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🧠 Big Story: 
Not AI-Optimized = Invisible 👻

📊 Key Data:
Shein 3P Strategy🎯

📖 Ecommerce ecosystem news:
🇺🇸 DOJ orders $GOOGL ( ▲ 1.4% ) to divest Chrome browser yet preserve AI investmnts.
🇪🇺 EU rivals demand tougher rules for Google search fairness for EU rule.
🇫🇮 eBrands secures €7.5M boost to expand AI-powered growth in Europe now.
🇨🇳 $BABA ( ▲ 0.43% ) ’s Accio AI search hits 1M users with fast feature rollout now.
🇺🇸 UniUni aims to cover 70% of US with faster deliveries by Sept 2025 ok.
🇪🇸 Temu collaborates with Correos to speed up delivery across Spain now.

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

Not AI-Optimized = Invisible 👻

Google’s search results are no longer a battlefield for websites — they’re a playground for AI. If your content isn’t built for AI Overviews, you’re not just losing clicks — you’re vanishing from the internet’s front page.

OpenAI Bot Activity Quadruples 🚀

OpenAI bots are storming retail sites, with GPT-powered agents rocketing from 200K to 900K daily visits in two months — a 4x surge. With ChatGPT ditching login barriers and integrating as a search engine, AI-driven search is accelerating. Expect OpenAI’s Operator to further drive AI traffic by sending agents to sites on users' behalf. Brands must ensure their content is fresh, crawlable, and bot-friendly — stale data risks disappearing from this AI-first search reality.

AI Overviews Rule Info Searches 📚

AI Overviews now show up in 47% of google search results, appearing more often in informational queries (59%) than commercial ones (19%). With AI summaries often replacing traditional search links, brands must rethink visibility strategies. Informational content — FAQs, guides, and educational pieces — is your ticket to winning these AI-powered spaces. Ignore it, and you risk being invisible in the fastest-growing part of search.

Low-Volume Keywords Win Big 🎯

AI Overviews are most common in low-traffic searches, appearing in 55% of queries with fewer than 1K monthly searches. As search volume rises, AI presence drops significantly — hitting its lowest in high-traffic keywords over 50K monthly searches. For brands, this means niche content is now prime territory for AI visibility. Don’t just chase popular keywords — those obscure, long-tail queries might be your fastest route to the top of AI-powered search.

Longer Queries Win AI’s Attention 📏

The longer the query, the more likely an AI Overview will appear. Long-tail keywords (5+ words) triggered AI Overviews 74% of the time, while head terms (1-2 words) saw just 9% coverage. Detailed, conversational queries align better with Google's AI model, designed to simplify complex searches. For brands, this means investing in content that answers deeper, niche questions is crucial for capturing AI-driven traffic. In SEO’s new world, longer isn’t just better — it’s essential.

AI Overviews Push Rankings Down 📉

AI Overviews are hogging SERP real estate. On desktop, they occupy 394px of screen height — and on mobile, 400px — effectively dominating the top fold. When combined with featured snippets (which co-occur 60% of the time), these elements consume up to 67% of the visible page. Result? Even top organic listings are pushed down, often requiring a full scroll to reach. For brands, landing in an AI Overview is no longer optional — it's survival in the shrinking space of search visibility.

Shein 3P Strategy🎯

In 2023, Shein did something unexpected:
It added third-party sellers to its platform.

(And the results are eye-opening.)
In just 3 years, Shein's 3P GMV share grew from 2.1% to 17.4% in 2025.

That’s massive.

For context:

🟠 Zalando's 3P GMV share is 24.1% (but growth has been very slower).
🟠 Asos’ 3P GMV share? Just 10.9%.

Now here’s the kicker:

✅ Shein’s total GMV in 2024 was $60.3B.
✅ Zalando's? $14B.
✅ Asos? Just $4.4B.

Even with a smaller 3P share, Shein’s scale means its 3P sales hit $6.9B — more than Zalando and Asos combined.

This shift mirrors rivals like Temu and AliExpress — but Shein’s growth is on a whole different level.

🇺🇸 DOJ wants Google to sell Chrome but keep AI funds. The U.S. Department of Justice on March 8, 2025, said Google should divest its Chrome browser to boost competition, while still allowing AI investments. This is part of a big antitrust push against Google’s control, and they’re not backing down. 👉 TechCrunch

🇪🇺 EU rivals push for tougher Google search rules. On March 5, 2025, companies like DuckDuckGo told the EU to fully enforce its market fairness laws on Google search, saying it’s unfair. They wrote an open letter to EU bosses Teresa Ribera and Henna Virkkunen, demanding action now. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 Google’s new AI tool finds clothes for you. Google rolled out Vision Match, an AI feature in its Shopping tab, for U.S. mobile users on March 5, 2025, after testing it since 2023. You describe what you want to wear, and it suggests similar stuff—pretty cool, right? 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 TikTok adds parent controls for teen accounts. On March 11, 2025, TikTok let parents see their teens’ follower lists and block app use during set hours with features like Time Away. It’s all about safety—teens under 16 even get a 10 p.m. nudge to log off. 👉 TechCrunch

