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TODAY’S MAZE
Happy Tuesday! The discount giant is aggressively tackling its biggest weakness… safety concerns by bringing in outside help to inspect its electronics supply chain.
This move marks a strategic shift from pure price warfare to building institutional trust amid tightening regulations in the EU and US. The big question is whether third-party badges will be enough to convince skeptical regulators that safe doesn't have to mean expensive.
In today’s MarketMaze focus:
Temu adds DEKRA testing
Vinted beats legacy retailers
THG unlocks shopper data
Amazon seller signups drop
Global ecommerce growth slows
+Handpicked recent news you need to know
LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder
MAZE STORY
The Maze: Temu has partnered with testing giant DEKRA to rigorously inspect electronics and legitimize its supply chain against EU and US regulatory pressure.
This collaboration mandates independent third-party validation to ensure high-risk goods meet strict western safety standards before reaching consumers.
Targeting electronics specifically addresses the most vulnerable category for safety failures and directly combats recurring quality control accusations.
The move signals a strategic pivot from pure price dominance toward building institutional trust, a necessary evolution to compete with legacy retailers.
Why it matters: Compliance transforms from a legal hurdle into a competitive moat for cross-border platforms seeking longevity in regulated markets. Legitimacy unlocks retention among skeptical demographics who previously avoided the app due to safety concerns.
If marketplaces like Temu enforce stricter third-party testing for electronics sold into the EU and US, who faces the biggest strategic shift?
- 🇨🇳 China-Based Sellers (exporters shipping electronics directly to EU and US consumers)
- 🇪🇺 EU Electronics SMEs (smaller local sellers competing on similar categories)
- 🇺🇸 US Amazon FBA Sellers (merchants relying on marketplace fulfillment models)
- 🏬 Legacy Retail Chains (offline-first electronics retailers in EU and US markets)
- 📊 Marketplace Investors (global investors evaluating regulatory risk exposure)
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MAZE STORY
The Maze: New data ranks Vinted as the UK’s third-largest fashion retailer by volume, positioning the resale giant directly behind market leaders Primark and Next.
This ranking signals a massive structural shift where second-hand marketplaces now compete directly with traditional high-street giants for market share.
Consumers increasingly prioritize value and circularity, forcing legacy brands to rethink linear inventory models to survive this resale surge.
The surge underscores how resale platforms have successfully transitioned from niche sustainability plays into dominant mass-market volume drivers.
Why it matters: Resale is no longer a secondary market but a primary competitor, demanding retailers integrate circular models or risk losing volume to peer-to-peer exchanges.
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MAZE STORY
The Maze: THG partners with The Trade Desk to unlock programmatic access to its premium beauty data. Advertisers can now target audiences using first-party insights from Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic for the first time.
Advertisers gain the ability to target users based on verified first-party shopper segments, enabling precise activation against actual consumer behavior via The Trade Desk.
The initiative unlocks exclusive audience insights derived from THG’s flagship beauty retailers, Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic, available to external buyers for the first time.
This marks the first time THG has made these premium audiences available to programmatic buyers, expanding the reach of its retail data beyond its owned and operated sites.
Why it matters: As signal loss plagues digital advertising, access to deterministic retail data becomes critical. THG enables brands to target verified shoppers across the open web, reducing reliance on legacy cookies.
DATA TREASURE
The Maze: New Amazon seller registrations are at their lowest level in a decade. That points not to decline, but to consolidation and rising barriers to profitable marketplace entry.
Total new registrations in 2025 fell to around 165k, down 44% year-over-year, the lowest since tracking began.
Complexity, policy enforcement, and paid visibility requirements are raising the entry bar for new sellers.
Experienced sellers argue Amazon is shifting from a place for experimentation to serious commerce infrastructure.
Why it matters: Fewer signups does not mean less competition. It means the marketplace is getting harder to crack, rewarding disciplined operators and weeding out hobbyists.
DATA TREASURE
The Maze: eCommerce growth is moderating while penetration continues to rise. The industry has grown up past explosive early-pandemic expansion and into a phase of steady, predictable market share growth.
Global retail eCommerce is heading toward about $8T in sales by 2027, while online share of retail climbs above 22%.
Growth rates are slowing toward about 7.4% by 2027, down from pandemic era highs above 18%.
From 2021 to 2027 the market will add over $3T in incremental online sales, meaning scale still compounds.
Why it matters: The era of easy growth is over. Winning means execution, not tailwinds. Brands must optimize conversion, supply chain, and channel mix to capture share.
BRIEFING
🏬 Everything else in Ecommerce & Big Tech
🇪🇺 Eurelec faces a massive fine in France for breaching commercial negotiation deadlines with suppliers, acting as the purchasing giant for Rewe, Ahold Delhaize, and E.Leclerc.
🇬🇧 The UK weighs new 'Deemed Seller' regulations that may force marketplaces to conduct stricter KYC checks to prevent VAT fraud by overseas merchants.
🇪🇸 Inditex saw its shares surge to record highs following a €180 million strategic buyback program and high-profile Super Bowl visibility for its Zara brand.
🇺🇸 Google tested a new ROAS-driven bidding tool that suggests dynamic conversion values for first-time customers, allowing advertisers to bid based on profit rather than just volume.
🇺🇸 Microsoft introduced an industry-first 'AI Performance Report' in Bing Webmaster Tools to help site owners track visibility and clicks within generative search results.
🇪🇺 The Council of the EU approved a flat €3 duty rate on imported parcels under €150 starting July, effectively ending the duty-free era for cheap cross-border shipments.
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