Shein Could Lose Its Shine 💥

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🧠 Big Story: 
Shein Could Lose Its Shine 💥

📊 Key Data:
Is SEO dead?💀

📖 Ecommerce ecosystem news:

🇺🇸 Meta Faces Antitrust Trial Over Instagram, WhatsApp Buys.
🇺🇸 Microsoft’s Monetize Platform Gets AI Upgrade.
🇺🇸 eBay’s AI Tool Speeds Up Mobile Listings.
🇨🇦 Affirm, Shopify Expand Shop Pay Globally.
🇵🇱 InPost Buys Yodel for £106M to Boost UK Presence.
🇺🇸 UPS Launches Ground Saver, Freight Pricing Services.


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

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Fast fashion is getting a fast reckoning. As Shein storms into IPO territory, it's not just dominating—it’s reshaping global apparel with TikTok speed and a Temu-sized appetite for chaos. But even rocket ships hit turbulence, and tariffs are about to test Shein’s runway.

Shein Leaves Rivals in the Dust 🛫

Shein is moving like it’s on Ozempic for retail. In April 2025, its US sales surged 25.7% YoY—more than 3x the 7.9% lift of other fast fashion brands. Meanwhile, the overall apparel category shrank by 5%. After a tariff policy scare early in the year, Shein bounced back hard, riding price, speed, and viral Gen Z momentum. This recent jump in sales could be a result of panic purchases in face of upcoming tarrifs.

Shein Grabs 44% of US Fast Fashion 👑

The brand now controls 44% of US fast fashion sales, up from 38% a year ago. Zara’s lost ground, falling to 16%, while H&M clings to just 11%. Quince, a DTC newcomer peddling luxury basics on the cheap, dethroned Uniqlo in the top 4. Shein’s algorithm-driven chaos is drowning out the old guard’s curated cool. Cheap, fast, and scrollable wins the wallet—and the war. Will Zara regain ground in face of the new trade world?

Shein Price Hike Incoming 💸

April 25, 2025 marks the day when Shein will raise US prices. Now, with rising costs and new tariffs, the $5 crop top may become a $10 one. The brand’s margin party is over, and IPO investors will soon learn if Shein can stay hot without staying dirt cheap.

Tariffs Slam Shein in South Africa 🚫

South Africa is the cautionary tale. Since July 2024, Shein’s been paying a 45% import duty & 15% VAT. Local retailers cheered; Shein bled. Market share slipped, margins fell to 3% by Jan '25. The entire online-only fashion segment shrank. For Shein, South Africa is proof that tax codes can hit harder than competition.

HubSpot’s Blog Blew Up… Is Seo dead?💀

HubSpot’s blog lost 80% of its organic Google traffic in a year. This wasn’t a one-off crash—it was a steady unraveling, with clear hits during Google’s March, November, and December 2024 core and spam updates. Across Ahrefs, Sistrix, and Semrush, the trend was consistent: traffic was tanking, rankings were disappearing, and the SEO world took notice.

📉 Not a Fluke, a Full-On Pattern

The blog’s subdomain dropped from owning 77% of HubSpot’s total SEO traffic to just 42% by the end of the year. It lost ranking for 108K keywords in top 3 positions. Most of those were high-volume, irrelevant queries—like “shrug emoji,” “famous quotes,” or “interview weaknesses.” Meanwhile, content aligned with HubSpot’s core—like email marketing metrics, landing page optimization, and CRM templates—held up or improved. This was less about SEO dying and more about the wrong kind of content dying off.

🧩 What Actually Went Wrong

Several overlapping issues triggered the decline.

• 1️⃣ Overextended Content Strategy: The blog went wide, chasing viral traffic on topics unrelated to HubSpot’s business. That diluted topical authority and made it harder for Google to understand what the site was actually about.

• 2️⃣ Suspicious Link Profile: Over 28K domains were linked from 19K pages, many with dofollow links. That ratio, especially with thousands of similar link clusters, looked spammy. Whether intentional or not, link spam triggers Google’s automated penalties.

• 3️⃣ Poor Content Architecture: Dozens of articles targeted the same keywords with inconsistent internal linking. Pages about “call-to-action” or “content marketing” competed with each other, confusing algorithms. Important anchors pointed to multiple URLs or even external sources.

• 4️⃣ Scaled, Low-Effort Content: Some blog posts seemed auto-generated or templated. Detection tools flagged them. Even if AI wasn’t used, content that’s low-effort or overly generic gets downgraded. Algorithms prioritize content that shows expertise and real human input.

⚖️ Did This Hurt the Business?

Not really. The commercial and transactional keywords—like “CRM,” “email marketing,” and “sales software”—still rank well on HubSpot’s main site. Those are the money terms. Overall site traffic fell by around 23%, but brand visibility, direct traffic, and lead-gen engines stayed strong. The bulk of what was lost were top-of-funnel views with little conversion value. Traffic dropped hard, but revenue likely didn’t.

