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🧠 Big Story: 
Marketplaces > eShops 🏃‍♀️

📊 Key Data:
eCommerce Is Back💪

📖 Ecommerce players news:

🇺🇸 Amazon’s Surprise TikTok Bid Shakes Things Up.
🇺🇸 Amazon’s New AI Shops Other Stores for You.
🇺🇸 Trump ends duty-free perk for Chinese parcels.
🇪🇺 Decathlon’s online sales soar with marketplace boost.
🇮🇳 Zomato fires 500 employees flagged by AI.
🇩🇪 Aldi shuts down its online shop.

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

We leaned hard on ECDB data for this one. It's the kind of intel we hope to build ourselves one day—minus the seven-figure budget and German efficiency.

Also new: a section called “Other Stuff We Read.” Because, well, we read a lot of stuff. Let us know if it should stick around or vanish like a WeWork valuation.

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

Marketplaces > eShops 🏃‍♀️

Marketplaces > eShops 🏃‍♀️ — and the data isn’t whispering, it’s yelling. While traditional eCommerce sites play checkers, platforms are out here playing 4D chess with scale, reach, and momentum.

Asia shops on platforms 🛒

Marketplaces rake in 72% of global eComm revenue in 2024. But this isn’t a uniform love story. Asia (97%) and South America (96%) are practically married to marketplaces. North America and Europe? Still dating — with marketplaces only edging out shops at 46–47%. In the rest of the world, it’s the shops (74%) calling the shots. Different continents, different checkout lines.

Marketplace growth hits different 📈

Marketplaces are the cool kids in eComm — growing faster than online shops every year from 2021 to 2025. Even in 2022's dip, they managed a soft landing (+2%) while shops nosedived (-2%). From 2023–2025, they consistently outpace shops by 5–6 pts annually. In 2024? 12% vs. 6%. Same products, different game.

Douyin dances to the top 💃

Amazon still wears the GMV crown at $798B in 2024, but China is closing in — fast. Douyin clocked $568B and led growth with a wild 67% CAGR. Pinduoduo ($656B) and Kwai Shop ($187B) also soared. Meanwhile, Tmall, Taobao, and eBay are shrinking.

eCommerce Is Back💪

eComm’s Real Comeback 📈

After two years in the red, eCommerce is finally back in the green. Real growth sank to -6% in 2022 and -2.2% in 2023, thanks to runaway inflation and tepid demand. But with inflation cooling (from -8.7% in ’22 to -1.5% in ’24), real growth rebounds to 5.9% in 2024. It’s not 2020’s sugar high (31.6% nominal), but it’s solid—like Peloton’s recovery arc without the lawsuits.

eCom Doubles Retail Growth in ’25 🚀

eCommerce is stretching its legs again—up 10% YoY in 2025, doubling retail’s 5% pace. That’s a full comeback from the post-2021 slump, when growth nosedived from 32% to just 3%. Meanwhile, retail and GDP flatline at 5%, like background noise. The pandemic sugar rush is gone, but eCom’s still outrunning the pack

Most Amazon Sellers Focus on One Marketplace.

69% of Amazon sellers operate in only one marketplace, limiting their global reach. This trend highlights Amazon's fragmented international expansion and seller concentration. 👉 Marketplace Pulse

The State of AI in 2024.

Businesses are scaling AI adoption, but only a small share are unlocking significant value. Success often hinges on robust data foundations and change management. 👉 McKinsey

🇺🇸 Amazon’s Surprise TikTok Bid Shakes Things Up. Amazon threw a curveball with a $1 billion bid for TikTok on April 2, 2025, just before a U.S. ban deadline on April 5, 2025, but officials didn’t bite. TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users and millions in daily sales make it a hot target, with Oracle, Walmart, and even Mr. Beast also in the mix. 👉 Search Engine Land

🇺🇸 Amazon’s New AI Shops Other Stores for You. On April 3, 2025, Amazon rolled out an AI agent that buys stuff from third-party stores for customers, no financial details shared. It’s a big move to expand beyond their own site, making shopping easier and hitting competitors where it hurts. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 Walmart Fights Amazon with Supplier Price Cuts. Walmart pushed suppliers hard in 2025 to drop prices, keeping up with Amazon’s TikTok bid buzz, though no exact dates or dollar amounts were given. It’s all about staying cheap and winning customers while Amazon eyes new turf. 👉 PYMNTS

🇺🇸 Amazon’s Nova Act AI Browses the Web for You. Amazon launched Nova Act, an AI agent, on March 31, 2025, that uses a web browser to help users shop, no cost figures released. It’s a slick way to make buying online faster, showing Amazon’s all-in on AI. 👉 TechCrunch

