🌀 German Ecommerce Slips Below Pre-COVID Forecasts🚨

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Welcome to MarketMaze, the #1 newsletter for staying on top of the latest in Marketplace and E-commerce. Get all the insights you need in just five minutes a week!

🌀This week’s maze:

1. The Big Story 🧠 
German Ecommerce Slips Below Pre-COVID Forecasts🚨

2. Data 📊 
China Ecommerce Skyrockets with 2 New Firms Per Hour! 📦
The majority of Amazon’s 1P Vendors Makes Less than $1.5M🪠 

3. News 📖 
🛒 🇺🇸 Amazon's 'Buy It Now' show offers $20K per episode
👗 🇩🇪 Zalando adds 4 cities to AI-driven fashion tool
👗 🇨🇳 Shein's Gig Workers Voice Frustrations Online
🍔 🇺🇸 Amazon cuts 3 more Go stores in NYC, 17 left
🍔 🇦🇪 Talabat's IPO to outshine Delivery Hero at $15.1B
🗞🇺🇸 Temu, Shein ready for new U.S. import duty rules
🦄🇬🇧 Ameba raises $7.1M to fix supply chain with AI

+ over 25 other news from the last week you need to know 🎁

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Data from "E-Commerce Market Germany 2024" by ECDB/EHI reveals that TOP1K online stores in Germany generated €77.5B in 2023, with revenue declines continuing from the post-pandemic shift back to brick-and-mortar retail.

📉 Slight decline in sales

Total net sales from Germany's top 1,000 online stores reached €77.5B in 2023, down 0.2% from 2022.

The decline follows a sharper drop of 2.8% in 2022, reflecting stabilization in the market.

The shift back to in-store shopping and inflation affected online revenues.

In 2024, sales are expected to rise slightly to €78.3B, a modest 1% growth.

📊 Market concentration

The top 20 stores generated €35B, almost 46% of total sales, while stores ranked 21-100 contributed 23.7%.

Omnichannel retail is gaining traction, combining online and offline shopping, impacting pure online sales growth.

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According to Soapbox, China's cross-border e-commerce is booming with 75 new companies daily. This rapid growth is triggering a pushback from the U.S. and EU, aiming to protect their domestic markets from Chinese imports.

📈 China’s E-commerce Surge

China now has over 80,000 companies in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC).

In 2023, the sector grew by 15.6%, reaching $326B in export volume.

China exports $10 for every $1 imported, mostly low-cost goods.

Tristan Williams reported that Amazon’s decision to end relationships with many 1P vendors under $5M in annual sales impacts thousands of brands. This move is part of Amazon’s effort to streamline and prioritize larger, strategic vendors. Smartscout shows data for such a move.

💡 Amazon's Major Vendor Purge

Amazon has announced it will terminate numerous 1P vendor accounts with annual sales under $5M.

The termination will take effect on November 9th, 2024, just ahead of the holiday season.

This move affects thousands of smaller brands that may rely heavily on Amazon’s platform.

🛍 Many Small Vendors Remain Below $1.5M

Despite the recent purges, many 1P vendors with under $5M in sales still remain on the platform.

Around 80% of these smaller vendors make less than $1.5M annually, highlighting their low profitability.

Amazon is keeping some of these accounts but continues to evaluate based on strategic value.

🇺🇸 Amazon's 'Buy It Now' show offers $20K per episode, lets contestants pitch products to an audience and celebrity panel. Winning products will be sold on Amazon's special storefront and one winner will take home a $20K prize. The show premieres October 30th.

🇺🇸 Amazon adds 5 visual tools for faster searches. The company now allows text and image integration, showcases similar items, and highlights product videos, making searches 70% faster globally.

🇧🇪 Amazon's sustainable product push in Belgium & Sweden. Amazon expands its “Climate Pledge Friendly” making sustainable products easier to find. Belgian customers get access to 70K products.

