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That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 focused on controlling the controllables: improving the omnichannel experience to make shopping more convenient for customers, building incremental revenue streams like its third-party marketplace and retail media network, and maximizing operational efficiency. But the landscape is not favorable to Best Buy.

Key Stat: Nearly 30% of US consumers would immediately stop shopping or shop less on China-based ecommerce marketplaces if tariffs raise prices, per a February 2025 Omnisend survey. What are the latest developments in the US-China trade war? The biggest ecommerce disruptors of recent years are facing a reckoning.

Last week, retail marketplaces Thrive Market and Faire joined the growing number of retail media.

Our take: Amazon鈥檚 capacity limits are yet another headache for third-party sellers on its marketplace to navigate鈥攁nd one that will affect their ability to manage tariff costs, as well as their performance during crucial shopping periods like Prime Day. One option is to move more inventory into the retailer鈥檚 long-term bulk storage offering, known as Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD).

But their marketplace sellers are reluctant to follow suit, partly because the US is too valuable a market to give up but also because of the bureaucratic frustrations that come with selling in European countries. Chinese merchants looking to sell in Europe must navigate different rules, languages, and even plug types across countries鈥攏ot to mention extensive bureaucratic red tape.

Major retailers like IKEA, Walmart, and ThredUp are launching peer-to-peer resale marketplaces, aiming to capture a slice of the booming secondhand market. This trend comes as US marketplace ecommerce sales are projected to surpass $500 billion next year, according to our forecast.

Marketplace Pulse. Pentaleap. Skai.

Tariffs on imported goods, especially from China, are squeezing marketplace sellers鈥� margins, pushing prices higher, and softening demand. With sellers unable to absorb the added costs or face inventory shortages, many are scaling back their retail media spending to protect profitability鈥攁dding another layer of strain to an already fragile ecosystem.

Marketplaces exert a strong (and still growing) influence. The share of ecommerce taking place through third-party marketplace channels will increase from 38.5% in 2024 to 39.8% in 2028, when the total value of marketplace sales will approach $700 billion.

What Meta鈥檚 up to: Meta unveiled ad products on Instagram, including a test that delivers ads against trending Instagram Reels; Trends in the Instagram Creator Marketplace, enabling advertisers to unlock insights; and a test of the Creator Marketplace API, allowing businesses to make data-based partnerships. Meta hopes to position itself as the best alternative to TikTok.

Consumers are cutting back on spending, giving secondhand stores and rental marketplaces heightened opportunities to engage with them. 30% of US adults worry tariffs would affect apparel costs, per an April Numerator survey. 58% of US consumers shopped pre-owned items last year鈥攁 6 point increase from 2023, per ThredUp鈥檚 2025 Resale Report.

The retailer later downplayed the initiative, with a representative saying that while it had contemplated showing the cost of tariffs for items sold on its Haul marketplace, the initiative 鈥渨as never approved and is not going to happen.鈥�. How we got here: Amazon is hardly the first company to consider radical transparency as tariffs upend retailers鈥� operating models.

The pandemic ecommerce boom that drove online sales is over. But marketplaces will continue to expand their share of US retail ecommerce, contributing almost 40% of the $588 billion in US online sales growth that we forecast over the next five years.

Target integrated with Shopify last year so that merchants can apply to appear on the Target Plus online marketplace. Shopify also acquired Vantage Discovery, a generative AI (genAI) company, to deliver personalized search results for consumers on Shopify merchants鈥� storefronts.

Brands can find athletes willing to work with them on marketplaces like Icon Source or Opendorse. Brands can also attempt to connect directly with athletes and their representatives. And brands can connect to an athletic department who will put them in touch with their athletes, according to Carter. Brands with a sophisticated understanding of social media will be apt to use an online marketplace.

Under Steelman, Ulta is now focused on launching a new marketplace, upgrading both in-store and digital experiences, and entering new markets.

Amazon Haul, launched last fall as a Temu-style marketplace, is also shifting course. Amazon has started adding its own inventory鈥攊ncluding branded goods from adidas and Gap鈥攊nto Haul, signaling a repositioning from a China-direct marketplace to a broader discount storefront.

UK retailers are pushing for a level playing field with marketplace giants. Industry leaders are advocating for new legislation to ensure overseas marketplaces pay fair VAT/import duties and meet UK product standards.

The Nielsen-Paramount standoff was a stark reminder of the obstacles a multicurrency marketplace faces. While Paramount renegotiated its contract with Nielsen in late 2024/early 2025, Paramount used VideoAmp as its primary currency provider.

Marketplace Ecommerce Sales Growth, by Amazon vs. Non-Amazon. Grocery Ecommerce**. Grocery Ecommerce Sales. Grocery Sales, by Channel. Grocery Ecommerce Sales, by Category. Grocery Ecommerce Sales, by Sales Channel. Grocery Ecommerce Sales, by Company. Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories Ecommerce. Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories Ecommerce Sales. Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories Sales, by Channel.

Marketplace disrupters. Third-party marketplaces control most fashion ecommerce. They captured about 58% of ecommerce sales in 2024, concentrated among Amazon, Otto, and Zalando's partner programs, per a 2025 report by the German retail federation, Handelverband Deutschland (HDE).

The shift is likely to spread beyond clothing; a retailer like Ikea, for example, could expand its peer鈥憈o鈥憄eer marketplace for pre鈥憃wned furniture. If new鈥慻oods inflation persists, the appeal of resale will only increase. 2. Private label growth will continue to soar. The 10% across鈥憈he鈥慴oard tariff will hit grocery aisles first, pushing up the cost of staples such as avocados, bananas, and coffee.

Marketplaces continue to drive growth for overall US ecommerce. First-party retail ecommerce sales will lag the average through 2029, while D2C sales will occupy the middle ground. Amazon will account for nearly 70% of US online marketplace sales.