蘑菇AV

Nearly a quarter of the UK consumers have witnessed shoplifting in the past year: A similar number have also seen staff abused as retailers say crime has gotten out of hand.

The UK economy is in a tough spot: Consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets as tariffs and government budget cuts loom.

Also this month, Affirm expanded its tie-up with Adyen to push further in the UK after debuting there in November. It鈥檚 trying to better compete internationally with Sweden-based Klarna, which already has a large European presence. The two are currently evenly matched in the US: We forecast Affirm鈥檚 US BNPL payment value will total $30.58 billion this year, compared to Klarna鈥檚 $30.42 billion.

In the UK, we predict that Boots, Marks & Spencer, Next, Tesco, and Sainsbury鈥檚 will grow their online sales faster than Amazon will between 2024 and 2028. But Amazon will continue increasing its share through 2028. Despite an increasingly competitive ecommerce market, Amazon will continue gaining share of ecommerce sales in France, Germany, and the UK, per our forecast.

For example, only three other countries will exceed even a 25% ecommerce penetration rate: the UK (30.4%), South Korea (27.2%), and Indonesia (26.6%). China will account for 50.4% of all worldwide ecommerce this year, so its weight unreasonably skews the global math. If China is excluded, ecommerce鈥檚 share of worldwide retail lands at a more realistic 12.5%.

Online sales are back in growth in the UK, but the fortunes of key ecommerce retailers have been mixed, with some suffering a greater blow from the cost-of-living crisis than others.

Shein stumbles under UK regulators鈥� scrutiny: The ecommerce platform failed to relieve concerns about forced labor in its supply chain as it prepares for a more challenging operating environment.

The company also collaborated with partners such as Bad Bunny, Wales Bonner, and Edison Chen. It also sold off the last of its once-lucrative Yeezy sneaker line鈥檚 inventory in Q4; Yeezy generated revenues of around 鈧�650 million ($700.8 million) in 2023.

The tough situation hasn鈥檛 gone unnoticed; the fast fashion retailer is reportedly under pressure to slash its UK IPO valuation to around $30 billion, which is less than a third of its $100 billion peak in 2022. Our take: There鈥檚 no silver bullet for Shein鈥檚 current challenges.

Amazon will capture more than half (51.1%) of all retail ecommerce sales in Germany this year, according to our forecast. Canada will have the second-highest share of Amazon ecommerce sales among the countries we track, at 41.5%, followed by the US, UK, Japan, and Mexico.

Brands and retailers need to understand what customers expect from the ecommerce experience鈥攁nd how to deliver on it. This infopack provides the most relevant information to help you navigate the opportunities in ecommerce.

The news: Shein is set to slash its UK IPO valuation to $50 billion, down 24% from its last funding round and half its $100 billion peak in 2022, per Reuters. Why is this happening? Shein faces hurricane-force headwinds that challenge its market positioning both in the US and EU.

The challenges in last-mile delivery have intensified. To meet consumer expectations while maintaining margins, UK retailers need to innovate by embracing technology and establishing partnerships.

The UK, Germany, Russia, and France remain the core European markets for ecommerce. The top 10 countries for retail ecommerce sales in Europe largely correlate to population size, with the notable exceptions of Russia underindexing and the UK heavily overindexing. Norway also overperforms, although on a much smaller scale.

Retail crime is out of control, UK retailers say: Their concerns are shared across the pond, as US businesses struggle to stem in-store and online theft.