🇮🇩 Shopee and Tokopedia raise seller fees for profits. Shopee, Tokopedia, and others in Southeast Asia are increasing seller commissions, with fees rising up to 10%. Merchants are unhappy but staying, facing higher margins. Shopee remains the largest e-commerce platform, holding 48% market share.

🇬🇧 eBay scraps UK seller fees amid startup pressure. eBay drops seller fees in the U.K. for most products to combat competitors like Vinted and Depop. This move, already successful in Germany, aims to boost C2C sales. Fashion resale is growing fast, with the global market hitting $197B last year.

🇺🇸 eBay launches AI tool to simplify bulk listings. eBay’s AI-powered Magical Bulk Listing Tool speeds up product listings by auto-filling titles and categories using images. Starting with sports trading cards, eBay plans to expand to other categories soon.

🇦🇷 MercadoLibre’s 34% surge outpaces Amazon in 2024. MercadoLibre, founded in 1999, leads online sales in Latin America, growing 34% in 2024. Amazon trails with a 27% rise. MercadoLibre’s Q2 revenue grew by 42%, backed by a young, mobile-savvy population of 600M.

🇵🇱 Allegro expands to Hungary, eyeing 10M new clients, marking another step in its Central European growth. Allegro's move follows its entry into Czechia and Slovakia, where it gained 2.5M buyers. Hungary adds a 10M client potential.

🇩🇪 Zalando adds 4 cities to AI-driven fashion tool. Zalando rolls out its AI-powered assistant to 25 markets, offering local language support. Trend Spotter adds Amsterdam, London, Warsaw, and Zurich to help customers discover emerging styles in 10 European fashion capitals.

🇨🇳 Shein's Gig Workers Voice Frustrations Online. Chinese workers at Shein's fulfillment centers are sharing their difficult working conditions online. Videos show long hours, low wages, and physical strain. These gig workers reveal the price behind Shein's fast-fashion success, raising concerns about labor practices.

🇬🇧 Boohoo weighs breaking up as shares fall 85%. UK fashion giant Boohoo is reportedly considering divesting brands such as Debenhams and Karen Millen to boost value, as its stock has plunged 85% in five years. With declining market share and competition from Shein, a business split might help refocus.

🇬🇧 SportsShoes.com sees 22% sales growth worldwide. SportsShoes.com achieved a 22% increase in international sales and a 17% rise in European customers. The e-tailer plans to expand into new markets like Poland, Belgium, and Switzerland.

🇺🇸 Poshmark cuts fees, sellers keep more earnings!. Poshmark lowers seller fees from 20% to 5.99%, adding a fixed fee from $1 to $3. This helps sellers earn more and provides buyers with clear price transparency while continuing buyer protection.

🇨🇭 Ceva Logistics cuts 350 jobs as Zalando exits. The Neuendorf site will close, impacting 212 permanent and 138 temporary workers. The Unia union is demanding job security and negotiations to prevent mass layoffs.

🇬🇧 Vinted Pro now live, expands seller options in UK, allowing businesses to sell on the platform. Key features include free listings, mandatory 14-day returns, and access to an API for larger-scale sellers. Professional sellers must display their business info.

🇧🇪 Showroomprivé expands marketplace to Belgium. After seeing 85% growth in France in 2023, the company is testing international expansion. Spain and Portugal are next in line, with launches expected by the end of 2024.

🇺🇸 Amazon cuts 3 more Go stores in NYC, 17 left. Amazon shut down three Go stores in New York, leaving 17 Go locations in the U.S. The company has cut its Go stores nearly by half since 2023. Despite this, Amazon continues licensing its Just Walk Out tech to third-party shops.

🇦🇪 Talabat's IPO to outshine Delivery Hero at $15.1B. Talabat, a Delivery Hero subsidiary, could be valued at $12.9B–$15.1B in its upcoming Dubai IPO, potentially outpacing its parent company.

