Welcome to MarketMaze, the #1 newsletter in the Marketplace and E-commerce space that keeps professionals ahead of the curve by keeping them smart and up to date with the latest insights in just 5 minutes weekly

🙋‍♂ Was this forwarded to you? 👉 Sign up to the newsletter
💌 Did you like this issue? 👉 Sharing this link is caring!

TikTok Shop, alongside Shein and Temu, is reshaping US retail, leveraging influencer marketing and its social platform's reach. Few weeks ago we reported on ambitious TikTok Shop targets. Now A recent "Earnest Analytics Case Study" delves into TikTok Shop's customer base, offering fresh insights.

📊 Recent Sales Insights

👥 Understanding the Shoppers

💼 Spending Patterns

🔍 Consumer Preferences

As part of an agreement with the European Commission in March 2020, Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group, and TripAdvisor started providing data on their performance to Eurostat. The initiative aims to analyze the trends within the EU's short-term rental landscape. 

Selected insights:

📈 Significant Uptick in short-term stays 

🦠 Navigating Through COVID

🏖 2023's Hotspots: Where Everyone Wanted to Be?

▶  🇺🇸 Amazon revises checkout-free tech strategy. Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, once a symbol of AI's retail prowess, is taking a backseat at Amazon Fresh stores in favor of Dash Carts. A blend of tech and manual checks, involving a 1,000-strong team in India, didn't quite match the AI dream…

▶🇺🇸 Amazon delays rollout of controversial fee. Amazon halts its new low-inventory fee for April ‘24, creating a "transition period" to help sellers adjust. This comes amid widespread concern and an FTC probe into how these fees affect Amazon's merchant community

▶🇨🇦 Shopify snags Salesforce talent for big leap. With new tools like Hydrogen and partnerships with Mattel, Shopify is fighting for the enterprise segment

▶🇨🇳 Alibaba's rocket delivery aims for 1-hour global reach. Alibaba teams up with Space Epoch, eyeing to deliver parcels globally within an hour using XZY-1 rocket

▶🇩🇪 Temu rebuffs unfair practice allegations. German consumer watchdogs flag Temu for questionable tactics, but the e-commerce giant stands firm, claiming EU law compliance and transparency in their operations

▶🌎 Shopify doubles down on eco-commerce. With the Planet app, Shopify merchants offer carbon-neutral shipping, neutralizing emissions from over 25M orders and removing 23,000 tons of CO2 since 2022

▶🇰🇷 AliExpress, Temu shake up Korea's e-market. AliExpress and Temu's rapid growth in Korea challenges Coupang's dominance

▶🇨🇳 Shein's profits soar to $2 billion in 2023, doubling its earnings and selling $45 billion in goods

▶🇮🇳 Amazon launches Bazaar in India's fashion race, targeting the fast-fashion market dominated by Flipkart and Ajio. Starting with t-shirts at $1.55, Amazon promises a vast selection and competitive prices

▶🇬🇧 H&M slashes prices and revamps retail. Under new CEO Daniel Ervér, H&M Group is reducing prices while aiming for upscale design to boost profitability

▶🇨🇦 Canada Goose & friends trim DTC sails. As consumer spending tightens, Canada Goose, Nike, and Levi, the titans of DTC, navigate layoffs and strategy pivots. A dance between cutting costs and rekindling wholesale relationships unfolds, signaling a rocky DTC path ahead

▶🌍 Sephora and REI lead with eco-innovations. Sephora's Earth Month efforts spotlight recycling with its Beauty (Re)Purposed program collecting over 11K pounds of material. REI showcases its eco-friendly campsites with recycled Trex decking. Poshmark and Joor join the eco-push with sustainable fashion partnerships

▶🌍 Fashion retailers lead in sustainability aims. Fashion retailers, particularly those in the Global Top1000, are setting the bar high in sustainability, revealing their targets and action plans on their sites

▶🇺🇸 Buybuy Baby outshines Amazon with expertise. After navigating bankruptcy, Buybuy Baby, previously under Bed Bath & Beyond, is carving out a niche against giants like Amazon with its expertly curated baby products and omnichannel approach, offering a mix of digital and physical shopping experiences

▶🇮🇳 Next expands in India with Myntra deal. Opens stores in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, building on a successful online collaboration since 2023. Myntra's CEO, Nandita Sinha, highlights a doubled demand and a perfect market fit in India

