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🧠 Big Story: 
Temu Came in Hot, Cooling Fast 🧊

📊 Key Data:
Ecommerce Plays Monopoly 🎲

📖 Ecommerce ecosystem news:

🇺🇸 Google Teams Up with Roblox for Cool Ads.
🇺🇸 Microsoft Makes Ads Follow Privacy Rules.
🇺🇸 Automattic Cuts 16% of Staff Amid Market Pressure.
🇩🇪 Commercetools Launches Payment Hub with Stripe.
🇬🇧 DPD UK adds 8,000 parcel lockers with YEEP! by 2030.
🇪🇺 TikTok Shop starts logistics in Europe on March 31, 2025.

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

Hope you enjoy this issue.
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Temu Came in Hot, Cooling Fast 🧊

Temu came in hot—flooding the U.S. with $4 toasters, gamified shopping, and a marketing blitz that made Amazon sweat. But behind the flash sales and factory-direct hype, something colder is settling in.

Discount Devotees Love Temu 🛍️

Temu isn’t stealing Target’s thunder—it’s raiding Dollar Tree’s treasure chest. In 2024, 26% of Five Below shoppers also shop Temu. That overlap drops to 16% for Target. Temu’s power users are budget hunters, not brand loyalists. And they spend: +45% more at Dollar Tree, +34% at Walmart vs. average shoppers. Temu’s not disrupting retail—it’s just weaponizing thrift.

Temu Users Bring the Bucks 💸

Temu’s not just attracting clicks—it’s attracting cash. Its U.S. users dropped +45% more at Dollar Tree, +34% at Walmart, and +31% at Dollar General vs. average shoppers. Even Five Below and Ollie’s saw double-digit lifts. But Target? A brutal -10%. Turns out Temu fans hunt for deals, not designer collabs. They’re loyal to price tags, not bullseyes.

Temu’s Losing Its Dollar Army 📉

Temu’s discount-hungry shoppers are tapping the brakes. Overlap with Five Below slid from 19.5% in May ’24 to 17.3% by Feb ’25—a 220bps drop. Ollie’s dipped 130bps. Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Walmart? Also losing Temu crossover. Even Etsy fell 190bps. It’s not collapse, but the hype-fueled honeymoon may be over. Temu’s users are starting to ghost their old haunts.

Temu Took a Bite, Not the Whole Pie 🍰

Temu didn’t flip the board—it just nudged a few pieces. Dollar General saw spend rise +7.3%, Walmart +5.9%, and even eBay clawed back +2.7% four quarters after a shopper’s Temu debut. But Target and Etsy? Oof. Down -3.3% and -4.5%. Temu didn’t gut retail—it skimmed some discretionary spend from brands selling more “want” than “need.”

Temu’s Loyalty Problem Is Real 😬

The thrill is fading fast. Just 28% of Temu’s newest U.S. shoppers stuck around four quarters post-purchase—down from 39% for earlier cohorts. The Q4 '22 group? Still clocking 44% retention after two years. For Q4 '24? It’s a loyalty cliff. Temu’s early hype gave it lift. Now, it’s learning that freebies and flash deals don’t build habit—they burn bright and fizzle.

Ecommerce Plays Monopoly 🎲

Ecommerce in Europe isn’t a free market — it’s a board game dominated by a few players. In the UK, the Top 25 stores control 71% of net sales. Spain (68%), Italy (65%), France (64%), and Germany (59%) follow the same pattern. It's not about passing Go — it’s about owning the board.

Shopify’s strategy: From platform to commerce ecosystem.

Shopify has built a robust ecosystem through strategic acquisitions, investments, and partnerships. Its goal is to empower merchants while expanding influence across payments, logistics, and B2B. 👉 CB Insights

Amazon's flywheel for success in digital commerce.

Flywheel's New 5-Year Amazon Forecasts. Flywheel has released its latest 5-year Amazon forecasts on the Retail Insights platform, providing analytics and insights to help businesses prepare for the future. No further read but interesting to see difference in expected growth rates. 👉 LinkedIn

🇺🇸 Google Teams Up with Roblox for Cool Ads. Google started a deal with Roblox on April 1, 2025, to show immersive ads like virtual billboards in games, helping 85-89 million daily users earn perks. It’s set to boost ad cash for publishers, with brands joining soon. 👉 Google Blog

🇺🇸 Microsoft Makes Ads Follow Privacy Rules. Microsoft Advertising said on March 31, 2025, that starting May 5, 2025, ads need user consent to track data, matching laws like GDPR. This affects tools like UET and aims to keep trust while running campaigns. 👉 Search Engine Land

🇮🇳 Meta’s New AI Ad Tools Help Shops Sell More. Meta launched AI ad tools on April 3, 2025, at its summit, cutting ad costs by 15% and lifting sales returns by 12% for e-commerce. Over 4,000 Indian advertisers use these, targeting fast-growing online shopping. 👉 Jang

🇺🇸 Automattic Cuts 16% of Staff Amid Market Pressure. Automattic, the company behind WordPress, laid off 281 of its 1,744 employees on April 2, 2025, as CEO Matt Mullenweg aims to boost productivity. The cuts hit WooCommerce hard with over 100 gone, and U.S. staff got 9 weeks of severance. 👉 TechCrunch

🇩🇪 Commercetools Launches Payment Hub with Stripe. On March 25, 2025, Munich-based commercetools rolled out a Payment Hub to help big businesses cut payment costs, starting with Stripe as a partner. It lets companies skip high fees and negotiate directly, promising more cash in their pockets. 👉 PR Newswire

🇺🇸 Perplexity Teams Up with Firmly.ai for Shopping Boost. At SHOPTALK in Las Vegas on March 27, 2025, Perplexity joined forces with firmly.ai to make online shopping easier, seeing a 5x jump in shopping queries. Dmitry Shevelenko says it’s a win for merchants and buyers with fast, seamless purchases. 👉 GlobeNewswire

🇬🇧 DPD UK adds 8,000 parcel lockers with YEEP! by 2030. DPD UK teams up with YEEP! to install 8,000 new parcel lockers over five years, growing their 12,000 Pickup points. It’s all about easy drop-offs and pickups, with 23% of Europeans using lockers versus 12% in the UK, says Geopost’s 2024 data. 👉 ChannelX

🇪🇺 TikTok Shop starts logistics in Europe on March 31, 2025. TikTok Shop kicks off its Fulfilled by TikTok service in Germany and Spain, helping small sellers ship easier. They’re using DPD and Seur for fast delivery and simple returns, aiming to boost cross-border sales. 👉 Blaze Trends

🇩🇪 GLS Germany hits 500 parcel stations with myflexbox. GLS Germany and myflexbox now run 500 parcel stations across 140+ cities, targeting 1,000 by late 2025. It’s a big win for quick parcel pickups, with 30-50 new spots added monthly. 👉 GLS Newsroom

🇺🇸 UPS launches Global Checkout on March 26, 2025. UPS rolls out a new service in 43 countries, showing all import fees upfront for 200+ destinations. It uses AI to cut surprises at checkout, tackling the 41% of U.S. and UK shoppers annoyed by hidden costs. 👉 Business Wire

🇺🇸 Veho and Shippo offer 2-5 day delivery to 300,000 brands. Veho and Shippo team up in April 2025 to deliver to 300,000 e-commerce brands in 50 markets, hitting 65,000 packages weekly. It’s fast, cheap, and boasts a 99% on-time rate for medium-sized sellers. 👉 PR Newswire

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