Welcome to your Sunday MarketMaze—where e-commerce wakes up to a new reality. This week, Temu’s value play is changing global shopping habits, Americans are cooling off on online splurges, and Prime Day has become a worldwide arms race. Let’s break down the numbers, the new rules, and who’s keeping up.

P.S. We’ve just finalized our 60-page deep dive (with 40 slides!) on Retail Media and plan to release it to all MarketMaze+ users next weekend.

INSIGHTS🧠

🌍 Temu’s Global Value Revolution
💎 US Shoppers Hit the Brakes on Online Splurges
🏁 Prime Day Goes Global
📺 Whatnot Finds Its Lane in Live Commerce
🚚 Amazon’s $4B Small-Town Delivery Flex

NEWS📖

🇺🇸 Temu and Shein Lose Half of U.S. Users
🇺🇸 Amazon Hits One Million Robots, Unveils DeepFleet AI
🇫🇷 France fines Shein €40M for misleading shoppers
🇩🇪 Zalando drops takeover bid for About You
🇬🇧 BBC exposes illegal e-bike use by Deliveroo riders
🇺🇸 Uber Eats and DoorDash expand grocery reach

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

LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder

Temu is turning e-commerce on its head, and we have the numbers to prove it. Using fresh Ipsos report from over 1,000 shoppers in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Mexico (to be fair commisioned by Temu), this article uncovers how Temu is rewiring global online shopping habits. Expect punchy stats, country-by-country data, and a wake-up call for legacy retailers. Let’s get into the savings, skepticism, and spending intentions shaking up retail.

Globally, Temu buyers say they saved about 24% per purchase last year. The UK led with 25%, and Germany wasn’t far behind at 27%. That’s not chump change—it’s a full quarter off every shopping cart. Even markets like Spain (18%) and Mexico (25%) reported solid savings. These numbers make Black Friday look like amateur hour.

The Temu flywheel is spinning. 8 out of 10 buyers globally plan to spend as much or more on Temu in 2025, with 31% expecting to up their game. Mexico’s leading the charge, with 45% saying they’ll spend more. Even in more cautious Germany and France, 70%+ will stick to last year’s budgets or spend more.

Over 30% of Temu buyers globally now compare prices everywhere and question higher prices on other sites. In Mexico and Germany, it’s 40%+. Price-comparison fatigue? Not here. The platform’s relentless value has trained consumers to challenge old habits. One in three now wonders, “Why pay more for the same thing elsewhere?”

77% of Temu shoppers say Temu delivers value for money, peaking at 81% in the UK and above 75% in all key markets. The doubters? Just 6-10% per country, and they’re shrinking. The verdict is in: Temu isn’t just the new kid with low prices—it’s the new default for smart value. When 1 in 10 shoppers stop equating price with quality, that’s a paradigm shift. The message for legacy e-commerce? You can’t just slap a premium sticker on it and expect shoppers to follow. The age of value—and skepticism—is here, and Temu’s leading the charge.

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If you want to know how the average American really feels about online shopping in 2025, you need to read this. The latest AlixPartners Home Delivery Survey (1,000 US consumers, 100+ execs, May–June 2025) lays bare a retail reality-check. These charts prove the pandemic's e-commerce high is over—consumers are slamming the brakes on almost every category. Dive in for the hard numbers, trends, and a few laughs along the way.

The e-commerce hangover is real. Nearly every major category took a hit this year, with the % of buyers falling by 4–8 pts across everything from pet supplies to small appliances. Apparel, cleaning, and even jewelry are trending down. Only groceries dodged the drop—flat at 62%. In a world where even photos, books, and phones aren’t safe from decline, the message is clear: consumers are voting with their wallets, and the votes are fewer.

Tariffs are now the plot twist everyone saw coming. 34% of Americans delayed online buys, waiting to see how much tariffs would cost them, while 28% went full Fast & Furious and bought early to dodge extra fees. Only 1 in 4 said tariffs had no impact on their behavior. The overseas shopping game is shifting—22% cut back, 20% bought more, and just 20% are buying American. Tariffs are reshaping when and what gets added to cart.

Some things never change. Free shipping is still the MVP, with 77% saying it’s a dealbreaker—the highest ever. That’s up 10 pts YoY. Nearly every shopper (97%) cares about it, and the expectation isn’t moving: they want it fast (under 3.5 days). The bottom line: If you aren’t eating the shipping cost, your customer is eating somewhere else. The message to retailers? Pay for the postage, or pay for the churn.

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Prime Day is now everywhere. Amazon’s sales event used to be a July sprint, but now retailers from Walmart to Temu are copy-pasting the playbook. In 2025, “Prime Day” covers weeks, not days, and stretches across borders, making the calendar irrelevant.

Marketplace Pulse explores Whatnot’s breakout in live shopping, pulling in $370M in funding and giving TikTok Shop and Instagram Live a run for their money. The secret sauce? Niche collectibles, obsessed sellers, and real-time hype that’s sticky with Gen Z. If you want to know why QVC is shaking, read this. 👉 Marketplace Pulse

Sherwood News unpacks Amazon’s latest move: pouring over $4B into beefing up rural and small-town logistics. Forget city speed—this is about getting packages to the 40M Americans in zip codes Walmart can’t reach overnight. Local warehouses, faster vans, and another classic Bezos land-grab. 👉 Sherwood News

ECDB’s report slices through the numbers on online fashion—spotting which countries are winning, where revenue jumped, and why the DTC (direct-to-consumer) gold rush isn’t over. Big brands like Shein, Zalando, and H&M battle it out for the $1T global spend. 👉 ECDB

🇺🇸 Temu and Shein Lose Half of U.S. Users Amid Tensions. Temu and Shein saw their active user base in the U.S. drop by almost 50%. Experts point to trade tensions and new tariffs as the main reason for this sharp decline. 👉 Korea Post

