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🧠 Big Story: 
Who fuels 50% 
of US ecommerce? ⚡

📊 Key Data:
Ecommerce penetration gaps by category 💪

📖 Ecommerce ecosystem news:
🇺🇸 Perplexity launches Sonar Pro API with real-time features
🇺🇸 Google unveils AI tools for retailers
🇺🇸 Google hints at 'Search Max' for smarter ads
🇺🇸 Meta begins testing ads on Threads
🇬🇧 Google commits to tackle fake reviews in the UK
🇬🇧 TikTok Shop UK launches AI tool GMV Max for sellers

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

How good is MarketMaze? Let’s just say the “incumbent” e-commerce newsletters are reading us before writing theirs! Oh, and their websites? Suddenly looking a lot like ours. You’re in the right place - welcome to the original source.

Last time, Shein took the crown in our poll. The deep dive drops in the Sunday email. This time, we teamed up with Skubi.io for something spicier—Temu’s global pricing and offer strategy, exposed. Want in? Drop “Interesting” on our LinkedIn post (link), to help us reach more readers and we’ll send it your way.

Some takeaways from it:

• Fashion & Sports = 60% of all Temu sales.

• 65% of fashion sales come from women’s categories.

• Home & Garden important in Hungary, Pets in South Korea.

• Mexico has the highest Temu prices - 12% above the U.S.

• Hungary enjoys the lowest prices—35% cheaper than the U.S.

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Who fuels 50% 
of US ecommerce? ⚡

• 🔗Share it: 💼LinkedIn   🐦Twitter

• 📚Sources: emarketer.com linkedin.com oberlo.com

Amazon has driven nearly 50% of U.S. ecommerce growth since 2020, with a projected 41% market share by 2025. Meanwhile, Walmart and others outpace Amazon in growth rates.

📊 U.S. ecommerce trends

U.S. ecommerce sales will hit $1.3T by 2025, with penetration reaching 17%. Growth remains steady, expanding at four times the pace of in-store sales. Gen Z shoppers and digital-first product trends continue to boost online commerce. This stable trajectory highlights the long-term shift toward digital retail, with the pandemic-driven surge leveling off.

🛒 Retailers’ share of growth

Chelsea Zhang (Principal @ Equal Ventures) analysis shows that between 2020 and 2023, Amazon drove nearly 50% of U.S. ecommerce growth, adding $135B to its sales. Walmart followed, growing by $22B, contributing 8% of the total growth. Target and eBay struggled, with Target’s growth slowing and eBay losing market share. Instacart showed strong progress in grocery ecommerce but remains small in scale.

🚀 Amazon’s future dominance

Amazon’s ecommerce sales are forecast to reach $540B by 2025, capturing 41% of the U.S. market. Despite slowing growth, Amazon retains its leadership due to its massive scale and continued innovation. The company’s market penetration will grow from 38% in 2020 to 41% by 2025, solidifying its dominance over the digital commerce landscape.

📈 Rivals’ accelerating growth

Walmart is expected to outpace Amazon’s growth with a projected 31% increase in ecommerce sales by 2026. Carvana follows with 22%, while Costco and Chewy each expect 18% growth. Target and Best Buy are also investing heavily in digital channels, while eBay lags with only 4% expected growth. Retailers are doubling down on ecommerce to gain ground.

Ecommerce penetration gaps by category 💪

• 🔗Share it: 💼LinkedIn   🐦Twitter

• 📚Sources: statista.com linkedin.com

Which categories & brands win e-commerce?
💄Beaty & Personal Care breakdown:

📊 Uneven category penetration

E-commerce growth varies significantly by product category:

• 🖥️ Consumer Electronics: Leading with 30% online sales in 2023, projected to hit 44% by 2027.

• 👗 Apparel & Furniture: Close behind at 27% and 28%, both expected to exceed 34% by 2027.

• 💄 Beauty & Personal Care: Slower growth, rising from 18% to 22% by 2027.

• 🍔 Food: Still lagging, with online sales at only 4% in 2023, reaching just 6% by 2027.

• 👜 Luxury Goods: Promising growth from 14% to 18% online sales penetration by 2027.

These numbers reveal which sectors are succeeding and which are still playing catch-up in the digital space.

💄 L'Oréal tops the CPG leaderboard

Ecommert data shows that:

• L'Oréal leads the beauty e-commerce race, with 27% of its sales coming online.

