Happy Sunday! Welcome to the MarketMaze newsletter, where we bring you the latest news, statistics, and analysis from the E-commerce & Marketplace space so you can stay ahead of the curve. Each week, we'll send you an email covering all the information you need, and it will take just ~5 mins to read.
Today's write-up is 1259 words, a 6-minute read.
This week’s TL;DR:
1. 📰News: Alibaba to launch Tmall across Europe, a major shift in international strategy
2. 📊Stat: US online shoppers survey shows a strong frequency of purchases from marketplaces and confusion over who actually sells the product
3. 📖Headlines: Amazon, eBay, Vinted, Nike, Zalando, Uber, Airbnb and more!
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1. 📰 News of the week
Alibaba to launch Tmall across Europe, a major shift in international strategy
Alibaba plans to expand one of its key e-commerce platforms, Tmall, into Europe. Alibaba is piloting the Tmall project in Spain, with plans to expand across the continent.
The launch of Tmall in Europe reflects a significant shift in strategy. Previously, Alibaba's international push has focused on AliExpress, which lists goods that come from China and are shipped to Europe. Tmall in Europe would focus on selling local brands to local shoppers.
📓The Takeaway: Tmall in Europe could be a part of Alibaba's broader business restructuring. The company wants to split its business into six independent units, aiming for increased autonomy and faster decision-making. Alibaba is reportedly considering IPO of its Global Online Commerce Arm (Lazada, AliExpress).
2. 📊 Stat of the week
US e-shoppers survey shows a strong passion for marketplaces and confusion over who actually sells the product
US online shoppers remain passionate about purchasing via marketplaces. 44% of e-shoppers buy from online marketplaces at least weekly. 25% of e-shoppers have shopped on social media marketplaces like Facebook and Instagram.
Marketplace purchasing will likely be steady in the coming year. 66% of e-shoppers plan to purchase more or less the same from marketplaces, while 25% indicate more. 24% point out that they purchase exclusively from marketplaces.
Prices are the main reason to pick the marketplace or retailer. 46% of respondents admitted they didn’t know if a product was being offered by the marketplace or the seller. 50+% of e-shoppers indicated that they have ultimately purchased directly at the merchant's website after finding the product on a marketplace.
📓Takeaway: Online shoppers remain passionate about purchasing via marketplaces and marketplace purchasing will likely be steady in the coming year. Added expousure and product visibilty on online marketplace could serve as aquicition chanlle for retailers and lead to direct purchasing, which is likely to be more profitable for the merchant
Deep dive → Digital Commerce 360
3. 📖 Headlines of the week
🛒Mass merchants
Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch its own NFT marketplace focused on offering digital collectibles linked to physical goods delivered to customers’ doorsteps. The initial launch (April 24th) was postponed for undisclosed reasons. Deep dive → Cripco @ Medium
Onbuy is building its competitive advantage by becoming a Merchant of Record and providing shoppers and sellers with an extensive range of payment options based on a partnership with Nuvei. Deep dive → eSeller365
eBay launches a beta AI plug-in that allows sellers to automatically generate text for their item descriptions based on product attributes to cut down on the time and effort required to list items. Deep dive → Retail Brew
👗Fashion
Vinted after entering Romania in May, is strengthening its e-commerce delivery partnerships by signing deals with Inpost and Cargus. Deep dive → dlahandlu | trans.info | Cargus
SHEIN marketplace expands beyond fashion to appliances (e.g., portable washing machines), smart home (e.g., remote-controlled lighting), and home DIY products (e.g., bathroom and kitchen fixtures and wallpaper). Deep dive → Fashion network | Yahoo Finance
Nike added a sixth partner (Pro:Direct Sport) to its “connected” program, through which it quietly creates the future marketplace of sport. All members get member-exclusive products, experiences, and connected inventory, and Nike gets data and direct customer relationships across marketplace channels. Deep dive → RetailGazette
Zalando after exiting secondhand fashion platform, Zircle, in November 2022, Zalando is getting back into the circularity game. “The Art of Remade” clothes collection is created based on inventory that was not sold for more than two seasons. Deep dive → Yahoo Finance
Zalando introduced a new virtual fitting room that allows consumers to see how jeans will fit them on a 3D virtual avatar before they decide to purchase. The virtual fitting room experience allows consumers to create a 3D avatar by entering their height, weight, and gender. Deep dive → SourcingJournal
Sainsbury's aims at building a new online marketplace for high-street fashion brands. The UK’s second-biggest supermarket chain has been pitching to clothing brands the idea of selling on its website and in up to 60 of its larger stores. Deep dive → The times
🍔Food
Uber adds groceries and over-the-counter medical items to its Uber Health service. Uber plans to work with health plans and providers to prescribe food as medicine, following Instacart which in March 2023 launched a digital tool for doctors to prescribe food like they prescribe medication. Deep dive → Business Insider | Fast Company
Uber offers advertisers the opportunity to reach its customers with long-form video messaging, along with visuals across its Uber, Uber Eats and Drizly platforms. Deep dive → Chain Store Age
📦Other
Uber to bring Uber Carshare to Boston and Toronto in the coming months. Uber Carshare, launched in Australia, allows people to borrow a nearby car for hours (or days) or rent their own cars for cash. Deep dive → Entrepreneur | USA Today
Etsy continues to test search inserts in Sellers' Photos. The label "related searches" is being tested at the top of the product photo. Deep dive → EcommerceBytes
Airbnb launches a total price display to address hidden fees and increase affordability. Deep dive → Beststocks
Mediamarkt to launch subscriptions for electronic device repairs, regardless of where they were bought. The subscription potenitally to be a part of the marketplace that is currently live in Germany, Austria, and Spain. Marketplace roll-out is planned in the near future in at least 2 other countries. Deep dive → Stadt bremerhaven
That’s all. See you next week!
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Author
Artur Stańczuk is a Chief Strategy Officer at Packhelp, the leading European packaging marketplace. Previously worked ~8 years at Bain & Co. In the past, Digital Transformation Director at the leading Polish convenience chain Żabka and Entrepreneur that co-launched 3 start-ups