TODAY’S MAZE
Welcome back. This week, the battleground isn’t just online stores—it’s the invisible agents that decide what you buy before you even search. At the same time, fast fashion is being rewritten in factories, and grocery giants are reshaping delivery speed and scale.
NEWS📖
Maze Story 🌀
🔥 AI Commerce Wars Ignite
🚧 Shein’s Factory Hacks Cut Labor by 80%
Market Briefing 🔮
🇬🇧 SHEIN UK sales hit £2.05bn, profit jumps 57%
🇫🇷 Kaufland goes live in France with 2,800 sellers
🇺🇸 Amazon rolls same-day groceries to 1,000 cities
🇺🇸 Pinterest stock drops on weak US ad demand
🇺🇸 TikTok starts affiliate program called TikTok Go
🇸🇪 Klarna revives IPO plans as full-service bank
+ 15 other handpicked news from the last week you need to know 🔥
LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder
🌀 Maze Story
AI Commerce Wars Ignite 🔥
Forget clicking through search results or scrolling Amazon. The next era of shopping is agents — AI that knows what you want, finds it, and buys it for you. Amazon, Google, Walmart, Shopify, and OpenAI all want to own that agent. Whoever wins controls the shopper; whoever loses becomes a warehouse.
What happened?
Amazon blocked Google’s Mariner bot, pulled shopping ads from Google, and is rolling out Rufus + “Buy for Me” as its own AI agents.
Walmart unveiled a four-agent strategy (customer, associate, partner, developer) and hired senior AI leadership to deliver it.
Shopify updated its rules to keep humans in the loop while building a universal agentic checkout for millions of merchants.
OpenAI launched Shopping in ChatGPT and previewed Operator, led by ex-Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.
Apple, Microsoft, and Perplexity are embedding AI agents into devices and browsers, while Google ties its agents to the Shopping Graph.
Why it matters?
Consumers get faster, invisible shopping — but loyalty shifts to the agent, not the retailer.
Retail media, affiliate links, and attribution models break if agents transact without sending traffic.
Sellers and brands must optimize for agents, not keywords, or risk being invisible in the new commerce stack.
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🌀 Maze Story
Shein’s Factory Hacks Cut Labor by 80% 🚧
Shein isn’t just cranking out cheap dresses — it’s rewriting how they’re made. At its second “Tools Day,” the ultra-fast fashion giant unveiled gadgets that help suppliers automate tricky sewing steps, slash manual work, and lift product quality.
What happened?
Shein’s Centre for Innovation in Garment Manufacturing (CIGM) showcased 60+ new tools, including bead-handling devices that automate embroidery and lacework.
Since 2023, Shein has developed 170+ tools, deploying nearly 6,000 units to suppliers; some cut manual labor by up to 80%.
Beyond hardware, CIGM ran 69 training sessions and 97 certification courses in 2024, while also advising factories on layout and efficiency upgrades.
Why it matters?
For suppliers, Shein provides tools, training, and even engineers on site — raising efficiency without massive capex.
For Shein, automation means faster turnaround and more consistent quality across its supplier base.
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📰 Market Briefing
🛒 Mass merchant platforms
🇺🇸 eBay unveils seller tools at Open 2025 event. eBay launched AI chat replies, Offers-in-Messaging, margin tracking fields, and inventory mapping tools; also added delivery protections and auto-feedback features as it marks 30 years with 200M+ AI-created listings. 👉 ChannelX
🇺🇸 Walmart adds 10% discount to all groceries. Walmart expanded its employee discount to include nearly all grocery categories, both in-store and online, benefiting 1.6M U.S. workers and aiming to boost retention amid high food prices. 👉 CNBC
🇮🇳 Amazon rolls out Rufus AI assistant in India. Rufus, Amazon’s generative AI trained on catalog and web data, is now available across app and web in India to help customers ask product questions and compare items in a chat-like experience. 👉 About Amazon India
🇯🇵 TikTok Shop struggles to convert in Japan. Despite strong views, TikTok Shop faces low conversion as Japanese users and brands remain skeptical of live-commerce; cultural fit and logistics challenges slow momentum. 👉 Global Cosmetics News
