AI Instant Checkout🤖

Generative AI is finally making e-commerce as seamless as a chat—one question, one click, instant checkout. Meanwhile, Amazon’s B2B marketplace is quietly reshaping how companies buy, driving billions in sales behind the scenes. This week, we break down the tech shifts and corporate moves changing how the world shops and supplies itself.

Maze Focus🌀
🤖 AI Instant Checkout
📦 Amazon B2B Marketplace Boom

Market Briefing📖
🇺🇸 Amazon launches grocery brand under $5
🇺🇸 Amazon adds one-tap delivery for Prime
🇬🇧 eBay and OpenAI launch £3m AI program
🇫🇷 Shein opens first permanent stores in France
🇩🇪 Mytheresa keeps growing under LuxExperience
🇺🇸 Hertz launches used car marketplace online

+ 15 other handpicked news from the last week you need to know 🔥

LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder

The Briefing:
ChatGPT is no longer just answering questions—it’s placing real orders. The new Instant Checkout system lets merchants feed product data directly into the model, with an AI agent orchestrating the purchase flow and delegated payments closing the deal. It’s a frictionless path from search to sale.

The details:

Why it matters:
For shoppers, this means less friction and faster conversion. For merchants, it’s new control over product data—and for investors, a glimpse of where generative commerce is headed.

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The Briefing:
Amazon isn’t just for consumers. Its business marketplace now handles over $35 billion a year, transforming corporate buying and squeezing legacy distributors in the process.

The details:

Why it matters:
Corporate buyers love the transparency and cost savings. Traditional suppliers feel the pressure, and Amazon is proving that B2B marketplaces can be as disruptive—and profitable—as consumer platforms.

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🇪🇸 Amazon launches Haul bargain platform in Spain. Amazon introduced Haul, a discount shop with all items under €20, in Spain—its third market after the UK and Germany. The move targets Shein and Temu with perks like 5% off over €30 and free shipping from €15. 👉 Amazon launches Haul bargain platform in Spain

🇺🇸 Amazon launches grocery brand under $5. Amazon rolled out “Amazon Grocery,” merging Fresh and Happy Belly into a private-label food line. Most products cost less than $5, with over 1,000 SKUs aimed at price-sensitive shoppers and competing with Walmart and Aldi. 👉 Amazon launches a grocery brand with most products under $5

🇺🇸 Amazon adds one-tap delivery for Prime. Prime members in the U.S. can now add items to a pending order with a single tap, cutting down split shipments. The new “Add to Delivery” feature helps Amazon drive bigger baskets and lower delivery costs. 👉 Amazon now lets Prime members add items to upcoming orders with one tap

🇬🇧 eBay and OpenAI launch £3m AI program. eBay launched AI Activate, a £3m scheme with OpenAI, offering up to 10,000 UK small businesses access to ChatGPT Enterprise and AI training. Sellers get hands-on tools for automating listings and customer support. 👉 eBay OpenAI small business

🇭🇺 Temu overtakes Hungary's online market. In Q2 2025, Hungarians spent more online with foreign retailers than domestic ones for the first time. Temu led this shift, capturing growth with low prices and simple cross-border logistics. 👉 Temu taken over Hungary online market

🇨🇳 Alibaba tests first cross-border AI agent. Alibaba is piloting AoXia, an AI agent for overseas buyers, set for November launch. It finds Chinese suppliers from global product links, aiming to shrink sourcing cycles from weeks to minutes for SMBs. 👉 Alibaba unveils first cross-border e-commerce AI agent

🌏 AliExpress starts Super Brand expansion. AliExpress launched a plan to attract top brands with lower fees and logistics perks before Double 11. The campaign targets Fortune Global 500 names and steps up the fight with Temu for global bargain hunters. 👉 Babaws AliExpress kicks off Super Brand Global Expansion Plan

🇩🇪 Zalando pushes deep into European sports market. Zalando is pivoting from a generalist to a sports specialist, launching curated collections and events. High-end sports shoes now make up over 70% of running sales, and the company is investing in cycling, football, and expert content. 👉 FashionNetwork

