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Dear Readers,

The three questions on my mind this week:

1. Amazon announced strong earnings, which showcased cloud growth. Amazon's CEO then talks out of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand, he believed that AI would accelerate the end of retail in stores, but on the other hand, Amazon would partner with third-party AI shopping agents. Andy - Why will AI end stores? I thought e-commerce from 1999 would like a word.
2. It has been refreshing to see companies such as DoorDash, Gopuff, Instacart, and Albertsons step up in the past week to help customers who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to purchase groceries.
3. The story I am following is about the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions calling for an end to early-morning deliveries. Coupang's labor union obviously opposed this, as early-morning deliveries are a big part of its value proposition. Is this an opportunity for unmanned robotics, like what is being used in China, to eliminate human labor, or is it just a labor union being opportunistic?

Feel free to reply to this email - I appreciate hearing from readers.

​Onwards, Hendrik

Around The World in Marketplaces

How a ‘Buybox’ Helps Online Marketplaces. - Knowledge at Wharton

Buyboxes are curation algorithms popular with online marketplaces —and with good reason. Research from Wharton’s Santiago Gallino shows they boost sales by reducing frictions for vendors and customers.

Africa

Tanzania's Horticultural Association launches marketplace to boost sector efficiency. Kenya’s High Court slaps 16% VAT on Uber, Jumia, and Glovo. Jumia’s biggest wins amid woes are coming from places it once overlooked. Morocco’s ORA Technologies has announced the acquisition of Cathedis.

Takealot grey import crackdown.

China

Taobao Instant Commerce to launch ‘Taobao Convenience Store’ chain. Alibaba expands instant commerce efforts with $281 million Taobao convenience store push. Taobao expands Singles’ Day sales globally. Alibaba celebrates 100-day countdown to Milano Cortina 2026 with exclusive Olympic merchandise launch in China.

Former Alibaba executive Liu Peng appointed president of Walmart China’s Sam’s Club format. China’s Global Push in Retail: What Executives Need to Know.

Meituan eyes $3 billion from bond issue amid intense competition. 'Dine-in' label added to food delivery platform to protect consumers. FundPark raises $71M to fuel AI-powered eCommerce growth.

Europe

Amazon to invest $1.6 billion in Dutch operation. New Fruugo pricing model – 20% flat rate for 2026

AliExpress Brand+ to price match Amazon, Temu, Shein, and eBay

Wildberries spends over $400M to expand in Central Asia and beyond. Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries goes on a mysterious M&A spree.

India

Government may allow FDI in inventory ecommerce model to drive exports. - YourStory

The Commerce and Industry Ministry has floated a note seeking views from various central government departments on a proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the inventory-based model of ecommerce solely for export purposes, an official said.

Reliance and Google Partner to Accelerate India’s AI Revolution across Consumers and Enterprises [PDF] Blinkit, Instamart, other quick commerce firms brace for higher competitive intensity after Zepto’s $450 mn fundraise: Analysts. Dunzo founder Kabeer Biswas exits Flipkart Minutes.

Quick commerce helps India's Swiggy narrow its quarterly loss and improve margins Q/Q. Swiggy mulls up to $1.5 billion fundraise for balance sheet boost

Amazon India exceeds $20 billion in exports, ahead of the 2025 target; it aims for $80 billion by 2030.
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Latin America

MercadoLibre's third-quarter net profit misses estimates despite a revenue beat. - Reuters

MercadoLibre posted a $421 million net income for the July-September quarter, up 6% year-on-year but missing the $481 million expected by analysts in a LSEG poll. Net revenue for the firm, which runs an e-commerce platform in Latin America and fintech Mercado Pago, grew 39% to $7.4 billion, above the $7.2 billion expected by analysts, as sales measured by Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) jumped 35% on a currency-neutral basis.

Temu opens marketplace for Brazilian sellers [in Portuguese].. Shopee announces the closure of its operations in Chile [in Spanish].

Mercadolibre sees growth opportunities in LatAm: Mercadolibre CFO [video]. TikTok Shop sales in Mexico surge 34x in just eight months.

Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s Jahez and noon Join Forces to Redefine Quick Commerce and Food Delivery Experience.

South East Asia and Australia

TikTok surpasses 460 million monthly users in Southeast Asia and signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the Digital Transformation Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam [in Vietnamese].

Lazada unveils AI agents for shopping, refunds ahead of 11.11 sale.

The Fair Trade Commission in South Korea has reviewed a plan to ban labeling it as "free delivery" in Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats and to list it as "0 won for consumer delivery." Tmon fails to resume service as creditor repayments stall amid minimal contingent gain recoveries. FTC chair urges including Coupang's search-ranking manipulation ban in online platform law in South Korea.

