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🧠 Big Story:
EU E-Pharmacy Map 🗺️

📊 Key Data:
US Protectionism Hits Differently💣

📖 Ecommerce players news:

🇫🇷 TikTok expands TikTok Shop to France, Germany, and Italy.
🇺🇸 Amazon rolls out AI shopping prompts called “Interests”.
🇬🇧 Vinted enters luxury resale with ‘House of Vinted’ launch.
🇨🇳 Shein profits drop 40% amid legal and safety concerns.
🇺🇸 Instacart adds Store View & Second Store Check to cut stock issues.
🇺🇸 DoorDash & Klarna launch BNPL option for food deliveries.

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

🌀 As promised – macrodata is here.
We just unpacked the macro forces shaping e-commerce size – the first stop on our roadmap. You can dive into the full report here:

Ecommerce: Macro in EU & US

On top of that, the initial macro database is live.
It covers Europe and North America with metrics like:
✅ Population (in K)
✅ GDP (Current B$, K$/capita)
✅ Inflation (% consumer prices)
✅ Internet access (% of population)
✅ Online shopping penetration (% of users)

Available now for all MarketMaze+ users here:
🛠Macro data for NA and EU (2025)

Share your unique link with colleagues and unlock access to our growing resource and report hub.

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Let’s make the e-commerce world a little smarter. Together.

Europe’s health and wellness market is hitting the digital gym, and the results are staggering. Based on fresh IQVIA data ("The Rise of E-commerce in The Health and Wellbeing Market" Mar 2025), we unpack who's winning, who’s stalling, and why Amazon might just be your next pharmacist.

Germany's €3.6B e-Pharmacy Blitz 💊

Germany isn't just leading Europe’s e-pharmacy market—it's running laps around everyone else. By 2024, Germany's online pharmacy market will hit a hefty €3.6B, triple Italy’s €1.0B, and dwarf Poland’s €505M. To put things in perspective, the next six European markets combined still fall short of Italy and Poland's joint market value. While Germans embrace digital prescriptions, Spain (5%) and France (2.3%) seem oddly reluctant—sticking to tradition like Blockbuster ignoring Netflix.

Europe's e-Pharmacy Red Tape 🩺

Europe's pharmacy rules are a regulatory patchwork worthy of a Eurovision song contest. Only the UK, Germany, and Nordic countries fully embrace online prescription sales. Others limit e-commerce to supplements or over-the-counter meds, while Turkey outright bans online pharma sales. These variations stem from each nation’s balance between public health safety and economic openness—making European healthcare a mixed playlist of progressive hits and conservative throwbacks.

Amazon’s Rx for EU E-pharmacies 📦

Amazon isn't just entering Europe’s e-health market—it's already rattling the shelves. By 2024, Amazon snags a hefty 41% market share in Spain's online consumer health sales, growing at 18% year-over-year. France (29%) sees Amazon exploding at 47% growth, outpacing traditional e-pharmacies. Even in mature markets like Germany, where local e-pharmacies hold strong (86%), Amazon’s smaller 14% slice still jumps by 18%. It's clear: Amazon’s coming for Europe’s medicine cabinet—and fast.

EU Pharmacies Still Love Bricks 🧱

Despite Amazon’s digital hustle, traditional pharmacies remain Europe's comfort zone. France (94%) and Spain (86%) cling tightly to their neighborhood chemists, keeping online at bay. Germany’s digital curiosity is highest, yet even there, brick-and-mortar pharmacies still claim 71% of the pie. Personalized advice and face-to-face trust are tough to disrupt—even for Bezos. For now, at least, European healthcare still prefers human touch over 1-click convenience.

How might the protectionist approach of the new U.S. administration affect eCommerce?

Friedrich Schwandt (CEO of ECDB) had a sharp take at the Berlin eCommerce Expo.
Here’s how he broke it down by group:

🟢 Domestic U.S. brands (win)
Brands operating solely within the U.S.?
Protectionism works in their favor.
No international hurdles. No added tariffs.