🧠 What It Means for SEO

SEO isn’t dead—but lazy SEO is. Google now rewards relevance, clarity, and demonstrated expertise. Publishing broad, keyword-chasing content may work in the short term, but it builds a house of cards. Long-term SEO wins come from building around actual business intent, customer needs, and brand authority. The rules haven’t changed—they’ve just started being enforced.

SEO has been “dying” since the early 2000s.

And yet...

SEO’ve survived every so-called funeral:

• Web 3.0

• Google Ads

• Social media

• Voice assistants

• Featured snippets

• Zero-click searches

• Every Google update

• TikTok “the new search”

• ChatGPT replacing Google

• AI Overviews in search results

94% of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sellers see AI’s potential.

Lazada's recent study reveals that most online sellers in Southeast Asia believe AI can significantly boost their business. The report categorizes sellers into Adepts, Aspirants, and Agnostics, offering a snapshot of AI readiness across the region. 👉 SCMP

How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025.

Harvard Business Review breaks down the evolving ways people use generative AI, highlighting a shift toward emotional support, life organization, and purpose-seeking. The piece is based on thousands of real-user interviews and shows how deeply AI is integrating into daily life. 👉 Harvard Business Review

🇺🇸 Meta Faces Antitrust Trial Over Instagram, WhatsApp Buys. Meta’s trial began April 14, 2025, with the FTC claiming its $1.4T ad empire illegally monopolized social media via 2012 Instagram and 2014 WhatsApp deals. A breakup could split Instagram and WhatsApp, reshaping social media. 👉 Bloomberg

🇺🇸 Microsoft’s Monetize Platform Gets AI Upgrade. Microsoft upgraded Monetize with AI tools like Copilot on April 14, 2025, adding a dashboard and history log for publishers. The update boosts ad efficiency, with 11% of users facing blocked category spend issues. 👉 Search Engine Journal

🇺🇸 Walmart Tests Vizio Ads After $2.3B Buy. Walmart’s $2.3B Vizio acquisition in 2024 led to a April 14, 2025, beta test for Vizio’s smart TV ads via Walmart Connect. The move, after 26% Q3 2024 ad growth, aims to expand Walmart’s reach in connected TV ads. 👉 Ad Age

🇪🇺 Meta to Train AI on EU Public Posts. Meta will use EU public Facebook and Instagram posts for AI training starting April 14, 2025, after a 2024 pause and EDPB approval. Users can opt out, but privacy concerns linger as Meta follows Google and OpenAI. 👉 TechCrunch

🇺🇸 eBay’s AI Tool Speeds Up Mobile Listings. eBay’s new AI-powered tool, launched April 8, 2025, cuts mobile listing steps by 50% in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, powering over 100M listings. It auto-fills details from a photo, boosting billions in sales. 👉 eBay Innovation Blog

🇨🇦 Affirm, Shopify Expand Shop Pay Globally. Affirm and Shopify launched Shop Pay Installments in Canada on April 9, 2025, with U.K. and other countries next. Rates range from 0–31.99% APR, helping shoppers split payments and merchants boost sales. 👉 BusinessWire

🇺🇸 PolyAI’s Agent Studio Enhances Customer Service. PolyAI’s Agent Studio, launched April 15, 2025, uses AI for human-like customer service calls, ideal for regulated industries. It reduces errors and scales support, as praised by Hopper’s Jo Lai. 👉 News-Journal

🇵🇱 InPost Buys Yodel for £106M to Boost UK Presence. InPost acquired UK’s Yodel for £106M, gaining a 95.5% stake in Judge Logistics and 8% market share. CEO Rafał Brzoska says it’s a key step for European expansion, handling 300M parcels yearly. 👉 Polskie Radio

🇺🇸 UPS Launches Ground Saver, Freight Pricing Services. UPS rolled out Ground Saver for non-urgent packages and Ground with Freight Pricing for 150+ lb loads. Matt Guffey, Chief Commercial Officer, says it’s part of 2025’s customer-focused enhancements. 👉 UPS

🇺🇸 FedEx Adds $0.45/lb Surcharge on China-US Imports. FedEx started a $0.45/lb fee on China, Hong Kong, and Philippines imports from April 15 to May 2, 2025. It prepares for the de minimis exemption ending, with new $4.50 customs fees for sub-$800 imports. 👉 Supply Chain Dive

🇺🇸 Swap Launches Tariff Optimization Service. Swap’s Clear by Swap Global, launched April 10, 2025, helps brands manage tariffs as de minimis ends. CEO Sam Atkinson says it cuts costs and ensures compliance, vital for 83% of execs fearing survival. 👉 Business Wire

🇺🇸 Amazon Freight Starts Inbound LTL Service. Amazon Freight launched an inbound LTL service on April 4, 2025, using 60,000+ trailers for vendors. Ari Silkey, General Manager, says it offers cost-effective shipping to fulfillment centers via a self-service portal. 👉 Amazon Freight

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