🇪🇺 Shopify’s Sidekick Hits Europe in 20 Languages. Shopify spread its AI assistant Sidekick across Europe on March 31, 2025, now working in 20 languages, no money details out yet. It helps merchants sell better and shows Shopify’s push to grow big overseas. 👉 Retail Tech Innovation Hub

🇺🇸 eBay Rolls Out Simple Delivery for All Sellers. eBay started Simple Delivery for all C2C sellers in March 2025, making shipping easier, with no specific costs mentioned. It’s a win for small sellers on the platform, keeping things smooth and fast. 👉 ChannelX World

🇨🇳 Pinduoduo Drops $1.37 Billion on Merchants. Pinduoduo pumped $1.37 billion in 2025 to upgrade its merchants, no exact date given, aiming to boost their game. The Chinese e-commerce star wants to keep growing fast with this cash splash. 👉 Channel News Asia

🇨🇳 Taobao Bets $1.5 Billion on Livestreaming. Taobao tossed $1.5 billion into livestreaming on March 31, 2025, planning to double its users by 2027, no current user count shared. It’s a bold play to cash in on the live shopping craze and pull in more people. 👉 Startup News FYI

🇺🇸 Trump ends duty-free perk for Chinese parcels. Trump signed an order on April 3, 2025, slapping a 30% duty or $25 fee on small packages from China, hitting Shein and Temu hard with their 1.4 billion shipments in 2024. The fee jumps to $50 after June 1, and inspections may slow down the 4 million daily parcels. 👉 Hong Kong Free Press

🇪🇺 Decathlon’s online sales soar with marketplace boost. Decathlon’s 2024 revenue hit €16.2 billion, with 20% from online sales, up from 17% in 2023, and its marketplace in Germany doubled to 20% of digital sales. The company, big in 87 countries, now sells used gear online too, starting in spring 2024. 👉 Ecommerce News Europe

🇬🇧 ASOS launches fancy new brand called Arrange. ASOS dropped Arrange in March 2025, a premium line with prices from £25 to £325 and sizes UK 4 to 30, sold only on its site. It’s part of their plan to turn things around, using fancy fabrics and cool designs to grab richer shoppers. 👉 Apparel Resources

🇵🇱 Zalando blocks accounts for too many returns. On April 2, 2025, Zalando started locking out 10,500 shoppers for a year if they return too much, but Poland’s safe from the rule. One loyal customer got banned for ordering multiple sizes, while their AI cut size returns by 10%. 👉 Wirtualnemedia.pl

🇺🇸 StockX lets verified sellers ship straight to buyers. StockX kicked off a new program in 2025 where trusted sellers send sneakers directly to buyers, skipping the middleman check. It’s faster—think days, not weeks—and still keeps fakes out, says CEO Scott Cutler, after a $255 million raise in 2021. 👉 Complex

🇮🇳 Zomato fires 500 employees flagged by AI. Zomato sacked about 500 customer support workers on April 1, 2025, after its AI system, Nugget, launched in February 2025, took over, handling 15 million chats monthly. The company made Rs 59 crore profit in Q3 FY25, down 57% from Rs 138 crore last year, while revenue jumped 64% to Rs 5,404 crore. 👉 Financial Express

🇩🇪 Aldi shuts down its online shop. Aldi announced on March 31, 2025, it’s closing its online store by September 30, 2025, cutting 80 jobs since it started in 2021 and never made money. They’re focusing on regular stores instead, keeping non-food items like pet food and wine on shelves there. 👉 Ecommerce Germany

🇺🇸 Instacart starts same-day delivery. Instacart rolled out same-day delivery in 2025 to fix supply chain hiccups, making groceries reach people faster. Exact dates and dollars aren’t listed, but it’s a big move to keep customers happy when stuff gets delayed. 👉 PYMNTS

🇺🇸 Instacart uses AI carts for brand campaigns. Instacart added AI-powered smart carts in 2025 to help US brands run smooth ads both online and in stores. No specific cash figures or start dates given, but it’s about linking shopping worlds for companies like Pepsi or Kraft. 👉 Internet Retailing

🇬🇧 Prosus’s Just Eat offer ruled unfair. A UK court said in 2025 that Prosus’s deal to buy Just Eat wasn’t fair, though exact dates and money details are missing. It’s a snag in the food delivery takeover game, but we don’t know the full numbers yet. 👉 TechCentral

🇺🇸 Domino’s and DoorDash test pizza delivery. Domino’s and DoorDash kicked off a pizza delivery pilot in 2025, planning to hit all of the US and Canada later this year. No hard cash stats, but on April 2, 2025, they said it’s about speeding up pizza drops for hungry folks. 👉 Retail Tech Innovation Hub

🇺🇸 Seamless relaunches with deals for New York. Seamless, under Grubhub, came back in 2025 with cheaper fees and more restaurant deals, built just for New Yorkers. No exact date or dollar amounts, but it’s a fresh look to hook city diners with better offers every day. 👉 Grubhub

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