EU backs simpler VAT collection for more online imports

1️⃣ EU finance ministers back simpler VAT collection on more imported orders

2️⃣ OpenAI lets eligible retailers claim a business profile in ChatGPT

3️⃣ South Korea orders delivery apps to drop price-matching demands on restaurants

4️⃣ Early ChatGPT ad visits produced less revenue than direct visits

5️⃣ European spending power varies sharply between countries and within them

6️⃣ Costco and Amazon plus Whole Foods gain US packaged-goods share

🧾 One route above €150. Today the import scheme covers eligible shipments worth €150 or less. The Council’s draft would remove that ceiling, keep products such as alcohol outside the scheme and make marketplaces collect VAT on covered orders across the old threshold.

📦 More stock would qualify. Sales from designated EU customs warehouses would also be eligible. Parliament still has to be consulted before the Council formally adopts the measure. The proposed start is July 2028.

📊 A filing route with scale. Import VAT declared through the scheme rose from €6.3 billion in 2024 to €7.7 billion in 2025. The expansion would build on a system sellers already use at scale.

🏬 A warehouse with strings attached. The Customs Code allows an importer using the VAT scheme or its indirect customs representative to run the site. Either operator needs warehouse authorisation and the EU’s Trust and Check status. Compare bulk storage at an eligible site with shipping each order directly.

🛍️ Shopify already sends eligible products. Merchants can connect their store to simplify verification. The new step is claiming the profile that shoppers can open from a ChatGPT answer.

💬 The branded chat starts in the US. Eligible US online stores and service businesses can publish a Business Agent. Shoppers choose whether to start this separate, labeled AI chat with the business.

📊 The dashboard combines activity across users. Merchants can see mentions and website clicks once activity clears privacy thresholds. Individual conversations stay with OpenAI.

🔍 Check what counts. OpenAI told Digiday that an online store’s mention requires a reference to its site. Clicks measure taps on supported links. Use store analytics to see which visits and orders follow.

🧾 Test the handoff. The Business Agent sends shoppers to the merchant’s site to buy. Try a question about fit or compatibility and check whether the linked page confirms the answer.

🎟️ Member perks came with strings. The regulator says Coupang Eats used its WOW store status to make restaurants match or beat terms on rival apps. Baemin imposed similar conditions on restaurants using its delivery service. Customers got member delivery discounts only at qualifying stores.

🏷️ Cheaper rivals had less room. Matching menu prices, discounts and order minimums made it harder to pass on a smaller app’s lower fees. The orders prohibit those demands and require the apps to notify merchants.

⏱️ Compare delivery options fairly. The regulator ordered Baemin to check displayed estimates against actual delivery times and revisit its commission for restaurant-arranged delivery. A more accurate display could help restaurants that hire their own couriers win orders.

🧾 Check what the fee applies to. Under Coupang’s challenged terms, ordering and payment fees were based on the price before restaurant-funded discounts. A separate order requires Coupang to revise those terms within 60 days of receipt.

🛒 Less revenue per visit. At 102 sites with financial tracking, ChatGPT ad visits had 84% lower purchase odds, $79 lower order value and $2.86 less revenue per visit than direct visits.

🔎 Shorter visits. Across 387 sites with ChatGPT ad referrals, paid visits had 59% higher odds of leaving after one page than direct visits. They averaged 1.4 fewer pages and 104 fewer seconds per visit.

💵 Price the click. In a separate US comparison, a ChatGPT ad visit brought in $0.89 versus $2.45 for paid Google Search. The authors estimated about $0.26 per ChatGPT click to match paid search revenue per ad dollar. Use your own margins to set the bid ceiling.

🧪 Measure extra orders. The study credits the final click, so a ChatGPT ad can go uncredited when a shopper discovers a store in the ad and later buys through search. Compare total orders with a similar group held out of the campaign to estimate what the ads added.

📊 The country gap is wide. The estimate ranges between €78,520 in Liechtenstein and €3,456 in Ukraine at opposite ends of the ranking.

🏙️ The national average can miss your buyers. Paris reaches €46,366 per person, around 80% above the French average. Berlin sits below Germany’s average.

🛒 Test the range locally. The Bucharest region has more than twice Romania’s average. A retailer could offer more higher-priced options there on a small scale and see whether they sell at a profit.

📦 Count reachable buyers too. The Istanbul region has about €227 billion in total purchasing power despite lower income per person than the European average. That figure adds up residents’ disposable income. A large population can justify checking how many buyers a retailer could actually deliver to.

📈 The gains came from two entries. Costco rose from 7.5% to 8.2%. Amazon and its supermarket chain Whole Foods together went from 6.7% to 8.1%. That’s a combined gain of 2.1 percentage points.

🏪 The ranking shifted. Kroger dropped to fourth as its share fell from 7.1% to 6.7%. Amazon plus Whole Foods was already ahead in the September 2025 window.

🧺 Start with your category. Costco and Amazon plus Whole Foods both gained 0.7 points in grocery. Their gains across all packaged goods differed. A brand should check the retailer’s share of its own category before budgeting for a new listing.

⚖️ Keep reach in the plan. Walmart still accounted for 20.8% of packaged-goods spending. A supplier can test a listing with a growing retailer while protecting stock at the accounts its customers already use.

🤖 AI prompts: 12 AI Prompts for Post-Purchase & Replenishment or 👉 All here

🛠 Tools: 12 Best Ecommerce Customer Support & Helpdesk Software (2026) or 👉 All here

📖 Glossary: Returns & Reverse Logistics, Decoded: 16 Terms You Actually Need to Know or 👉 All here

📅 Events: E-commerce Warsaw Expo 2026 or 👉 All here

🛍️ Shopify opens Shop listings to stores using other payment providers. Shoppers can find eligible stores in the app and buy on the merchant’s website.

🎯 ChatGPT Ads starts replacing bid caps with average cost targets. Existing campaigns on bid caps can keep them until January 1, 2027.

🛍️ Shopify links new app submissions to existing installs. Each published app needs 10 installs from stores paying full price for Shopify.

💸 Canada launches its instant bank payment network. Eight providers went live, including Paramount Commerce, which lets eligible merchants accept payments from bank accounts.

📦 Shopify adds market controls for returns and cancellations. Early access lets eligible Advanced and Plus stores turn each request option on or off.

📱 eBay UK adds a £5 inspection for eligible used phones and iPads. When buyers opt in, sellers ship the device to eBay first.

🍜 Google expands Gemini ordering help to the UK, India and Japan. On eligible Android devices, Gemini prepares orders; customers confirm in supported apps.