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TODAY’S MAZE
Happy Monday! Walmart is no longer just a retailer; it's a digital ad giant. The company’s media business just surged past the $6 billion revenue mark.
This high-margin revenue helps keep prices low. Will this wave of ads eventually push shoppers away from an organic search experience?
In today’s MarketMaze focus:
Walmart’s $6B ad revenue
Amazon’s new AI mandates
Four AI Listing Reality
Speed vs price convergence
Asia skips D2C model
+Handpicked recent news you need to know
LET’S ENTER THE MAZE!
- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder
MAZE STORY
The Maze: Walmart’s global advertising business surged 46% in FY26 as the company aggressively scales its high-margin media network. This growth targets established digital incumbents and various global search giants.
The Walmart Connect division grew 41% as the company enables reaching millions of shoppers at the point of purchase through its rapidly expanding on-site placements.
Deploying Sparky AI tools helps optimizing seller presence and drives significant increases in average basket values for various brands across the global marketplace.
Reaching nearly $6.4 billion in total ad revenue signals a massive shift in how the enterprise generates operating income from its expansive physical and digital traffic.
Why it matters: Retail media is no longer a side project but a core pillar of profitability that allows subsidizing competitive pricing. Success here forces prioritizing high-profit ad services to offset rising costs.
With Walmart introducing AI tools like Sparky to optimize seller presence and basket size, how will artificial intelligence most affect marketplace advertising over the next two years?
- 🤖 Enterprise Edge (large US enterprises gain stronger optimization advantages)
- 📊 Mid-Market Boost (structured EU and US mid-sized sellers improve returns)
- ⚡ Efficiency Shift (logistics-heavy sellers combine ads with fulfillment data)
- 🎯 Automation Gap (early-stage sellers struggle without ad expertise)
- 🔄 Limited Impact (AI tools remain incremental rather than transformative)
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MAZE STORY
The Maze: Amazon is tightening its grip on automated traffic by mandating that all AI tools identify themselves starting March 4. Simultaneously, the retail giant is launching a Brand Store API to help sellers manage storefronts programmatically.
The new Agent Policy enables disclosing origin data and intent when accessing the platform to improve internal security and data transparency for all platform stakeholders.
A fresh programmatic interface allows updating storefront assets and creative shifts across thousands of product pages while eliminating manual workflow bottlenecks for agencies.
These changes represent a calculated move to sanitize bot traffic while providing brands with tools that make managing enterprise-scale growth more efficient across the platform.
Why it matters: This shift forces a 'know your bot' standard that will likely become the industry baseline for marketplaces. Brands must verify that their current AI vendors comply with the transparency rules by the deadline to avoid service disruptions.
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MAZE STORY
The Maze: eBay promised one-photo listings powered by AI. The reality is progress, not magic. The upgraded tool can auto-fill titles, categories and item specifics from an image, but accuracy still breaks at the edges and sellers must correct errors before hitting publish.
In 2023, CEO Jamie Iannone introduced “Magical Listing” as a core AI bet; by late 2025 the rebuilt version rolled out in the US, UK and Germany with image-first flows and AI agents guiding photos and pricing.
In real tests, a used mousepad was misclassified as wall decor, showing how one wrong category can cascade into flawed item specifics, weak discoverability and wasted seller time.
When recognition works, like with a ceramic mug, the tool fills condition and core fields fast, but often leaves descriptions blank or copies the title, limiting SEO depth and conversion lift.
Why it matters: AI listing is becoming table stakes across marketplaces. If eBay cannot consistently cut listing time without cutting accuracy, power sellers will stick to manual control while rivals refine the automation layer that drives more supply and more GMV.
DATA TREASURE
The Maze: Fast vs cheap is no longer a binary choice. Marketplaces are converging on a two lane model where shoppers pick speed or price per item, not per platform, forcing Amazon and Temu to meet in the middle.
Temu moved from zero local fulfillment to ~20% of US sales by mid 2024, added two day delivery on select items, and set targets of ~50% local share in the UK by 2025 and ~80% in Europe to reduce friction and boost trust.
Amazon responded by scaling ultra low price, direct from China offers through Haul in 2024 and Bazaar in 2025, expanding cheap long tail items with delivery measured in weeks to defend value perception against Temu and Shein.
The winning logic is routing by product not by brand, using local stock for urgent or bulky items and cross border shipping for impulse buys, widening assortment while keeping working capital and return risk under control.
Why it matters: Logistics is becoming part of the product promise. Platforms that flex between speed and price will capture both impulse and intent, while single lane models get squeezed on cost or trust.
DATA TREASURE
The Maze: Asia is not anti brand, it is marketplace first. D2C captures meaningful share in the West but barely registers among top Asian retailers because platforms own discovery, trust, and habit.
In 2024, D2C share among top retailers reached ~17% in Europe and ~15% in North America but just ~1% in Asia, reflecting how deeply marketplaces shape shopping behavior across China and Southeast Asia.
Asian brands often scale inside platforms using reviews, live commerce, and logistics programs instead of building standalone stores, making platform optimization more valuable than owning a separate checkout.
Global D2C leaders still generate massive volume, with players like Apple and Shein doing tens of billions annually, proving D2C can scale where consumer habits reward brand owned journeys.
Why it matters: Channel strategy is regional, not ideological. Brands expanding globally need to treat D2C as core in the West and marketplaces as the default interface in much of Asia.
BRIEFING
🏬 Everything else in Ecommerce & Big Tech
🇺🇸 Amazon narrowed its OTDR enforcement scope, announcing that starting February 28, account deactivations for delivery misses will target only the worst-performing seller-fulfilled listings instead of applying blanket penalties.
🇺🇸 Gemini implemented deeper staff cuts as its valuation plummeted 82%, signaling severe volatility for the AI-adjacent crypto firm.
🇺🇸 Reddit piloted interactive AI shopping carousels within search results, utilizing Dynamic Product Ads (DPA) and community insights to provide direct buy links for US users.
🌍 Google Ads updated its support forms to include a clause asking advertisers to grant specialists direct authorization for account changes, sparking transparency concerns.
🇺🇸 The Supreme Court ruled against White House tariffs in a victory for businesses, yet CEOs remain in limbo regarding refund processes and potential political shifts.
🇺🇸 DoorDash suspended all delivery operations in the Northeast as a major winter blizzard triggered travel bans across New York City and surrounding regions.
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