Captivate Podcasts

AI can generate an impressive product image – but can it deliver that same image, correctly named, in the right format, and on time to Zalando, About You, and Amazon simultaneously? That, says Fabio Loparco, CEO of Pixel Moda, is where the real problem lies. In this episode, Valerie speaks with Fabio about what has changed in AI-powered content production for fashion brands since September 2024. They discuss why AI-assisted and Generative AI are two fundamentally different business models. Why scalability doesn’t come from the tool itself, but from its integration into the production infrastructure. And why Zalando produces 70% more content at the same cost – not because they have better AI, but because they rebuilt their operating model around it. Note from the sponsor ChannelEngine: TikTok Shop is worth it – but only if you get the fundamentals right. Because TikTok Shop rewards content performance, runs on creator trust, and punishes weak operational processes. The brands winning right now have the infrastructure to back up their content strategy. That’s exactly where ChannelEngine comes in: the platform connects your backend directly to TikTok Shop, handling real-time stock sync, listing compliance, and order routing – so your operations don’t fall apart when your content takes off. The full deep dive on how to win on TikTok Shop is right here on Marketplace Universe. https://marketplace-universe.com/how-to-succeed-on-tiktok_shop/ Note from the sponsor eDesk: Every unanswered pre-sale question can mean a lost purchase. Every slow response can hurt seller performance. And every poorly handled complaint can turn into a negative review that affects visibility for weeks. Many sellers spend months optimising ads, listings and prices – but a significant share of revenue is won or lost in a place many still underestimate: the inbox. That’s exactly what we’ll be discussing in a free webinar on 2 June at 11 AM CET with Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk, and Irene Epp from Pertemba – who sell on more than 100 global marketplaces and handle over 1,000 customer inquiries per day. Register right now here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6717775614141/WN_45_8U9P_TKWx-WzmbZnGFQ#/registration

Live commerce in Europe is still too often viewed through an Asian lens – and that’s exactly the problem. In this episode, Ingrid sits down with Lara Day, who has been building eBay Live in Germany for the past year, six months after the official launch. They explore why the European model needs its own logic and can’t simply be a watered-down version of the Asian one. They discuss why re-commerce, secondhand and fashion are the natural entry points for live commerce in Europe – not because of entertainment value, but because live commerce solves a trust problem that static product images never could. And why returns play a bigger role in this equation than most people assume. The episode also features two sellers who are already active on eBay Live: Benjamin Gabriel, who sells refurbished electronics, and Meroda, who sells vintage fashion. Both describe how the personal connection to the buyer in a live stream changes purchase decisions – and reduces returns. Plus: how much technology and production does a successful live stream actually require? The answer might surprise you. Note to the eBay webinar: Want to go deeper? On June 16, 11. a.m. we’re hosting a free webinar What It Really Takes to Succeed in Live Commerce together where Mason Howell from eBay and Ingrid Lommer will walk you through exactly how eBay Live works, what you need to get started, and how brands and retailers can make the most of it. Here’s the Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5017786708012/WN_2aFhsYAMSIa8ZIgyy0TJ2g

Welcome back, Valerie: What a baby does to business. #LTM150 Episode 150 is a special one – and a very personal one. Valerie is back after four months of maternity leave, and to mark the anniversary, the two take a moment for an honest look behind the scenes. They talk about what it was like to steer a business through a time like this – for Ingrid, who held the wheel on her own, and for Valerie, who learned that being pregnant and being a founder in Germany comes with almost no systemic support. The fact that it worked anyway comes down to a strong partner, a team of ten women working behind the scenes – and a business structure that can withstand phases like this. They speak openly about why they kept the pregnancy quiet for so long, what they learned about trust in business, and how motherhood changes the way you work. An episode about partnership, reliability – and what really keeps a business standing when it matters most.

In this episode the focus is on data: Ingrid speaks with Friedrich Schwandt, co-founder of ECDB, about current developments in the global marketplace landscape. At the centre are new insights into market concentration, the growth of 3P models, and shifting dynamics among leading platforms. They discuss why 84% of global e-commerce revenue now flows through marketplaces and how power structures within the top players are evolving – driven by the rapid growth of platforms like Temu, Shein or TikTok Shop. At the same time, they take a closer look at regional champions and category specialists, analysing how to identify whether a marketplace model is being built strategically or merely “running on the side.” The conversation also covers new transparency around 1P and 3P shares, the role of data modelling and estimation, and why 3P has become the central growth driver in e-commerce.