🇸🇬 Sea Q2 profit jumps to $414M on Shopee, Monee. Sea’s revenue rose 38% to $5.3B with Shopee at $3.8B and Monee at $883M; profit hit $414.2M as GMV reached $29.8B and gross profit grew 52%, marking a return to growth and efficiency. 👉 Tech in Asia
🇪🇺 Faire expands to 14 new European markets. Wholesale platform Faire added CEE countries and New Zealand, now live in ~35 markets with 100k+ brands, $500M in retailer spend, and tools for easier cross-border buying. 👉 ecommerceBridge
🇺🇸 Tariffs cost U.S. shoppers $12B per month. Omnisend survey shows tariffs add $47/month per household; 66% see price hikes, 68% shift from Chinese sites, and 43% would pay more for U.S.-made goods. 👉 Omnisend
👗 Fashion, Home & Beauty Ecommerce
🇪🇺 MediaMarkt expands marketplace to CH and HU. Online sales hit €1.14bn with marketplace GMV up ~90% YoY; SKUs rose to 2.8m. After Poland and Belgium, launches in Switzerland and Hungary are next. Ceconomy expects €375m EBIT for FY25. 👉 Ecommerce News Europe
🇫🇷 Kaufland goes live in France with 2,800 sellers. New site offers 3m+ items across 6,400 categories. French sellers get access to DE, CZ, SK, PL, AT. Italy launch next. Kaufland builds cross-border ecom reach in Amazon-led market. 👉 RetailDetail
🇺🇸 Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra to step down. Founder exits Oct 1 after 15 years; Naver exec Namsun Kim takes over. Chandra moves to board after leading IPO and $1.2bn sale to Naver. 👉 TechCrunch
🇸🇪 H&M signs Circulose deal for recycled viscose. Multi-year pact replaces virgin viscose across brands. Part of H&M’s 2030 goal to use only recycled or sustainable materials. 👉 Yahoo News
🇬🇧 SHEIN UK sales hit £2.05bn, profit jumps 57%. 2024 revenue rose 32.3%; UK is now SHEIN’s #3 market. Pretax profit reached £38.25m. IPO prep continues in Hong Kong. 👉 CNBC
🇬🇧 Frasers Group acquires Ebuyer. Ebuyer revenue fell to £136.5m in 2023 with £1.8m loss. Deal adds to Frasers’ portfolio of distressed UK retailers. 👉 Retail Gazette
🍔 eGrocery & Food Delivery
🇺🇸 Amazon rolls same-day groceries to 1,000 cities. Amazon now delivers perishable food same day in 1,000 U.S. cities. Prime orders over $25 are free, others pay $12.99. Instacart shares fell 11% after the move. 👉 TechCrunch
🇨🇳 Alibaba, Meituan battle with free drink offers. Alibaba and Meituan hand out free drinks and deals to win food delivery users. One rider handled 100 orders per shift, double the usual. 👉 SCMP
🇪🇺 EU clears €4.1B Just Eat deal by Prosus. The European Commission approved Prosus’ €4.1B takeover of Just Eat Takeaway. No further details were disclosed in the article. 👉 FoodBev
🇬🇧 DoorDash deal hits Deliveroo’s bottom line. Deliveroo posted a £19.2M loss after a £1.3M profit last year. Legal costs from the DoorDash deal dragged profits, though orders and revenue grew 8%. 👉 RetailDetail
🇪🇺 Wolt pilots zero-emission delivery fleet. Wolt teams up with EIT and Uny to test battery-swapping EVs in Prague, Warsaw and Budapest. The project targets 72K orders and 25 tons less CO₂. 👉 Wolt Press
🇭🇰 Drones speed up food delivery in Hong Kong. Keeta drones cut delivery times by 35 minutes between Science Park and Ma On Shan. The low-altitude service expands fast logistics in the city. 👉 SCMP
🇩🇪 Delivery Hero gives riders end-of-day control. New “Last Stop” feature lets riders pick where to finish their shift. The tool aims to improve route planning and flexibility. 👉 Delivery Hero
🚚Ecommerce Logistics
🇬🇧 DHL invests €637m in 1,000+ UK robots for growth. DHL is spending €637 million to add 1,000+ robots across its UK and Ireland sites to meet demand from e-commerce and health care. CEO Saul Resnick says the move builds on €1 billion in automation efforts since 2020. 👉 Robotics & Automation News
🇺🇸 ShipBob opens FTZs to shield from tariff changes. ShipBob launched FTZ warehouses on both US coasts as part of its De Minimis Defense Program, helping merchants reduce duties and avoid new import costs before the Aug 29 rule change. 👉 PR Newswire
🇺🇸 Walmart adds Vietnam-US ocean route for sellers. Walmart now offers ocean shipping from Vietnam to the US via ports in Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong. This helps WFS sellers diversify beyond China and improve supply chain resilience. 👉 Supply Chain Dive