🇺🇸 Trump Says U.S. Buyer Ready for TikTok, Needs China’s OK. Donald Trump says a group of wealthy Americans is ready to buy TikTok, but China has to approve any deal. The U.S. government extended the deadline to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, but Beijing’s decision is still the key obstacle. 👉 CNN

🇺🇸 Amazon’s AI and Robots Get Bernstein’s Vote of Confidence. Bernstein says Amazon’s push for AI and robots will keep it ahead of the game. Amazon now has a million robots working, and most U.S. deliveries involve robotics, with new AI models driving efficiency. 👉 X

🇺🇸 Amazon Hits One Million Robots, Unveils DeepFleet AI. Amazon now uses a million robots and just launched DeepFleet, an AI that helps deliveries move faster and cheaper. The company has also trained 700,000 employees to work with these machines, matching the size of its human workforce. 👉 About Amazon

🇬🇧 eBay Launches Unified Tracking for Buyers, Sellers. eBay will roll out a single, clearer tracking system for both buyers and sellers. The update starts this month and aims to cut confusion by showing every shipment step in one timeline. 👉 ChannelX

🇺🇸 Kroger Online Grocery Grows 15% as Stores Close. Kroger’s online grocery sales jumped 15% with most growth coming from delivery orders. The company is closing around 60 stores to focus on boosting e-commerce, faster delivery, and store upgrades. 👉 Grocery Dive

🇳🇱 Bol.com Opens Marketplace to Non-EU Sellers. Bol.com is now letting sellers from outside the EU, like Asia and the Middle East, onto its platform. The move gives shoppers more options and cheaper products but could mean longer shipping times. 👉 Ecommerce News EU

🇫🇷 France fines Shein €40M for misleading shoppers. France hit Shein with a €40M fine for tricking customers with fake discounts and hiding product info. The watchdog said Shein inflated prices to make sales look bigger. Shein says it will appeal the decision. 👉 Euronews

🇩🇪 Zalando buys over 90% of About You for €1.2B. Zalando closed its takeover of About You, grabbing more than 90% of shares after the European Commission approved the deal. Remaining minority shareholders will get cash as Zalando aims to grow profits, boost its tech, and speed up growth with a dual-brand strategy. 👉 Modaes

🇺🇸 Sephora offers Lyft credits to drive store traffic. Sephora is giving select shoppers up to $10 in Lyft credits to visit stores. The campaign targets loyalty members and aims to boost in-store spending, which Sephora says is 30% higher than online. 👉 Marketing Dive

🇸🇪 H&M shows first AI digital twin campaign. H&M revealed a new ad campaign using AI-generated avatars called “digital twins.” The project, done with Photogenica, is part of H&M’s push to cut costs and speed up marketing, with sales at $21B last year. 👉 Business of Fashion

🇪🇸 Mango rolls out AI fashion assistant for shoppers. Mango launched “Mango Stylist,” an AI tool on its app and website that gives outfit tips and curates looks from its 4,000 products. CEO Toni Ruiz says it’s designed to boost digital engagement, after Mango hit €3.1B in sales. 👉 Mango Fashion Group

🇬🇧 New Look finds £8.1M omnichannel sales boost. UK retailer New Look spotted an £8.1M sales lift by blending online, mobile, and store shopping. Moves like buy online, pick up in store, and new loyalty features raised basket sizes by 12% and drove better results. 👉 ChannelX

🇬🇧 ASOS launches loyalty program for UK shoppers. ASOS rolled out “ASOS Rewards,” letting UK customers earn points for every pound spent and giving perks like sale access. ASOS aims for 2M members by year-end, after a tough year with sales at £3.5B. 👉 ASOS

🇬🇧 BBC exposes illegal e-bike use by Deliveroo riders. Over 100 UK Deliveroo riders are using illegal, high-speed e-bikes with missing safety features to meet delivery targets. Deliveroo and the government are working together to tighten rules and improve rider safety. 👉 BBC

🇺🇸 Uber Eats and DoorDash expand grocery reach. Uber Eats and DoorDash added local chains like Big Y, King Kullen, and Vallarta Supermarkets to their platforms. The deals let both delivery apps reach more U.S. shoppers and boost grocery sales beyond national brands. 👉 Progressive Grocer

🇬🇧 Boots and Deliveroo offer fast summer delivery. Boots and Deliveroo now deliver over 750 summer products to 75+ UK beaches and festival spots in 20 minutes. The move is part of Boots’ plan to expand quick delivery and test new locations for high demand. 👉 Retail Gazette

🇺🇸 Instacart and Wegmans test smart shopping carts. Instacart and Wegmans are piloting AI-powered “Caper Carts” in Syracuse, NY. The carts recognize items, track spending, and let shoppers pay directly at the cart, aiming to improve in-store grocery trips. 👉 Fox40

🇮🇳 Swiggy launches $1.20 meal store for India’s youth. Swiggy’s new “99 Store” offers meals at ₹99 (about $1.20) in over 175 Indian cities to attract price-conscious and Gen Z customers. The launch comes as Swiggy’s shares dip and rivals step up pressure in India’s food delivery market. 👉 Tech in Asia

🇨🇳 Wuhan rolls out 100 AI-powered bikes for faster deliveries. Wuhan launched 100 smart electric motorcycles with Beidou navigation, facial recognition, and route optimization in 32 communities. The system, co-developed by Beidou and Yadea, helps riders like Tang Xiaosong deliver up to 20 more orders daily and improves safety with new license plate tech. 👉 China Daily

That's it for today! Before you go we’d love to know what you thought of today's maze to help us improve!

See you next time in the maze!
MarketMaze team