🟢 Global brands not trading with the U.S. (win)
If you don’t rely on U.S. markets, you’re safe.
In fact, you may gain market share as others get squeezed.

🔴 U.S. companies with international focus (lose)
Cross-border players face headwinds:
→ Higher costs abroad
→ Potential retaliation (China, Canada, etc.)
→ Shrinking margins
It’s a chain reaction with no easy stop button.

🟡 China, Canada, Mexico (mostly stable)
Despite the noise, these countries may adapt quickly.
They’ll find alternative markets.
Resilient, even under pressure.

🟠 Europe (unexpected pain point)
This is the curveball.
Europe is heavily dependent on imports.
Tariff-driven price hikes hit here the hardest.
Consumers pay more.
Growth slows down.
Less talked about, but deeply impacted.

📉 The bright side?
Tariff fears are cooling off.
Each week brings signs of softening rhetoric.
Because protectionism has a price — and every country knows it.

The net result?
Global eCommerce may feel some pressure,
but the actual impact could be smaller than most fear.

🇫🇷 TikTok expands TikTok Shop to France, Germany, and Italy. TikTok will launch its e-commerce feature in France, Germany, and Italy on March 31, 2025. It aims to attract more Europe-based sellers, especially from China, to scale its shop model already running in the UK and US. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 Amazon rolls out AI shopping prompts called “Interests”. On March 26, 2025, Amazon introduced a new AI tool that suggests products based on search prompts like “gifts for dog lovers.” It's available to select US users on mobile and joins Amazon’s other AI features like Rufus and smart reviews. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 Amazon removes 15M counterfeit items in 2024 crackdown. In 2024, Amazon removed over 15M fake products—double the 7.5M removed in 2023—backed by a $1B+ investment in anti-fraud tools and teams. AI flagged 99% of fakes before they were reported, and infringement notices dropped 35% since 2020. 👉 MSN

🇹🇷 Trendyol expands into CEE with Romania as top growth market. Turkey’s Trendyol entered seven Central and Eastern European countries in 2024 and reached 2.2M active users, with Romania making up 70%. In 2024, it sold 16M items in Romania and opened a 50K sqm warehouse near Bucharest to support two-day delivery. 👉 Business Review

🇩🇪 eBay leads $7.5M Series A round in WunderGraph’s Cosmo. On March 27, 2025, eBay Ventures led a $7.5M round for WunderGraph, which builds Cosmo—an open-source platform to combine APIs like GraphQL, REST, and SQL. eBay is also helping design the product to rival Apollo’s federation tools. 👉 TechCrunch

🇲🇽 Walmart commits $6B to expand stores and logistics in Mexico. Walmart will invest $6B in Mexico in 2025, adding 5,500 jobs and two AI-powered distribution centers. It will also raise capex by 20% from last year to 41.8B pesos and expand its 3,200+ store footprint. 👉 TT News

🇨🇳 Tmall boosts brand sales with AI and longer launch cycles. Tmall saw 4,100+ brands pass 100M RMB in annual sales in 2024, up 18% YoY, aided by rebate programs and longer product launch timelines. In total, 34K new items topped 10M RMB in sales each, adding up to 100B RMB in revenue. 👉 Alizila

🇩🇪 Otto Group grows marketplace sales 24% in tough market. Otto reported €7B GMV in FY 2024/25, up 9%, with 24% growth in marketplace sales and 5% revenue growth to €4.4B. It added 0.5M customers, now at 12.2M, and its ad business grew 25%, supported by 6,200 marketplace sellers. 👉 Ecommerce News EU

🇬🇧 Vinted enters luxury resale with ‘House of Vinted’ launch. On Mar 25, 2025, Vinted launched an online platform selling luxury second-hand fashion from UK influencers like Susie Lau and Victoria Magrath. Items from brands like Prada and Gucci are on sale, with part of the proceeds going to Oxfam. 👉 Retail Gazette

