🌀 Revised EU Packaging Directive could mean empty package sendout

🛒 Mass Merchant

• 🌎 Amazon's second-hand goods sales in Europe exceed EUR 1.3 billion. In the UK alone, Amazon sold over 4 million used products. The retail giant is capitalizing on the demand for sustainability by opening the "Second Chance" pop-up Christmas store in London. Deep dive → RetailDetail | Reuters

• 🌎 Amazon with strikes on Black Friday. Amazon fulfillment centers in Germany, the UK, and Italy experienced work stoppages on Black Friday, with 1,000 out of 2,300 workers in Coventry striking for a wage increase from £12 to £15. In Germany, strikes occurred in multiple cities, with the Verdi union demanding not only a collective agreement but also recognition of agreements from retail and mail order companies. In Italy, 60% of employees at the headquarters participated in the actions. Deep dive → TheEconomicTimes |  Mashable

• 🇨🇳 Alibaba pushes a new AI software tool to help merchants. An AI-upgraded version of OKKI, a software-as-a-service offering under Alibaba Cloud, will be available to foreign trade merchants from December 1. The tool results in a 32% improvement in the response rate from overseas clients. This enhancement aims to attract more international customers. Deep dive →  SCMP

• 🇺🇸 EBay invests in COMCTrading Card Company. COMC (Check Out My Collectibles), entered into a commercial agreement that includes an investment by eBay in the trading card hobby marketplace. COMC employs nearly 300 people and has 200,000 square feet of distribution space to support its deep catalog and fulfillment capabilities.  Deep dive →  RetailTouchpoints

• 🇺🇸 Walmart to create a platform that easily works with suppliers. The platform built in cooperation with Bamboo Rose will make it easier for the retailer’s buyers and product development teams to work with its “tens of thousands” of supplier partners by providing greater visibility on volume and cost, improving access to goods in other markets, and potentially reducing waste in categories like perishable items. Deep dive →  SupplyChainDive

👗 Fashion & Beauty

• 🇺🇸 StockX trades soar by over 200% on Black Friday. The platform experienced a trading pace of more than one transaction per second throughout the day and welcomed a substantial influx of new customers, making Black Friday the second-largest day in StockX's history for first-time buyers. Over Cyber Weekend, StockX recorded over 10M visitors to its website and app, and awarded nearly $2M in prizes to customers. Deep dive → FashionNetwork

• 🇺🇸 Shein wants to go public. Shein has applied for its IPO in the USA. This would be one of the largest IPOs in recent years, as Shein is valued at $66B. The Chinese company expects sales of $23B in 2022 and wants to reach the $60B mark by 2025. These developments come as the company is facing rising production costs and tougher competition from players like Temu. Deep dive → CNBC | TechAsia

• 🇺🇸 Amazon to start selling Allbirds. The sustainability-focused brand expands its sales channels amid a company-wide transformation effort focused on improving profitability. Allbirds is undergoing a transformation amid slumping sales. The brand’s 3Q earnings released this month showed net revenue declined 21% yoy to $57M, mainly due to a decline in average selling price driven by promotional activity. Deep dive → RetailDive

• 🇪🇺 Farfetch has ceased disclosing financial figures. This leads to speculation about potential delisting, as its shares have experienced an 80 percent decline since 2018. An influential shareholder, the Richemont Group, linked with Alibaba, has indicated they have no plans to provide financial support or invest in Farfetch, making the integration of Richemont's e-commerce platform Yoox Net-a-Porter with Farfetch less probable. Deep dive → Farfetch | Reuters

  🇬🇧 Depop expands its executive team. Depop has appointed Rachel McShane as Chief Financial Officer and Rebecca Levy-Lewis as Senior Director, People, Culture & Impact. Both will join the company’s Executive Team upon assuming their new roles in late Nov and early Jan respectively. Rachel McShane joins Depop from Paysafe, where she was CFO of the Digital Wallets division. Deep dive → Depop

• 🇪🇸 La Redoute appoints Zalando executive as head of its Spanish division. The French fashion and homeware e-tailer has appointed Damien Poelhekke as the new CEO La Redoute of Spain. The new head of the Spanish division previously held a business development role at Zalando and was the managing director of furniture retailer Made.com. Deep dive → FashionNetwork

