TODAY’S MAZE
Good morning! The European Commission is escalating its regulatory focus, launching investigations to determine if key cloud providers AWS and Microsoft Azure qualify as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The move aims to force open ecosystems, potentially driving down data egress fees and boosting interoperability for businesses. Can regulators force these giants to create truly flexible infrastructure without hampering innovation?
In today’s MarketMaze:
EU targets cloud giants
Meta 'Glitchmas' hurts Q4
Brands trim Black Friday deals
Singles Day’s New Shap
Tariffs Reshape Demand
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Handpicked recent news you need to know:
🏬 Ecommerce Players (Marketplaces, e-Retailers, D2C)
📣 Ecommerce Ecosystem (Marketing, Tools, Logistics)
LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder
MAZE STORY
The Maze: The European Commission launched three market investigations this week to determine if Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure qualify as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), signaling a major regulatory push into the critical cloud infrastructure underpinning Europe's digital economy. This scrutiny aims to ensure fair competition and open access for AI developers and other businesses relying on these dominant platforms.
The investigations will assess if Azure and AWS control an important gateway between businesses and users, looking beyond quantitative metrics like size and user numbers to investigate whether they meet the criteria based on network effects and switching costs.
A separate investigation examines if current DMA obligations adequately address concerns like obstacles to interoperability, limits on user data access, and service bundling that mirrors risks identified in the Australian Digital platform services inquiry.
The Commission expects to conclude the gatekeeper designation investigations within 12 months, after which the companies have six months to ensure compliance of their cloud services with the DMA obligations applied to platforms already designated.
Why it matters: This regulatory move increases pressure on the cloud giants to create more flexible and open ecosystems, which could drive down data egress fees and ease migration challenges for ecommerce operators. The resulting focus on interoperability should enable businesses to more easily build multi-cloud strategies, boosting digital resilience and potentially lowering infrastructure costs.
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MAZE DEEP DIVE
The Maze: Singles Day has morphed from a 24-hour buying frenzy into a sprawling campaign lasting up to four weeks. The shift lifts total GMV but weakens daily impact. Live commerce and platform power reshuffle winners in the world’s largest retail event.
Singles Day GMV grows from USD 130B in ’20 to USD 224B in ’25, while duration jumps from 11 to 28 days and daily GMV falls from USD 13B to USD 7B
Alibaba keeps a commanding 55 percent share in ’25, JD.com sits at 29 percent and Pinduoduo at 6 percent as platform concentration deepens
Phones, appliances and clothing contribute nearly 40 percent of GMV, while livestreaming explodes to USD 56B and 25 percent share by ’25
Why it matters: China is redefining retail scale through longer events, platform dominance and live shopping. These shifts set expectations for global ecommerce peaks. Anyone selling into China must plan for marathon promotions, not single-day spikes.
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MAZE STORY
The Maze: Ecommerce marketers are struggling through Meta's recurring ad platform instability (dubbed “Glitchmas”) which is compromising crucial Q4 performance by prioritizing cheap reach over valuable direct conversions. This instability ahead of Black Friday highlights deep operational risks within Meta's core commerce media engine.
The faulty ad serving prioritizes low-cost impressions, resulting in extremely poor traffic quality that drains advertising budgets before target audiences even begin peak shopping.
Many creative issues observed this season stem directly from the widespread adoption of Meta's new generative AI ad products, causing unexpected outcomes in live campaigns.
Meta exacerbates the crisis by abandoning most human customer service, making it difficult for buyers to get quick, easy fixes that AI chatbots cannot handle.
Why it matters: This annual operational failure forces brands to urgently diversify their commerce media investments away from platforms that cannot guarantee stability during the most critical shopping period. Building resilience requires investing in reliable, transparent ad tools that give operators control when core channels inevitably fail.
MAZE STORY
The Maze: Facing high operational costs and persistent tariff uncertainty, many ecommerce brands are strategically reducing deep markdowns this Cyber Week, prioritizing margin health over aggressive volume sales.
Retailers are scrutinizing 'promo math' more closely, especially since a report reveals that over one in five shoppers stopped buying from a brand due to misleading Cyber Week offers.
The industry faces a perfect storm of costs, where the projected record $1 trillion in holiday spending may reflect increased prices rather than sheer sales volume.
Consumer expectations align with the pullback, as a September Gartner survey found 40% of shoppers already expected to see fewer holiday discounts this year.
Why it matters: Ecommerce operators must pivot their holiday strategy away from relying solely on deep markdowns, instead emphasizing unique value propositions and brand trust to drive conversions. This renewed focus on margin health allows businesses to build more financially sustainable models going into 2026.
DATA TREASURE
The Maze: Global shoppers are pulling back from US products and the shift is not symbolic. Forty percent say they now avoid US brands and another chunk is thinking about it, turning trade policy into everyday behavior. The sharpest reactions come from Canada, China and Mexico, showing how fast geopolitical tension can hit the checkout aisle.
In July 2025, 71 percent of Canadians said they cut spending on US products while only 17 percent said they have no plans to change.
China hit 60 percent active avoidance as tariffs mixed with rising national pride across urban consumers in 2025.
In the US, 63 percent of households adjusted spending after tariffs appeared in early 2025, signalling strain at home and abroad.
Why it matters: Trade tension is no longer a headline. It is a consumer habit. When shoppers switch to local alternatives, the recovery window shrinks. Ecommerce brands built on US identity now face real revenue risk unless they localise, reposition or build regional footprints that feel closer to home for buyers.
BRIEFING
🏬 Everything else in Ecommerce & key players
🇺🇸 Consumer Shift shows high-income shoppers joining the value hunt at Walmart and T.J. Maxx as sentiment drops and spending polarizes across categories.
🇺🇸 Holiday optimism remains strong among Millennials, with 65% feeling financially confident and 58% of Americans planning to spend over $250 this season.
🇿🇦 Naspers e-commerce profitability surged 71%, as revenue climbed 21% to US$4.1 billion and free cash flow jumped US$421 million to US$1.3 billion.
🇺🇸 Hemp THC brands face a looming regulatory threat as a shutdown-bill amendment could ban hemp-derived THC nationwide, hitting D2C and marketplace sellers.
BRIEFING
📣Everything else in Ecommerce ecosystem
🇺🇸 Google warned the DOJ that forcing an ad-tech breakup would disrupt digital advertising infrastructure and destabilize how marketers buy inventory.
🇺🇸 AI no-code surge continues as non-technical workers use Claude and ChatGPT to build internal tools and iOS apps, lowering the barrier for ecommerce teams.
🇺🇸 Tariff promises from Trump’s campaign don’t add up, with proposed spending far exceeding tariff revenue — a key signal for import-heavy logistics planning.
🇮🇳 Quick commerce platforms are shifting beyond groceries into higher-margin categories like electronics, fashion and beauty — now contributing ~20-25% of gross sales to boost margins.
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