Milan, Ferragamo, Stella Jean, and MSGM bank on a vibrant summer. Resale goes luxe: How Tariffs Are Accelerating the Secondary Market for European Luxury Goods Madison Avenue Couture expands their luxury offerings with the launch of fine jewelry.

Farfetch’s chief commercial officer on life after near-bankruptcy ($). What OpenAI’s new checkout means for luxury ($).

Here are the luxury pre-owned watches each generation — from boomers to zoomers — buys most, according to The RealReal.

Louis Vuitton wins massive $584m award in counterfeit case. Harrods reveals supply chain breach impacting online customers.

Fashion and Beauty e-commerce

K-Beauty brands are still expanding to the U.S., despite tariffs. Shein picks France to open its first permanent physical store. DressX launches AI-powered styling platform 'DressX Agent'. Majid Al Futtaim, Abercrombie & Fitch debut e-commerce in Saudi Arabia.

​Coty's consumer beauty line appears to be a hard sell. TikTok Live Shopping is proving lucrative for beauty brands across categories.​

​Shein’s arrival at BHV Marais: Brands pull out, the plan to buy the freehold is jeopardised. THE ICONIC enters loyalty race with Front Row launch Fashion recommerce company Momox uses image-recognition tool to refine pricing.. LTK partners with Apple to revolutionize creator-driven shopping.

AI and Commerce

Amazon’s ‘model factory’ is training the next generation of AI on the tech giant’s own business Buy it in ChatGPT: instant checkout and the agentic commerce protocol.

Kraft Heinz pilots AI agent to streamline ketchup production.

AI startup DualEntry raises $90M to deepen ERP market push. Numeral raises $35M to automate sales tax with AI. eBay launches ‘AI Activate’ programme with OpenAI. Envive AI raises $15M to expand AI platform for online retail. Price.com debuts LLM-powered conversational AI shopping, closes $12M in new funding. Returnalyze, an AI-powered returns prevention platform provider, has raised $6M in Series A1 funding. Arqh brings in $3.8M to power AI in the logistics industry.

OpenAI acquires an AI-powered personal investing app. People are farming and selling Sora 2ivnvite codes on eBay.

Lowe’s becomes the first home improvement retail partner to work with Perplexity. PayPal’s Honey will find products recommended by genAI.
BCG Agentic Commerce is redefining retail—here’s how to respond.

Advertising

The Trade Desk Announces Major Overhaul of Digital Advertising Data Marketplace. The Trade Desk​

Audience Unlimited removes these two obstacles for advertisers. Audience Unlimited will leverage AI to score data segments by relevance to an advertiser’s campaign, across thousands of curated segments from hundreds of trusted, privacy-conscious third-party data providers. Advertisers will then be able to add all the relevant data sources to their campaigns for a much lower, inclusive cost than traditional a la carte data pricing.

Competition: Google beckons court with more advertising data. Inside the Google, Amazon and Trade Desk battle over DSP fee cuts—and what agencies need to know.

Meta faces antitrust lawsuit over Instagram Shopping 'monopoly.'.

Ahold Delhaize to launch new unified retail media tool. Spotify opens up ad inventory to Amazon’s demand-side platform.

​MAI raises $25M to automate performance Marketing with AI Agents, Driving Revenue for Brands. Tie lands $10M to help e-commerce brands stop renting audiences.

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

Walmart to invest $300 million, create 300 jobs in Gaston County, NC. ShipStation customers can now leverage Veho's delivery service. Amazon Shipping rolls out higher Peak Season fees for 2025 holidays. DHL Supply Chain kaunches ReTurn Network to transform reverse logistics

DHL eCommerce to buy out parcel locker partner in Poland. Ukraine’s Post Company Meest to build $30M hub to catch up with rivals. One World joins forces with Scurri.

Amazon opens new Western Sydney hub.

​The Courier Guy went offline on Tuesday, 30 September 2025. E-Commerce fuels 9% rise in Kenya’s local courier deliveries.​

​Einride has raised $100M to accelerate autonomous freight.. RunBuggy Raises $37M in Series B Funding..

Alvys, an AI-powered logistics software provider, has raised $40M in Series B funding. Reveni secures €7.5M to reinvent the e-commerce logistics experience.

Consumer

Kroger to use DoorDash’s DashMart service for delivery. Hertz car sales launches online car buying. Costco pivots on discretionary items as it trims holiday assortment. Swish secures Seed Funding to revolutionize CPG product sampling.

Pickaboo cracked the consumer electronics market in Bangladesh.

Why the Hertz-Amazon deal poses threats to auto dealers. Home Depot pushes deeper into B2B ecommerce with digital project planning.​

Miniso bets big on collectible designer toys for growth.

Payments

Amazon customers in Spain can pay in installments with Santander. BNPL overtakes traditional loans in popularity among Czech shoppers. How Hubtel, a self-funded Ghanaian tech giant, has continued to grow [video]. Mastercard unveils new Retail/Commerce Media Network.

BCG Global Payments Report 2025.​

Stats and Other Interesting News

Italians spent an average of €635 online this summer. Top 10 online shops drive growth in German ecommerce.

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 332, sent on 6 October 2025.