🇫🇷 Shein opens first permanent stores in France. Fast-fashion giant Shein will launch its first permanent shops in Paris and five other French cities. The move sparked backlash from Galeries Lafayette and city officials, as France weighs new fast-fashion taxes and advertising limits. 👉 Le Monde

🇩🇪 Mytheresa keeps growing under LuxExperience. Luxury e-tailer Mytheresa posted €916M in annual sales, up 8.9%, with gross margin at 47% and EBITDA up 73%. Q4 sales rose 11.5% as top customers drove performance and the group restructured YNAP to boost profits. 👉 TheIndustry.fashion

🇺🇸 Hertz launches used car marketplace online. Hertz rolled out a digital platform for buying, financing, and trading used cars in the U.S. The move comes as the company reduces its EV fleet and partners with Amazon Autos, aiming to increase margins and monetize its fleet. 👉 CNBC

🇩🇪 Highsnobiety ends e-commerce to focus on media. Highsnobiety will shut its online shop by year-end, cutting 50 jobs to return to media and creative services. E-commerce contributed less than 10% of revenue and never turned a profit, says CEO David Fischer. 👉 OuiSpeakFashion

🇵🇱 Vinted expands cross-border trade for Poles. Starting October 7, Polish users can buy and sell with Latvia, Estonia, and Slovenia. This cross-border move leverages partners like DPD and InPost, following 36% annual growth to €813M in 2024 for Vinted. 👉 FashionBiznes

🇫🇷 Vestiaire Collective sells carbon credits for resale. Vestiaire launched carbon credits tied to avoided emissions from secondhand sales, priced at €34/ton. The company claims it avoided over 63,000 tons of CO₂ in 2024, with credits certified by AmSpec. 👉 FashionUnited

🇬🇧 ASOS boosts profits despite lower sales. ASOS improved margins and boosted EBITDA over 60% even as sales fell by about 8%. The company cut costs, optimized warehouses, and saw over 20% of private label sales via Test & React. 👉 Apparel Resources

🇮🇳 Flipkart wins key approvals to move to India. Flipkart secured court and board approvals to shift headquarters from Singapore to India, setting up for a 2026 IPO. Google invested $350M; the move mirrors PhonePe’s relocation and aims to attract Indian investors. 👉 TechCrunch

🇬🇧 Tesco marketplace switches to Mirakl tech. Tesco will move its online marketplace from Marketplacer to Mirakl, giving sellers access to better integrations. The change aims for faster onboarding, broader assortment, and fewer tech headaches for merchants. 👉 ChannelX

🇬🇧 IKEA launches “Life at Home” service bundle. IKEA’s new UK offer includes moving help, energy services, and a credit card for flexible payment. Partners like Just Move In and Aira aim to capture more customer spending beyond furniture sales. 👉 Retail Gazette

🇺🇸 DoorDash unveils Dot delivery robot in Arizona. DoorDash launched Dot, an autonomous robot that delivers up to 30 lbs and drives 20 mph in Phoenix suburbs. The new tech pushes DoorDash into autonomous delivery with human support for tricky cases. 👉 CNBC

🇺🇸 Walmart offers prescriptions and groceries in one order. Walmart lets US shoppers combine pharmacy meds and groceries online, including cold-chain drugs like insulin. This makes prescription refills easier and drives more sales per cart. 👉 Retail Tech Innovation Hub

🇩🇪 Flink sells 160,000 food rescue bags since April. Flink’s surprise “rescue bags” for expiring food hit 33,500 monthly sales by August, mostly in Berlin. Over 75% of rescued items are near expiry; the project helps reduce waste in major German cities. 👉 Retail-News.de

🇭🇰 Pinduoduo Brings Free Home Delivery to Hong Kong. Pinduoduo now offers free home delivery across Hong Kong, shifting away from pickup sites to improve convenience. The move follows a split with SF Express and covers most parcels except the heaviest. 👉 TechNode