JoyLogistics launches an integrated delivery and installation service for bulky items in Malaysia and Singapore.

Taiwan weighs regulation of Taobao, Pinduoduo amid ASF concerns.

Japan looks to end tax breaks on e-commerce and small personal-use imports.

US

Amazon to cut about 14,000 corporate jobs in AI push.

eBay Third-Quarter Sales, Merchandise Volume Rise. The online marketplace posted a profit of $632 million, or $1.35 a share

Whatnot lands $225M Series F, more than doubles valuation to $11.5B since January.

Grubhub links customers to Instacart grocery deliveries. Instacart, DoorDash, Gopuff among companies offering discounts to SNAP recipients.

Etsy names former Depop head Kruti Patel Goyal as its new CEO.

Luxury Commerce

LuxExperience to sell The Outnet assets to The O Group for $30M. - Fashion Network

When Net-A-Porter was acquired by Richemont and became a key part of the luxury giant’s Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) operation, its Outnet off-price business always seemed to stick out as not quite fitting. And it seems that YNAP’s new owner LuxExperience agrees, as on Friday it announced that it has reached an agreement to “sell the set of assets powering The Outnet platform, presenting a tailored solution for The Outnet that also accelerates the transformation of LuxExperience”.

Curated retailer The New Trend hits a new growth phase. - Ragtrader

Luxury multi-brand retailer The New Trend (TNT) has reported double-digit growth over the last few years amid a surge in popularity for curated retailing concepts. Speaking with Ragtrader, The New Trend co-founder and brand director, Vanessa Spencer, confirmed that FY22 sales were up 68 per cent and FY23 sales were up 42 per cent, with significant growth continuing through FY24 and FY25.

China’s No. 2 Liquor Brand Declares War on Instant Retail as Price Wars Deepen. - Vino Joy

Wuliangye’s “grey list” is more than a consumer warning — it’s a window into the broader identity crisis of China’s high-end liquor market. As e-commerce subsidies collide with legacy distribution systems, even the biggest names are losing control of their prices and image.

Mytheresa extends resale partnership with Vestiaire Collective. eBay and Condé Nast announce partnership to elevate pre-loved fashion.Mytheresa goes the extra mile with packaging as it seeks to stand out in the festive season

SSENSE Owes Millions to Indie Fashion Brands. Here’s How They’re Dealing With It. Two years on from its launch, is Vinted's authentication service working?

Courtney Cox's fragrance brand Homecourt inks $8M in funding.

Fashion and Beauty e-commerce

Colombia’s fashion battle: Garment makers prevail over yarn industry in bid to survive Shein and Temu. - El Pais English

The government of Gustavo Petro has granted garment manufacturers’ request to remove tariffs on imported raw materials, while cotton producers warn that the move will devastate their sector: ‘We are facing extinction.’

OneOff, the Latest AI-Powered Shopping App, Wants to Be Spotify for Fashion.

The Estée Lauder Companies partners with Shopify. Nordstrom relaunches holiday catalog.

Snitch enters Indian quick commerce market, launches 60-minute fashion delivery in Bengaluru.

Kanzen Skincare launches live shopping studios in Birmingham. Labelling clothes with their cost per wear could curb fast fashion, research shows.

AI and Commerce

AI Goes Shopping: Inside the New Era of Agentic Commerce. - The Fashion Law

Years of bigger brands buying attention and dominating search results might start to matter a bit less if upstarts are able to build good AI accessible online stores. It could be a quiet but massive shift in how trade works. However, each business’s visibility will depend on how AI systems read and rank sellers. If a business’s data is not formatted for AI, it may disappear from view. That could give larger players an edge and once again make it harder for smaller businesses to compete.

New AI-powered anti-scam tool wins praise from UK fraud minister. Would You Let AI Shop for You? [podcast]. AI-driven e-commerce platform for spirits launches in US.

Balance introduces MCP Server, enabling AI agents to analyze and manage B2B payments in real time. PayPal launches Agentic Commerce Services to power AI-driven shopping. eBay invests in agentic AI for shopping, working with OpenAI. Walmart debuts new AI features in its app for the holiday season.

Lula Commerce raises $8M to expand digital tools for convenience stores.

Advertising

AWS’ RTB Fabric marks a new front in the battle between Amazon and Google. - Digiday

On Thursday, it tipped its hand for what is arguably its secret weapon in this Madison Avenue dogfight: Amazon Web Services. The launch of RTB Fabric — a real-time bidding service designed for ad buyers and sellers — represents a calculated push to assert its presence in the ad tech ecosystem by leveraging its dominance in the crucial field of cloud computing. Never mind what happened even earlier in the week.

