Apple Opens Europe’s App Gate

From 1 October, Apple's unified EU terms charge 26% for Apple checkout, 20% for in-app alternatives and 15% for linked offers, with reduced rates for qualifying developers.

Apps can combine Apple payments, third-party processing and external offers, but developers must keep their chosen payment mix for 12 months.

Alternative stores gain broader eligibility, yet Apple retains notarization, reporting and a 5% claim on covered off-store digital commerce.

The reused Decathlon hub gives Joybuy a physical Benelux inventory node, although its size, investment and capacity remain undisclosed.

JD’s European network links warehouses, transport and last-mile delivery, keeping more of the customer promise under one owner.

Local centres already supported fast delivery in the UK, but no equivalent Belgium or Luxembourg service level has been confirmed.

A roughly 1,000-title order moved through Biblio, a rare-and-used book marketplace, before reaching Amazon’s LAS8 site.

Workers describe VGT3 cutting bindings, scanning loose pages and discarding the originals; Amazon says it buys books through commercial channels.

A federal court distinguished lawfully bought-and-scanned books from pirated libraries, explaining the value of a physical procurement route without deciding Amazon’s case.

Walmart moved from the high-20% range to the high-30s between 2Q21 and 2Q26, while supermarkets fell from the mid-30s to the low-20s in the five-year comparison.

July 2026 eGrocery sales rose 21.5%, so Walmart is taking share inside grocery's main growth channel rather than a static digital niche.

Walmart turned stores into delivery nodes, reaching more than 19,000 ZIP codes with sub-30-minute orders while its first-party checkout keeps customer data and order density together.

Weekly GenAI use reaches 52.4%, while questions and explanations reach 51.3%; shopping sits at 16.6%.

Trust falls down the funnel: 47% accept AI price comparisons, but only 24% accept AI-powered payments.

Among AI shoppers, comparison leads at 47% and discovery at 39%—the buying journey starts with clarity.

Roughly 37.2% of households spent at least half their grocery dollars online in July 2026, up about 7.5 points in two years.

July eGrocery sales grew 21.5%, driven mainly by 14.9% higher order frequency, while in-store grocery sales fell 2.6%.

Faster fulfillment is converting quick store trips into digital orders, with Walmart expanding 30-minute delivery across 33 U.S. markets.

IKEA is preparing a UK peer-to-peer marketplace for used IKEA furniture, keeping the brand connected to customers and product data after the first sale.

eBay expanded its Authenticity Guarantee to eligible US and world coins priced at $500 or more, reducing trust friction in a high-value collectibles category.

Alipay launched a merchant platform around Ah Bao and its 10,000-plus AI services, putting discovery, service and transactions inside a major payments ecosystem.

Visa and Mastercard joined Rain’s coalition for interoperable agent-initiated payments, giving fragmented AI checkout systems a route toward common infrastructure.

US ecommerce reached 17.1% of retail sales as online growth accelerated, raising the stakes for channel investment and fulfillment capacity.

The Association of National Advertisers warned that retail media data remains fragmented and incomplete, complicating how brands compare networks and allocate budgets.

Clearco secured $100 million and expects to break even by the fourth quarter, restoring capacity in a merchant-finance channel after years of restructuring.