🍔 Food & Grocery

• 🇺🇸 Instacart partners with NBC Peacock to offer streaming content to US subscribers. Steaming content will be provided at no extra cost to all paying US subscribers of the grocery delivery firm. In return, Instacart will be featured in a custom ad spot, which will run across NBCU's linear TV, social media, and streaming platforms. Deep dive → Reuters

• 🇺🇸 Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub will have to pay their NY workers minimum wage. Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub will be required to pay New York food delivery workers a minimum of $17.96 per hour as a state appeals court rejects their attempt to block the mandated pay rule. Deep dive → Fortune

• 🇬🇧 Deliveroo makes a major move into non-food. The courier platform has signed an exclusive deal with tools and hardware retailer Screwfix, which will join the platform with an initial range of around 500 products “helping provide a quick solution to issues at home”. Consumers are already searching for non-food items on Deliveroo with 71k monthly searches for pet products, a 76% increase in searches for home accessories in the past year, and 320k monthly searches for beauty and personal care. Deep dive → TheGrocer

• 🇫🇷 Uber Eats and meal delivery drivers in France struck last weekend. The protest is against pay losses resulting from a new algorithm implemented by Uber Eats in November. According to union statements, the algorithm has led to a significant decrease in pay, with potential reductions ranging from 10 to 40 percent for some workers. Deep dive → Thelocal

• 🇨🇭 Uber Eats launches a subscription model in Switzerland. Following its introduction in the USA and Germany, Uber Eats has now rolled out its "One" subscription model in Switzerland. Priced at EUR 16 monthly or EUR 160 annually, subscribers enjoy waived delivery and service fees for their orders. Subscription proves especially advantageous for customers residing at a distance from the available restaurants or those who frequently utilize Uber Eats. Deep dive → Konsider | Uber

• 🇻🇳 Baemin will exit Vietnam on low returns. Delivery Hero-backed Baemin, the top food delivery platform in South Korea, will exit Vietnam on Dec. 8 after four years of operations there amid fierce market competition. Deep dive → KedGlobal

📦Various

• 🇬🇧 Huboo raises another EUR 34M to continue e-commerce growth. This brings the company’s total amount raised to EUR 142M. Roud was raised despite a poor macro outlook for ecommerce based on huboo initatives like new services (automation for enterprises). Deep dive → TechCrunch | Tech.eu

• 🇬🇧 InPost opens 6k packing station in London. Locker provider InPost will continue to expand to reach ‘continued strong demand’ from retailers and consumers. The business has continued to expand the reach of its network, with 51% of residents in the UK's core cities. In the 3Q 2023, parcel volumes across InPost’s UK network rose to 13.4 million, a 128% increase yoy. Deep dive → BetterRetailing | YahooFinance

• 🇧🇷 OLX Group launches an app for professional property mgmt. Gestão PRO application promises property and customer management in an agile and efficient way. The features of the new app include capturing and managing properties, publishing advertisements directly on portals, receiving alerts, and organizing leads directly in the app. Deep dive → Tiinsider

• 🇩🇪 Decathlon buys Bergfreunde.de. Decathlon’s decision to acquire Bergfreunde is said to be part of a wider attempt to expand its footprint in the European outdoor equipment sector. Bergfreunde already has an established presence in 11 European countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, along with its European e-commerce platform. Deep dive → JustStyle

🌟Spotlight

• 🇬🇧 CarWow (Car marketplace) raises more than EUR 3.6m. Carwow gives its customers access to more than 3,000 dealers and 50 major brands. CarWow is backed by top venture capital (Accel and Balderton) and manufacturing giants (Mercedes-Benz and Volvo). Funds will be used to accelerate existing product development strategy. Deep dive → InsiderMedia | CrowdCube

• 🇮🇪 Offr (Ireland-based proptech) raises €2.3M. Offr, the Irish start-up that digitizes the process of buying or selling property, has raised fresh funding to expand in the US and other markets. With operations in Ireland, the UK and South Africa, Offr has developed transparent bidding and transaction technology for residential and commercial properties. Deep dive → SiliconRepublic

• 🇪🇨 Construex (Ecuador based construction marketplace) takes $4.6 million in seed funding to expand in Latin America. The company has more than 80,000 registered suppliers offering over 700,000 products ranging from architecture to engineering to furnishings. It also has a team of 48 people across two offices.  Deep dive → TechCrunch