🇺🇸 UPS delays buyout deadline after weak response. UPS extended its driver buyout offer to mid-August after low interest. The offer promised $1,800 per service year with a $10,000 minimum, but Teamsters opposed it. 👉 FreightWaves
🇨🇳 AliExpress opens fully automated warehouse. AliExpress launched its first fully automated logistics park in Dongguan using conveyor belt matrix tech. The upgrade cuts domestic delivery by up to 6 hours and enables unmanned handling from picking to warehouse delivery. 👉 AASTOCKS
🇮🇳 FedEx, UPS, DHL face India antitrust crosschecks. India’s CCI will cross-examine executives from FedEx, UPS, DHL, Aramex and DTDC in a price-fixing case. The case was closed in 2022 but has now reopened on publisher complaints. 👉 Reuters
🇦🇪 FedEx expands e-com shipping in MEISA region. FedEx added day-definite service to Middle East, India, and Africa via its International Connect Plus offering. The move targets rising trade between the Philippines, UAE, and India. 👉 Parcel and Postal Technology International
📣Ecommerce Marketing
🇺🇸 Google adds AI flight search for better deals. Google Flights now shows AI-powered flight deals using natural language like “cheap trip in winter,” ranks by % saved, and adds filters like no basic economy. It's live in the US, Canada, and India during EU antitrust scrutiny. 👉 TechCrunch
🇺🇸 Perplexity offers $34.5B to buy Google Chrome. The AI startup made a surprise all-cash bid to buy Chrome, promising to invest $3B, keep it open-source, and retain search defaults. Google hasn’t agreed, but the offer highlights antitrust pressure. 👉 CNBC
🇺🇸 TikTok starts affiliate program called TikTok Go. Creators can now earn cash or vouchers for booking hotels through their videos. It's invite-only and live in the US, Indonesia, and Japan with plans to expand into restaurants and local experiences. 👉 Social Media Today
🇺🇸 Reddit now most-cited site in AI answers. In Q2, Reddit was used more than any other source, about twice as often as Wikipedia, by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini, as platforms tap forums for user-driven insights. 👉 DeepNewz
🇺🇸 Pinterest stock drops on weak US ad demand. Shares fell 14% after the company warned of ad slowdowns, linked to new tariffs hurting Asian sellers. EPS missed estimates, and pricing dropped 25%, though global users rose to 578M. 👉 Reuters
🇺🇸 Google Ads adds tool to check cart conversion data. New diagnostics show if item ID, price, and quantity match Google Merchant Center. It flags errors as Excellent, Good, Needs Attention, or Urgent to help teams clean up tracking. 👉 Search Engine Land
🇺🇸 AI shopping answers may hurt affiliate traffic. Tools like ChatGPT and Google Overviews show products right away, which could cut clicks to sites like Wirecutter. Affiliates risk losing referral fees this holiday season. 👉 Practical Ecommerce
🛠️Ecommerce Software
🇺🇸 Google adds shopping tools to AI Mode display. Google is testing “product cards” and “Buy now” buttons in AI Mode, letting users add items to cart directly from AI answers. This mimics Perplexity and brings agentic commerce closer. 👉 Retailgentic
🇸🇪 Klarna revives IPO plans as full-service bank. Klarna posted $823M in Q2 revenue and a $53M loss, with plans to IPO in New York by fall. The company now promotes debit cards and loans to expand beyond BNPL. 👉 Bloomberg
🇸🇪 Klarna auto-activates on WooCommerce via Stripe. Klarna is now live by default for WooCommerce stores using Stripe’s plugin. This move unlocks flexible payments for thousands of merchants without code. 👉 Klarna
🇺🇸 Forter unveils ID Monitoring for AI agents. Forter launched tools to track AI agent traffic from browse to checkout. It shows agent types and detects bot patterns to reduce fraud risk. 👉 PR Newswire
🇺🇸 Wunderkind launches app for Shopify sellers. Shopify stores can now use Wunderkind’s identity-based AI tools to send personalized messages and boost lifetime value. 👉 PRWeb
🇸🇬 Graas.ai raises $9M to grow Agent Foundry. Graas.ai closed a $9M round led by Tin Men Capital to expand in India and Southeast Asia. The startup automates pricing and inventory for 2,000+ brands. 👉 Graas.ai
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