▶🇺🇸 Instacart branches out to smart appliances, unveils a developer platform allowing integration into apps and websites, enhancing grocery shopping from recipe discovery to delivery. Partners include New York Times Cooking and GE Appliances' smart tech

▶🇺🇸 Instacart expands with AWG's smart carts. Instacart and AWG amplify their alliance, integrating AI smart carts into 2,300+ member stores. These carts allow for shopping with instant item recognition and seamless checkouts

▶🇺🇸 Uber Eats rolls with Waymo in Phoenix. Uber Eats, in collaboration with Waymo, introduces driverless food delivery in Phoenix's Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler

▶🇺🇸 DoorDash dives into DIY with Lowe’s. With over 1,700 Lowe's stores on board, DoorDash expands its marketplace to include DIY supplies, spring cleaning essentials, and gardening tools

▶🇺🇸 Uber Eats teams up with The Vitamin Shoppe for consumables delivery, while DoorDash expands into DIY, beauty and pet food. Anything to increase purchase frequency

▶🇺🇸 DoorDash tests benefits for gig drivers. In a six-month pilot in Pennsylvania, DoorDash collaborates with Stride to offer Dashers savings, health, and vacation benefits. CEO Tony Xu highlights the move towards a more flexible and secure gig economy

▶🇺🇸 Gopuff launches 20-min delivery service. Gopuff’s new Fam20 option promises deliveries in 20 minutes or less for a mere $1.49, marking a significant move in the instant commerce space

▶🇺🇸 Google eyes $35B Hubspot acquisition. Google's talks with Morgan Stanley hint at a possible $35B offer for Hubspot

▶🌎 Google's final call for GA4 migration. As the Universal Analytics sunset looms in July, Google nudges for a shift to Google Analytics 4. The end of UA could spell disaster for unprepared campaigns, with data deletion…

▶🇺🇸 Opendoor settles for $62M, FTC wins big. Opendoor compensates 55K home sellers with nearly $62M, following FTC allegations of misleading marketing practices. This settlement, amidst Opendoor's financial strains and a near $1B loss, underscores the FTC's stringent oversight

▶🇬🇧 Kingfisher boosts online with Virtualstock. Kingfisher extends its collaboration with Virtualstock (Dropshipping SAAS) for 3 years to scale B&Q's online offerings, emphasizing innovation and customer-centric solutions in the home improvement sector

▶🇬🇧 B&Q's marketplace conquers 38% ecommerce sales. With a 38% slice of ecommerce pie of £2.3B by Jan 2024, B&Q's marketplace under Kingfisher eyes global domination, starting with France and Poland expansions

▶🇺🇸 TikTok Shop raises fees, prices to soar. TikTok Shop’s era of offering deals too good to be true is potentially ending, with seller fees jumping from 2% to 8% by July. This significant hike could lead to higher prices for shoppers

▶🇺🇸 Cart.com bolsters Amazon services with Amify. With Cart.com's acquisition of Amify, they're tapping into proprietary tech and expertise to boost Amazon marketplace performance. Amify, supporting 50+ brands, brings $1B GMV experience and a full team including founder Ethan McAfee

▶🌍 Mytheresa eyes Yoox in a high-fashion bid. As Richemont seeks a buyer for Yoox Net-a-Porter, potential suitors including Mytheresa and BestSecret emerge, despite YNAP's continuous financial challenges and a fine by Italy's antitrust agency.

▶🇺🇸 Flip's $144M bet to outshine Amazon and TikTok, banking on user-generated content for a fresh online shopping experience.

▶🇩🇪 Secret Sales buys Dress-for-less, a German retailer with a £85M turnover in 2023. This marks a significant move in its European expansion, providing brands a new route to pan-European market.

▶🌏 SingleInterface secures $30M for global expansion from Asia Partners and PayPal Ventures. Aiming to enhance global presence and AI offerings for multi-location businesses with digital marketing

That’s all. See you next week in the 🌀Maze!

Your guide through the maze

Artur Stańczuk Chief Strategy Officer at Packhelp, the leading European packaging marketplace. Previously worked ~8 yrs at Bain & Co. In the past, Digital Transformation Director at the leading Polish convenience chain Żabka and Entrepreneur that co-launched 3 startups