Big Tech ad revenue surges in Q3 2025. - The Keyword

Meta’s ad revenue rose 26% year over year to $50 billion. Google reported $74 billion in ad revenue, up 12% from the same quarter last year. Amazon’s advertising services hit $18 billion, growing 24% year over year.

A Manhattan federal judge concluded that the issue of Google’s liability for its monopoly on technology used by publishers to buy and sell online advertising was already decided by a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Google's Search Ads Still Work. The Question is, How Well and For How Long? Google VP doubles down: ads aren't going anywhere despite AI takeover.

The Arena Group Launches Dedicated Marketplace on Index Marketplaces, Expanding Access to Premium, Brand-Safe Advertising Inventory.

Amazon's ad revenue soars 24% to $17.7 billion.

YouTube advertising hits $10.3 billion as it takes a growing share of the TV market.

Cuttable launches in the US, giving away 3.1 billion AI-made ads.

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

Alibaba halts further expansion at Liège Airport. Belgian News Agency

Cainiao, the logistics subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will not pursue further expansion at Liège Airport. The company has decided to forgo the second and third phases of its development plans at the site, Walloon Economy minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet confirmed on Wednesday.

Korean logistics tech company Dohands, operator of the Poomgo integrated delivery platform, is accelerating cross-border e-commerce with artificial intelligence (AI)–driven systems that can deliver K-beauty products from Japan within three days.

J&T Express launches its largest logistics hub in southern China.

CP AXTRA and Cainiao Join Forces to Drive Retail-Tech Expansion Across Thailand and Southeast Asia.

Australia Post launches two-pronged approach to counterfeit detection.

Tesco is closing down Evri ParcelShop services at Express sites. InPost strengthens operations in the Iberian Peninsula.

On-demand warehouse space platform Logexa raises $2M pre-Series A. Main Capital backs French logistics management platform Shippingbo’s next growth phase.

Consumer

Fanatics isn't interested in buying Panini; Here's why an acquisition doesn't make sense. - Cllt

Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 reported Fanatics-owned manufacturer Topps, private equity firms (including Advent, Charterhouse, and CVC), and groups from the entertainment and toy sectors could be among the rumored parties interested in acquiring Panini. Sources close to Fanatics told cllct Friday that Topps is not interested in buying Panini.

Lululemon and the NFL announce an elevated fan apparel collection across NFL Shop, Fanatics, and Team Shops.

Kroger and Uber expand partnership. Walmart could lose $2B if SNAP goes dark. Walmart becomes 1st retail pickup option for Zepbound with direct-to-consumer pricing

Half Baked Harvest partners with DRINKS to offer wine to their 5M+ community. Campari exits e-commerce JV with Moët Hennessy in Italian online alcohol retailer Tannico as Q3 sales rise

WD-40 deepens digital commerce push as 2025 sales rise 5%.

Tesco brings full-basket shopping to Whoosh. The Grocer

Order sizes for Whoosh deliveries had been restricted by the size and weight that could be safely carried on the back of a moped

Ceconomy, the target of JD.com's takeover, says it will exceed its annual profit forecast. Profits at Irish unit of e-commerce group ESW fall to €10.6M.​
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​Taylor announced the acquisition of Gooten,a leading print-on-demand technology and fulfillment provider.

Popular ramen brand AFURI launches cross-border e-commerce on its official online store.

Liverpool and Palacio de Hierro post 3Q25 growth, profits diverge.

Payments

Mastercard: “Agentic commerce is here” - Digital Commerce 360

Mastercard used its Oct. 30 earnings call to mark a turning point in digital payments, announcing that AI shopping agents have already completed purchases on its network and that the rollout of its new Agent Pay platform is underway in the U.S. “Our first agentic transaction took place on our network this quarter,” CEO Michael Miebach told analysts.

Snapmint raises $125M to expand EMI financing. Agentic AI raises liability issues for payment companies.

Bash, the online shopping platform of TFG Limited, formerly The Foschini Group, has launched the ability to buy airtime, data, and other vouchers through the Bash Wallet.

Stats and Other Interesting News

Can technology make African mining transparent? Sabi thinks so. The most-visited e-commerce sites of 2025 (no Tmall nor Taobao). Kyrgyzstan's e-commerce market grows 15 pct in 2025. E-commerce growth boosts Jordan's postal sector-TRC.

AFA announced Mercado Libre as the new naming sponsor of the Argentine Professional Football League.

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 336, sent on 3 November 2025.