🇵🇱 DHL Buys Out Locker JV for 10,000 Sites by 2026. DHL eCommerce will acquire APM Solutions, its Polish locker venture with Alibaba’s Cainiao, to own and expand a network targeting 10,000 lockers by 2026, boosting its position in Poland’s fast-growing parcel market. 👉 Yahoo Finance

🇪🇸 Madrid’s Reveni Raises €7.5M to Fix Cross-Border. Madrid-based Reveni secured €7.5M Series A funding to expand its logistics platform, promising 25% cost cuts for brands like Victoria Beckham and Jigsaw. The firm now aims to boost EU and UK expansion and tech hiring. 👉 TechStartups

🌍 E-Commerce Boom Lifts Air Cargo Volumes in 2025. Air cargo saw global demand rise 4.1% YoY in August 2025, driven by e-commerce flows, especially between Europe, Asia, and Africa. IATA reports six straight months of growth despite mixed regional capacity. 👉 Air Cargo News

🇺🇸 OpenAI debuts Sora, a TikTok-style AI video app. The new app lets users create and remix AI videos with verified "cameos," parental controls, and a feed like TikTok. Meta launched a rival Vibes feed as competition heats up. 👉 Wired

🇺🇸 Pinterest adds Top of Search ad placements. Pinterest is testing premium ad slots at the top of search results and rolling out Local Inventory Ads, aiming to capture retail media budgets as users hit over 550 million monthly. 👉 Pinterest Newsroom

🇺🇸 TikTok Shop pitches brands like a digital grocer. TikTok Shop sales jumped 120% year-over-year as brands use the platform for limited editions and "end-cap" style promos, with viral trends helping push products into Walmart and Albertsons. 👉 Modern Retail

🇺🇸 Google Ads expands Performance Max reports. Advertisers get more insight with new asset segmentation by device and network, plus a beta channel report showing ROI from YouTube, Search, Display, and more. 👉 Search Engine Journal

🇺🇸 Google Ads pilots Labs hub for new features. Google is testing a Labs section to centralize ad experiments and early betas, giving advertisers structured access to new tools as Performance Max gets more transparent. 👉 Search Engine Land

🇺🇸 Meta to use AI chat data for targeted ads. Starting December 2025, Meta will use topics from AI chat and smart-glasses to target ads and content for 1 billion+ users, except in the EU, UK, and South Korea. No opt-out is offered. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 PayPal rolls out instant product search. PayPal launched Instant Product Discovery for US users, letting shoppers use chatbot queries to instantly find and buy products with live pricing, cashback, and direct merchant links. Rollout starts for Honey users ahead of Black Friday. 👉 PayPal

🇺🇸 Klaviyo unveils AI-powered marketing agents. Klaviyo introduced Marketing Agent and Customer Agent, two new AI tools for brands to automate campaigns and customer support across chat, SMS, and email. Both are now live for all users and integrate with major data platforms. 👉 BusinessWire

🇬🇧 Base adds Temu integration for EU/UK sellers. Order platform Base now lets merchants manage Temu listings, orders, and inventory alongside Amazon and eBay, streamlining operations for SMEs as Temu ramps up its “Local-to-Local” expansion across Europe and the UK. 👉 ChannelX

🇩🇪 Zoovu launches next-gen AI shopping assistant. Zoovu rolled out “Zoe,” an AI assistant that guides shoppers throughout ecommerce sites, now live with brands like Microsoft and Staples. Brands report up to 25% more add-to-cart actions and double-digit conversion gains. 👉 BusinessWire

🇺🇸 Novi debuts AI solution for certified shopping. Novi released an AI suite that boosts shopper trust by highlighting verified product attributes and compliance badges. Pilot results include a 230% jump in average order value and up to 40% higher conversion rates. 👉 PRNewswire

🇨🇦 NameSilo buys CommerceHQ, adds web shop builder. NameSilo acquired CommerceHQ and launched a drag-and-drop ecommerce site builder for its domain customers, now live for 5.8 million domains worldwide. This move expands bundled web and commerce services for SMBs. 👉 PRNewswire