🇺🇸 Invesco raises Swiggy’s valuation to $13.3B. Invesco raised the valuation of Swiggy to $13.3B. The investment firm owns shares worth $237.24M. Swiggy is aiming for a $1.4B IPO with a valuation range of $13B-$15B. This comes amid market cuts for other Indian startups.

🇮🇳 Swiggy speeds up with 10-minute meal deliveries. Swiggy has launched Bolt, a 10-minute food delivery service in major Indian cities. The service partners with 2,700+ restaurants to deliver quick-to-prepare meals like burgers and coffee.

🇩🇪 Wolt partners with Alnatura for fast deliveries. Wolt and Alnatura partner in Germany, offering 600+ products through Wolt Market. Alnatura discontinues its own service as part of a strategy shift. Deliveries will happen in 35 minutes, expanding into Berlin.

🇺🇸 Gopuff’s new tools target young shoppers, drive sales. With features like Brand Shops and AdAdapted’s Add-It, brands can now increase average cart values by 20% and boost sales conversions by 24%.

🇬🇧 Just Eat recalls hundreds of products due to contamination. Just Eat has warned customers in the UK and Ireland about a dangerous contamination of mustard products containing undeclared peanuts. This follows an FSA investigation, affecting 66 products, as peanut allergies pose a life-threatening risk.

🇺🇸 Chipotle taps DoorDash for new ad campaign boost. Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and BJ’s Restaurant are first to use DoorDash's new Ads Manager. The platform offers advanced targeting, offsite ads, and sponsored placements to connect with 37M users. DoorDash's ad business grew alongside a 23% revenue jump in Q2 to $2.6B.

🇺🇸 Temu, Shein ready for new U.S. import duty rules. Shein and Temu may see minimal impact from the White House's proposed de minimis changes, thanks to their diversified supply chains. Smaller businesses, however, could face higher costs and complicated customs processes.

🇩🇪 Galaxus creates 1,000 jobs in Neuenburg project. Online retailer Galaxus starts building its largest logistics center in Neuenburg am Rhein. 1,000 new jobs will be created by summer 2025 to support its growing operations in Switzerland and Germany.

🇺🇸 WP Engine sues WordPress CEO for extortion claims. WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion and abuse. The conflict stems from trademark disputes and contributions to the WordPress project.

🇬🇧 Checkout.com says no to crypto, eyes e-commerce. Checkout.com reports crypto is less than 4% of its volume, focusing on e-commerce and fintech. The company saw 40% growth last year, with valuation now at $9.35B. It recently launched new products and plans to expand into Brazil and Canada.

🇨🇳 DHL launches e-commerce shipping for peak season. Offering 4-5 day delivery from China to Germany, the solution also includes customs clearance, tracking, and returns. Europe and the U.S. are key markets.

🇺🇸 Henry Schein launches dental supply marketplace offering over 8,000 products. Partnering with TDSC and powered by Mirakl, the platform aims to enhance digital shopping for dental offices. Full rollout planned for 2025.

🇬🇧 Ameba raises $7.1M to fix supply chain with AI. Its AI-powered platform extracts unstructured data to predict disruptions, cut manual data input by 30%, and reduce inefficiencies. Co-founders Hoffmann and Massie bring experience from VALOREO and Palantir.

🇬🇧 HungryPanda raises $55M, valued at $500M. The funds will boost expansion into groceries, acquisitions, and AI-powered tech upgrades. HungryPanda has 6.5M customers, 100K merchants, and operates in 80 cities.

🇨🇦 ShipTop raises $500K to fuel eCommerce expansion. The funds will improve ShipTop's eCommerce fulfillment tech and support expansion, including eco-friendly solutions. CEO Ash Jamshidpour aims to revolutionize logistics.

🇺🇸 Vizit secures $25M to scale Visual AI in e-commerce. The AI-driven solution helps brands like Mars and Ghirardelli optimize visual content, increasing conversion rates by up to 30%.

That’s all. See you next week in the 🌀Maze!