🇦🇱 Albania bans TikTok for a year after violence. Starting March 13, 2025, Albania banned TikTok because a 14-year-old’s stabbing death was linked to the app, says PM Edi Rama. Critics like Ina Zhupa call it a freedom grab, but Rama blames ByteDance for bad content. 👉 Spiegel

🇫🇷 Rakuten France picks Mirakl Ads for better ads. Rakuten France teamed up with Mirakl Ads in 2025 to power its retail media, helping its 10,000 sellers with AI-driven ads. Tests from July to October 2024 showed an 83% jump in ad clicks—Matthieu Denime says it’s a game-changer. 👉 ChannelX

🇬🇧 Amazon brings shoppable ads to UK Prime Video. Amazon will launch shoppable ads on UK Prime Video in 2025, announced David Amodio at the Connected TV Summit on March 11. You can buy stuff right from pause ads—interactive and easy, just how they like it. 👉 Broadband TV News

🇺🇸 Google Ads Editor 2.9 drops old versions. Google released Ads Editor 2.9 in 2025 with new tricks like Manager Account Labels and vertical video tools, cutting off support for 2.5 and older. It’s all about keeping campaigns sharp and video-ready—no looking back. 👉 Search Engine Land

🇺🇸 Meta pushes Google Analytics for ad boosts. Meta’s telling advertisers to link Google Analytics in 2025 for a 5% conversion lift, and it takes just 5-10 minutes to set up. Samantha Noble says it’s a quick win for better ads—early birds get the updates first. 👉 Search Engine Land

🇫🇮 eBrands Raises €7.5M for AI Growth. eBrands, a Helsinki-based company, got €7.5M on March 12, 2025, to boost its AI tool Apollo. It helps consumer brands grow in 60 markets, supporting nearly 50 partners and 30 own brands. 👉 eBrands raises €7.5M

🇨🇳 Alibaba Accio Adds AI Features Fast. Alibaba’s Accio AI search hit 1 million users in five months, launching new tools in March 2025. A survey shows 64% of sourcing leaders plan to use AI by 2025 for growth. 👉 Alibaba Accio gets new AI features

🇨🇦 Shopify Launches AI Store Setup. Shopify rolled out an AI tool on March 5, 2025, to help merchants build stores fast. President Harley Finkelstein says it cuts time from idea to first sale. 👉 Shopify AI store setup

🇧🇷 Loopia Gets $650K for AI Support. Loopia, a Brazilian startup, raised $650,000 on March 10, 2025, for AI customer support. It works with Mercado Libre, Amazon, and WhatsApp to help e-commerce sellers. 👉 Loopia raises $650K

🇺🇸 Platter Secures $1.6M for Checkouts. Platter, a New York firm, raised $1.6M on March 7, 2025, to launch Platter+ for Shopify. It serves over 150 brands, making checkouts smoother with upsells. 👉 Platter secures $1.6M

🇺🇸 UniUni boosts US delivery to 70% by Sept 2025. UniUni, a parcel carrier, plans to cover 70% of the US by September 2025, up from 50%, hitting states like Minnesota and Michigan with $30 million from a November 2024 funding round. It moves over 1 million packages daily for Temu and Shein, aiming for 4-day delivery using robots and air shipping. 👉 Supply Chain Dive

🇪🇸 Temu teams up with Correos for faster Spain delivery. Temu and Correos, Spain’s postal service, joined forces in March 2023 to speed up deliveries across 100% of Spain, including remote islands. They’re pushing over 600 product categories and want 80% of sales from local Spanish sellers. 👉 Retail Tech Innovation Hub

🇵🇱 JD Logistics opens third warehouse in Poland. JD Logistics kicked off its third Polish warehouse on March 12, 2025, in Warsaw, a 10,000-square-meter space handling 5,000+ items with 99.5% accuracy. It’s their second in Warsaw since 2021, offering 24-hour delivery and green tech like solar panels. 👉 JD Corporate Blog

🇺🇸 ShipStation merges API for better shipping. On March 6, 2025, ShipStation rolled out a unified API with ShipEngine, helping over 1 million users in 250 countries ship $80 billion in goods. The update cuts costs and speeds up service, with plans to tweak it through summer 2025. 👉 Business Wire

🇩🇰 Denmark’s PostNord ends letter delivery in 2025. PostNord will stop delivering letters in Denmark by December 30, 2025, after a 90% drop in volume since 2000, cutting 1,500 jobs. They’re shifting to parcels and ditching 1,500 mailboxes as digital takes over. 👉 Online Haendler News

🇩🇪 Hermes raises parcel prices in Germany. Hermes bumped up parcel prices in Germany, following a 4.5% hike back in March 2018, due to higher costs. They’ve added peak surcharges in November and December before, and this tweak keeps them competitive. 👉 Online Haendler News

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