🌼 Amazon brings back Big Spring Sale with daily deals & 50% off Haul items
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is back from March 25–31, with daily deals and up to 40% off across apparel, beauty, home, and more. Prime members get access to exclusive “Prime Spring Deal” badge items. The event also features 50% off Amazon Haul products, pushing budget-friendly shopping to the spotlight again—just as Amazon plans Haul’s international expansion.
This marks Amazon’s continued effort to build multiple seasonal sales events, beyond Prime Day. With curated daily drops and well-known brands like Samsung and Hydro Flask participating, the Big Spring Sale aims to catch early-summer buyers. Amazon is also testing shopper behavior around budget offerings and fast shipping. Combined with Haul’s push, it’s a signal that value-driven ecommerce is the 2025 battleground.
Jordi Vermeer
🛍️ Amazon Haul heads to Europe: New discount storefront takes aim at Temu & Shein
Amazon is preparing to launch Amazon Haul in Europe—a discount-focused storefront offering $20-and-under products via its mobile app. The move counters the rise of Shein and Temu in the region. However, challenges loom: Europe’s ban on single-use plastics will increase packaging costs and may squeeze profit margins in this low-price segment.
Haul focuses on fashion, accessories, and beauty—categories where Amazon historically lags behind fast-fashion rivals. The upcoming European launch is a clear signal that Amazon sees value in the budget-driven Gen Z shopper. However, its sustainability practices will be under scrutiny, especially compared to Temu’s plastic-heavy shipments. Success in Europe will hinge on how well Amazon balances price, experience, and packaging compliance.
In the US, despite Amazon’s reach, Haul is off to a modest start—only 16% of U.S. shoppers use it monthly, versus 23% and 28% for Shein and Temu. With rising tariffs on Chinese goods and a growing preference for U.S.-made products, Amazon faces a tricky balance between pricing and consumer values. Still, trust and review volume remain Haul’s key advantages as it gears up for wider expansion.
📦 Germany: Amazon now charges return fees—unless you skip the box
The average shipping cost among Germany’s top 100 online retailers rose from €3.92 to €4.39 in two years. Amazon is encouraging German shoppers to use its box-free return options—by charging fees for returns in packaging. Costs range from €1.95 to €2.95, and box-free options via DHL or UPS remain free. With more ecommerce players cutting back on free returns, Amazon’s latest change signals a wider trend of cost-saving measures in Europe’s largest ecommerce market.
The new return policy aligns with Amazon’s broader sustainability and efficiency goals. Transporting loose items is easier to consolidate and cheaper than handling packaged goods. While the change has flown mostly under the radar, it reflects a shift in German shopper expectations. As more brands follow suit, retailers may need to rethink how they communicate returns to avoid backlash.
📈 TikTok Shop doubles down on Europe as U.S. future hangs in the balance
Amid regulatory turbulence in the U.S., TikTok Shop is rapidly expanding in Europe, hiring for nearly 100 new roles in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. Building on lessons from its U.K. and U.S. success, TikTok is laying the groundwork for fulfillment services across continental Europe. Its content-first approach continues to reshape how users discover and buy products—positioning TikTok as a major player in social commerce’s next wave.
TikTok’s content-meets-commerce model has proven sticky, especially with Gen Z. Unlike search-first platforms like Amazon, TikTok inspires impulse buys via engaging videos. By investing early in fulfillment infrastructure, the company hopes to replicate its U.S. and U.K. growth in Europe. Despite regulatory headwinds, its expansion strategy shows no signs of slowing—and ecommerce players are watching closely.
Jorrit SteinzWant to know how to succeed on TikTok Shop and other social commerce channels?
👉 Download our Social Commerce Guide: Insights, examples, and top channels
🛒 Target Plus eyes $5B GMV by 2029 with curated marketplace strategy
Target is scaling its third-party marketplace Target Plus, aiming for $5B in GMV by 2029. With a selective seller approach, key Shopify integrations, and expansion into underrepresented categories like home and specialty fashion, Target is using a capital-light model to grow without taking on extra inventory costs—while boosting digital traffic and external search volume.
Unlike Amazon and Walmart, Target curates its marketplace, prioritizing trusted brands to maintain consistency with its in-store experience. This strategy helps prevent assortment overload and builds consumer trust. The platform has already onboarded over 1,500 brands, with categories like furniture seeing major traction. Target’s Shopify partnership makes onboarding faster, helping the retailer adapt to changing consumer trends in real-time.
Damian Speck🛠️ DIY goes digital: €66B online market highlights fast growth and cross-border shift
The European online DIY market hit €66 billion in 2024, now accounting for 17% of the total €388B sector—surpassing earlier growth forecasts. Cross-border ecommerce continues to rise, with 32.8% of online sales now cross-border and projections to hit 34% by 2026. Amazon remains the leader, but Temu and AliExpress are climbing fast, driving pressure on traditional retailers to expand their digital and international strategies.
This surge is fueled by the rise of online-only players and aggressive discount platforms shaking up the traditional landscape. For legacy DIY brands, the pressure is on to innovate, digitize, and localize at speed. The report suggests that adapting product listings and logistics to meet different market demands is no longer optional. As competition intensifies, differentiation and cross-border readiness become key for survival.
Selling tools, home, or garden products across borders?
👉 Get our Home & Living Marketplaces Europe quick guide to explore top platforms and growth tips.
🤖 Mirakl scales up: €10.3B GMV, full-year profitability & big AI bets
Marketplace solution provider Mirakl closed 2024 with a 30% GMV growth and full-year profitability. The company onboarded 52 new global enterprises and doubled down on AI with products like its Catalog Transformer. In 2025, Mirakl plans to invest as much in AI as it has in the last three years combined—pushing the boundaries of how digital commerce scales.
From seller payments to retail media, Mirakl’s expanded offering is redefining how companies manage marketplace operations end to end. AI is at the core of this transformation, enabling scalable product listing, pricing strategies, and catalog enrichment. The company’s global footprint and deep B2B experience continue to attract large enterprise customers. Momentum is clearly building as marketplaces evolve into smarter, automated ecosystems.
👟 Zalando bounces back: record customer base, tripled profits & new market entries
Zalando posted strong 2024 results, with revenue up 4.2% and profits more than tripling to €251.1M. Active users hit an all-time high of 51.8M, driven by the company’s ecosystem strategy. Its B2B segment saw 11.5% growth, and Zalando is expanding into Portugal, Greece, and Bulgaria—its first new markets since 2022. A planned acquisition of About You may further cement its B2B ambitions.
The company’s pivot from a pure B2C player to a broader ecommerce platform is beginning to pay off. By offering services like logistics, marketing, and tech support to brands, Zalando is creating stickier partnerships. Its loyalty program Zalando Plus is also rolling out to more markets, aimed at deepening customer relationships. Despite economic headwinds, Zalando is proving that smart strategy trumps market slowdowns.
Mitchell Dröge🤖 Alibaba's AI-powered search hits 1M users—supercharging SME global sourcing
Alibaba’s AI B2B search engine Accio reached 1 million users within five months of launch. The platform helps SMEs streamline product sourcing and market entry with tools like Business Research and Deep Search, backed by the Qwen large language model. As 64% of global sourcing leaders plan to adopt AI by 2025, Accio is well-positioned to meet rising demand for intelligent trade tools.
The tool is designed to take product ideas and instantly turn them into supplier lists, pricing trends, and market insights. It addresses a key challenge for SMEs—limited resources to conduct extensive sourcing research. By using multilingual and industry-specific data, Accio makes global trade more accessible. For Alibaba, it’s a powerful step toward building the next generation of AI-first commerce.
