🌀 Beyond the hype. How AI in UK retail has moved to the mainstream?

"European Marketplaces Report” 2023 by Internet retailing

🛒 Mass merchant marketplaces

• 🌎 Amazon to stress test sellers sustainability. Starting in 2024, Amazon will require suppliers to share their emissions data, set emissions goals, and report on their progress, the e-commerce giant said in its recently released sustainability report. With that move, it joins Microsoft, Walmart, Apple, and others in saying that suppliers must step up decarbonization efforts. Deep dive → CNBC

• NL Bol removes .com from name. When bol.com was founded at the end of last century, the .com suffix was needed to point out it was an online store, Chief Marketing Officer Boukje Taphoorn explains. Now that is not longer felt necessary, and the Ahold Delhaize subsidiary accompanies the new name with a full rebranding. Deep dive → RetailDetail | Bol

• 🇪🇺 Ochama (Chinese supermarket) accelerates expansion in Europe and is now available in 24 countries. First launched in the Netherlands in January 2022, ochama offers a retail model that merges online and offline shopping experiences. The company ensures a seamless customer experience by providing the flexibility to collect online orders from ochama’s pick-up points or choosing the comfort of reliable home delivery. Deep dive → JD.com

👗 Fashion marketplaces

• 🇺🇸 Walmart app to bring virtual makeup try-on to customers. The AR-powered technology by Perfect Corp. will allow users to try on blush, lip color, eyeshadow and bronzer. Customers can use the app to try on more than 1,400 products from Walmart’s brand assortment including Covergirl, E.l.f. Cosmetics, Maybelline and Revlon. Deep dive → RetailDive

• 🇪🇺 Zara to open a second-hand platform in France, Germany and potentially in Spain. The Zara Pre-Owned system will work similarly to other buy-sell platforms such as Vinted and Wallapop. The articles will be sorted by category (women, men, children) and by type of product, either garment or accessory. Deep dive → DiariDigital

• 🇬🇧 Matches launches outlet amid turnaround efforts. Matches Outlet currently offers nearly 6,000 products, with about 30% of them, or 1,750 products, selling for 70% off. While competitors have leaned into less risky business models, including e-concessions and drop-shipping, Matches has primarily focused on wholesale partnerships with brands. Deep dive → Glossy

• 🇪🇺 La Redoute relies on professional sellers to transform its second-hand offer. After launching its La Reboucle second-hand offer at the beginning of 2021, La Redoute is going one step further by joining forces with several specialist partners to roll out a CtoBtoC second-hand offer, offering selections of verified products that can be returned within thirty days. Deep dive → FashionNetwork

🍔 Food marketplaces

• 🇺🇸 Grubhub wants to be room service for hotels without restaurants. Grubhub is capturing hotel guests’ demand for easy food options when they are in an unfamiliar place, driving adoption of its marketplace with this population. The aggregator partnered with Choice Hotels’ Choice Privileges loyalty program to offer Grubhub ordering to these rewards members at 500 locations. Deep dive → PYMNTS

• 🇺🇸 Uber Eats challenges DoorDash with multi-merchant ordering. U.S. delivery customers can order from two nearby merchants, including restaurants, liquor stores and c-stores, at the same time for one delivery fee. The feature resembles DoorDash’s DoubleDash program, introduced two years ago. Deep dive → RestaurantDive

• 🇮🇳 Swiggy launches a cheaper version of ‘Swiggy One’ to take on Zomato. The subscription will allow users to have 10 free food deliveries, 10 free Instamart deliveries, additional discounts and a 10% discount on Genie. The new segment within the larger Swiggy One programme would allow the foodtech giant to better monetize its platform. Deep dive → Inc42

• 🇪🇺 Glovo spies on and shares couriers' data even when they're not working. An investigation concludes that the company's app sends personal and geolocation data even when workers are not active. Deep dive → El Salto Diario

• 🇵🇱 Bolt Food with a new order planning function up to 2 days in advance. The planned orders feature is intended to improve the quality of Bolt Food and Bolt Market services, and help restaurants maximize the number of orders and their revenue. Deep dive → Interaktywnie

📦Various marketplaces

• 🌎 Klarna takes aim at Google and Amazon with AI image recognition tool for shopping. A new feature in the Klarna app will let users point their phone at an item of clothing or electronics gadget and find results for similar products. The tool is trained on data from PriceRunner, a price comparison service Klarna acquired for close to $1 billion. Deep dive → CNBC

• 🌎 Selfnamed (a self-service platform for print-on-demand in the ecommerce and cosmetics industries) is launching publicly after a successful beta program including 10k+ pre-launch customers across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. Deep dive → ChannelX

• 🌎 Affable.ai (creator marketplace) was acquired by Bazaarvoice. Affable is an AI-powered platform to help marketers find and engage authentic creators who can truly influence their audience. Deep dive → Baazarvoice

• 🇪🇸 Leroy Merlin launches a new app in Spain with Leroy Merlin marketplace. Marketplace has currently 1M of products. New app has much more advanced and personalized search engine and provides financing products. Deep dive → Alimarket

🌟Funding/new marketplaces

• 🇳🇱 Lance Free (Rotterdam-based platform that matches technical companies with technical freelancers) raised funding from Eneco Ventures and Zeeland Participation Fund (ZPF). The capital comes as the Dutch company aims to achieve a turnover of over €75M in projects from construction and technical companies by 2026. Lance Free will utilize the funds to improve its software, strengthen marketing and expand the team. Deep dive → Siliconcanals

• 🇺🇸 Pickle (Peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace) picks up $8M funding. Pickle’s sweet spot is below luxury fashion (retail price of around $400). That’s just high enough that people may hesitate to make the purchase but expensive enough that they’re gaining access to quality items. The team aims to use the additional funds to accelerate growth, expand headcount, enter additional U.S. markets and even expand into new categories of rentals. Deep dive → TechCrunch

• 🇬🇧 Lottie (UK care home marketplace) got $21M investment from Accel. Lottie monetizes via several streams. Through its core marketplace, care providers are currently charged for lead generations and billed on a pay-per-query basis. While Lottie is entirely focused on the U.K. care home market for now, the fact that it has secured two major U.S. VC firms as backers is somewhat telling of its global aspirations. Deep dive → TechCrunch