蘑菇AV

Inditex bounces back after a rainy summer dented sales growth: The Zara parent reported a strong start to Q3 as shoppers responded positively to its product assortment.

The news: Klarna is now available as a checkout option on Apple Pay in the US and UK, per a press release. Apple Pay users can pay with Klarna鈥檚 interest-free Pay in 4 offering for purchases between $35 and $2,000. They can also use Klarna鈥檚 longer-term, interest-bearing loans for bigger-ticket items. The tie-up will expand to Canada in the coming months.

Ecommerce shipments from China plunged by 65% YoY in the first three months of 2025, per The Guardian. While shipments to Europe rose 28% in the same period, proposed de minimis clampdowns in the EU and the UK could severely crimp Shein鈥檚 ability to rely on those markets for growth.

36% of UK and US content and creative professionals cite inconsistent metrics across platforms and limited resources as the biggest hurdles in measuring digital content performance and ROI, according to October 2024 data from Canto and Ascend2.

72% of adults in North America use their smartphone to research price comparisons while shopping in-store, making it the No. 1 type of research done on mobile devices in-store, per August 2023 1WorldSync data.

The attack also impacted UK grocers Morrisons and Sainsbury鈥檚. Some of Ahold Delhaize鈥檚 US ecommerce and pharmacy operations were forced offline due to a cybersecurity issue, resulting in empty shelves at some stores and dragging down delivery partner Instacart鈥檚 Q4 sales outlook.

Germany and the UK have almost the same share breakdown of mobile versus nonmobile programmatic ad spending. Mobile adoption in France, which once lagged, has nearly caught up with Germany and the UK. But France鈥檚 programmatic market is still biased toward nonmobile due to consumers鈥� slight preference for desktop ecommerce over mcommerce.

Over the past few years, Walmart has opened its marketplace to international merchants from China, Canada, Japan, and the UK, according to our US Retail Ecommerce Marketplaces Forecast 2023 report. Now, the marketplace offers around 400 million SKUs from marketplace sellers, up from 75 million pre-pandemic, per our report.

GenAI could help boost the efficiency of customer service teams and give shoppers access to fast, personalized, 24/7 support. To make the most of the technology, retailers and brands need to understand the key use cases in a customer service setting鈥攁nd stay mindful of the risks.

The news: Just Eat Takeaway teamed up with ecommerce marketing company Rokt to enable endemic and non-endemic advertisers to pay for placements on its order confirmation and order tracking pages. The capability works across all of the delivery company鈥檚 apps and websites, which include Grubhub in the US, Just Eat in the UK, Lieferando in Germany, and delivery brands in 16 other countries.

The situation: Several recent macroeconomic indicators point to a tough and increasingly uncertain economic environment. Our take: Uncertainty has cast a long shadow over the retail industry all year鈥攁nd clearer skies aren鈥檛 on the horizon. Retailers trying to weather the economic storm must focus on delivering compelling value to cost-conscious consumers. That means leaning into what makes their brand stand out, whether it鈥檚 quality, service, loyalty perks, or meaningful innovation. With nearly a quarter of shoppers adjusting their budgets as they tighten their purse strings鈥攁nd retail sales expected to rise just 1.5% YoY this year鈥攄ifferentiation is more important than ever.

TikTok鈥檚 rapid ascent in social commerce is drawing comparisons to Amazon鈥檚 flywheel strategy. The platform is taking multiple steps to achieve its goal of quadrupling its global ecommerce business to a potential $20 billion in annual merchandise sales through TikTok Shop. Here鈥檚 what鈥檚 working, what isn鈥檛, and what has yet to be seen.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by our researcher Man-Chung Cheung and analyst Carina Perkins to examine TikTok鈥檚 ecommerce plans around the world, looking at what鈥檚 driven success in some markets and held it back in others.

The company is telegraphing a return to its British roots with a new campaign titled 鈥淚t鈥檚 Always Burberry Weather,鈥� featuring Cara Delevingne and Barry Keoghan. Early results from Bernstein鈥檚 brand heat tracker indicate that the messaging shift is resonating with social media users. Burberry also plans to introduce 鈥淪carf Bars鈥� to its global store fleet, starting with its New York City flagship.

The feature is available to customers in the US, Germany, Italy, and Spain and will launch in the UK soon. Why this can work: While extremely popular for checkout, PayPal wants consumers to spend more time in its app and use more of its products and services. To do this, it鈥檚 launched new features like PayPal Smart Receipts and Cash Pass.

37% of ecommerce marketers worldwide use AI for customer service and support, according to February 2024 data by Qualtrics and Klaviyo.

Slower growth in these segments could drag down overall ecommerce expansion. Compounding the challenge are strained logistics systems, longer fulfillment timelines, and increased risk of inventory stockouts, as carriers and the USPS must now verify package values. While ecommerce will continue to gain share of total retail, growth is likely to fall short of prior projections.

We're also joined by a senior analyst who covers retail and e-commerce for us in the UK and Western Europe. She's based in England. We call her Carina Perkins or Charles Dickens. Who would you be, Carina? Carina Perkins:. I am going to have to think about that one. Marcus Johnson:. Madonna? Carina Perkins:. Madonna, perfect. Marcus Johnson:. It's Madonna. Welcome to the show. Carina Perkins:.