🇨🇳 Shein profits drop 40% amid legal and safety concerns. In 2024, Shein’s profits fell to $1B—down nearly 40%—despite growing revenue, as it faced legal action over labor issues, pricing, and toxic chemicals like lead and phthalates. Margin pressure also came from rising competition, especially from Temu. 👉 Daily Climate

🇺🇸 Coach sues Shein for selling fake handbags. On Mar 13, 2025, Tapestry, which owns Coach, sued Shein for trademark infringement and counterfeiting. The suit claims Shein sold dupes that confuse buyers; Shein says all items were verified and authentic. 👉 Global Legal Post

🇱🇹 Vinted adds AI search tools and tech product checks. Vinted launched AI-powered pattern search and an optional electronics verification service. These upgrades help users find items from images and ensure second-hand devices work and are authentic. 👉 DlaHandlu

🇬🇧 Superdrug to open 25 new stores and create 600 jobs, focusing on big-format stores with beauty services. After a 25% sales boost in its top 100 stores, the chain plans to expand in malls and retail parks. 👉 Chemist and Druggist

🇩🇪 Bike24 posts €5.3M profit after flat revenue in 2024. Bike24 earned €226.6M in revenue and €5.3M in adjusted EBITDA in 2024, bouncing back from a €2.9M loss in 2023. Growth came from Poland, BENELUX (+31%), and Finland, with 2025 forecasts up to €242M revenue. 👉 Retail News

🇫🇮 Bought raises $1.5M and buys Zadaa to grow resale tech. The app auto-generates listings from users’ shopping history and is backed by Wolt and Swappie execs. 👉 Tech Funding News

🇺🇸 Instacart adds Store View & Second Store Check to cut stock issues. Instacart launched two features in March 2025—Store View pays shoppers to film shelves, while Second Store Check finds out-of-stock items at other stores, with no fees and optional tips. Rollout starts with select U.S. and Canadian retailers, expanding through 2025. 👉 The Verge

🇺🇸 DoorDash & Klarna launch BNPL option for food deliveries. DoorDash now lets users split food payments via Klarna's “buy now, pay later” tool, introduced March 2025. With U.S. credit card debt at $1.2T and average DoorDash orders at $35, the move drew concern over rising food-related consumer debt. 👉 NBC News

🇮🇳 Swiggy launches B2B Assure app to rival Zomato’s Hyperpure. Swiggy’s Assure app, launched Sept 2024, helps restaurants order fresh supplies and competes with Zomato’s Hyperpure. Swiggy’s supply chain revenue hit ₹1,693 Cr in Q4 FY2025, up 23% YoY, while Zomato’s hit ₹1,671 Cr in Q3 FY2025, up 95% YoY. 👉 Inc42

🇩🇰 Bolt buys Viggo in first-ever acquisition to grow in Denmark. In March 2025, Bolt acquired Danish ride-hailing firm Viggo, adding 300 electric cars and 450K users. With a new Taxi 4×27 deal for 600 more vehicles, Bolt becomes Denmark’s biggest ride-hailing player. 👉 EU Startups

🇬🇧 Deliveroo gives riders free 24/7 GP access, hits first profit. Deliveroo now offers riders free virtual GP services, starting March 2025, via a Teladoc and Chubb partnership. In 2024, it posted its first annual profit of £3M, after losing £32M in 2023, with groceries making up 16% of H2 Gross Transaction Value. 👉 Retail Gazette

🇦🇪 Zapp targets Dubai launch in 2025 amid rising competition. British fast-delivery startup Zapp plans to launch in Dubai this year, backed by Lightspeed, Atomico, and Lewis Hamilton. It enters a crowded market dominated by players like Talabat, owned by Delivery Hero. 👉 RetailTechInnovationHub

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