• Coty holds second place with 20%, followed by Nestlé at 19%.

• Procter & Gamble comes in at 18%.

• Reckitt and Colgate-Palmolive sit at 15%.

• Unilever and Kenvue lag slightly, each at 14%.

What sets these leaders apart? They invest in digital-first strategies, including retail media partnerships and advanced organizational capabilities. Retail media ad revenues are another differentiator.

P.S. Full articles after clicking on the title

📣Marketing

🇺🇸 Perplexity launches Sonar Pro API with real-time features. Sonar Pro API delivers real-time search with citations and custom sources. Developers can now build faster, factual AI-powered tools with Perplexity’s advanced features.

🇺🇸 Google unveils AI tools for retailers. Google introduces AI agents, retail enhancements, and partners to transform operations, customer experience, and sales at NRF 2025 in New York.

🇺🇸 Google hints at 'Search Max' for smarter ads. The new feature combines Search Term Matching and Text & URL Optimization to boost reach, relevance, and conversions. Spotted in reports, but still unconfirmed.

🇺🇸 Meta begins testing ads on Threads. Meta’s Threads app now offers ads, reaching 300M monthly users. Advertisers can extend campaigns seamlessly via Ads Manager, testing image ads in home feeds.

🇬🇧 Google commits to tackle fake reviews in the UK. After a 5-year investigation, Google will combat fake reviews in the UK, introducing stricter controls and warnings on business profiles to protect consumers.

🇬🇧 TikTok Shop UK launches AI tool GMV Max for sellers. The new GMV Max automates ad campaigns, cutting setup time by 50% and increasing GMV by 30% for TikTok Shop sellers, now in the UK after a successful US launch.

🇪🇺 Google rejects EU fact-checking proposal. Google refuses EU's mandatory fact-checking rules for search and YouTube, citing inefficiency. It prefers existing measures for content moderation and user tools.

🛠️Tools

🇺🇸 Stripe lays off 300 workers but plans 17% growth. Stripe is cutting 300 staff but plans to grow its team by 17% in 2025, aiming for 10K employees. Chief People Officer Rob McIntosh shared the news in a memo.

🇮🇹 Qomodo raises $13.9M to expand Italy’s in-store BNPL. The Milan-based fintech Qomodo raised $13.9M in Series A funding to expand its BNPL solutions for physical retailers. Backers include RTP Global and LMDV Capital.

🇺🇸 PayPal to pay $2M over security flaws. PayPal agreed to pay $2M in a settlement with New York for security issues exposing Social Security numbers of users. The breach stemmed from poor cybersecurity practices.

🇪🇺 Wix partners with Worldline for SME growth in eCommerce. This partnership enables SMEs in Europe & Asia Pacific to integrate Wix’s platform with Worldline’s localized payment solutions for seamless commerce.

🇬🇧 Swap and Avalara simplify cross-border e-commerce. Enhanced partnership boosts tax compliance for online retailers globally. Swap’s brands can access new markets with Avalara's automation expertise.

🇺🇸 Algolia debuts AI Shopping Guides for ecommerce. Algolia launched a generative AI tool, Shopping Guides, to help shoppers make better decisions. It offers product comparisons, category overviews, and educational content.

🚚 Logistics

🇩🇪 DHL to double parcel machines by 2030. DHL plans to expand from 15K to 30K parcel machines in Germany by 2030. Nikola Hagleitner confirms 2K new machines will roll out by 2025.

🇬🇧 Yodel expands to 273 locations in Northern Ireland. Yodel partners with Spar, adding 56 new stores and 50 lockers. The expansion boosts its Out of Home network, meeting growing demand in Northern Ireland's delivery market.

🇵🇱 Cai Niao activates 3rd warehouse in Poland. Cai Niao’s shipment volume from Poland to grow 120% in 2024. A third warehouse boosts efficiency, enabling 2-3 day delivery for cross-border merchants.

🇺🇸 Veho launches Premium Economy delivery for businesses. Veho’s new service offers cost-effective 5-day delivery, targeting brands impacted by USPS and UPS rate hikes on lightweight parcels under 25 lbs.

🇨🇿 Cirro adds 15,000m2 facility in Czech Republic. Cirro Fulfillment expands operations with a sustainable center near Prague, adding 15,000m2 of storage to its European network to meet growing e-commerce needs.

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