Pricing on marketplaces is no longer just an operational lever. In this episode, Ingrid talks to Alexander Ioffe (Dimax Group) and Mateusz Wrobel (base) about the reality behind repricing and automation. It becomes clear that prices are shaped by a combination of factors: competition, platform logic, availability, margins and strategic goals – and often also by dynamics within a brand’s own distribution network. When multiple partners sell the same brand, different calculations collide and can trigger self-reinforcing price spirals. They explain why automation is necessary, but does not replace strategy. Repricing tools react faster, but they don’t decide why prices should be adjusted. This is where the work shifts: away from operational maintenance towards clearly defined price boundaries and strategic control. An episode about control, responsibility and the question of how much you should really leave to automation. Note from the sponsor Channable: Incomplete or inaccurate product data quickly costs visibility and margin in the marketplace business. This is especially true in the DIY segment, where a single centimetre can make a huge difference. Because here, it’s not about “Do I like it?”, but whether a product actually fits, works, and is correctly classified. Channable sees this every day. The integrator works with product feeds across multiple categories and marketplaces – and has a clear view of where data does not align with platform logic. What’s interesting is that the issues are often not that complex. More on how to improve product data can be found in this LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/valerie-dichtl_2-m-instead-of-200-cm-and-your-product-share-7448286365009666049-hxVb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAdsMEUB4XWtREmwGDN_WBf1ZK4QGlwZlME Note from the sponsor Front Row If you work with marketplaces, you probably know this situation: your Amazon team optimizes retail media, your D2C team looks at CRM and lifetime value, and your performance team focuses on ROAS. But the customer doesn’t experience your brand in separate channels. From the customer’s perspective, it’s all one journey – from discovery on social media to research on marketplaces and finally to purchase. And that’s exactly what the new Connected Commerce Guide by Front Row is about. The guide explains how brands can connect Amazon, D2C, retail media and CRM into one system instead of optimizing each channel individually. It shows why focusing only on short-term metrics like ROAS often hides the real impact marketplaces have on the overall customer lifetime value. You can download the Connected Commerce Guide by Front Row for free here: https://www.frontrowgroup.de/insight/connected-commerce-guide/

Kaufland is often seen as a price-driven marketplace – and that is exactly why many brands underestimate it. In this episode, Ingrid and Valerie talk to Jan Weiß from Sleeping and Markus Anstotz from Kaufland Global Marketplace about how brands actually succeed on Kaufland – beyond the usual assumptions. At the core is the question of where brand building really happens on such a marketplace. Visibility is largely driven by price, title, and image – the real differentiation begins after the click. They explain why content is not just a conversion driver, but a central lever for brand control, especially for products that require explanation. The conversation also dives into the operational reality of Retail Media on Kaufland: why a structured campaign setup is critical, what role top sellers play, and why not every product should be treated the same. Another focus is on how to measure success – and why classic KPIs like ACOS or ROAS often fall short. Instead, they discuss how brands should evaluate the share of marketing in total revenue, and why this is the key question for sustainable growth. Note from the sponsor base: Repricing is a persistent challenge on marketplaces: On the one hand, prices have to keep up with intense competitive pressure. On the other, they shouldn’t put your margins at risk. At the same time, effective repricing is almost impossible to manage manually when prices change multiple times a day – especially across hundreds of products. This is where repricing tools like the one from Base come in: They use intelligent algorithms to adjust prices based on predefined rules. How this works in practice will be shown by Alexander Ioffe from Dimax International and Mateusz Wrobel from Base in podcast episode 148 next week. Don’t miss it!

AI agents are changing how products are discovered and selected – but what does that actually mean for day-to-day marketplace operations? In this episode, Ingrid speaks with AI specialist Barbara Branca about why the logic is shifting from rankings to recommendation systems – and why “good enough” product data is no longer sufficient. Barbara argues that listings are turning into decision documents: AI systems no longer operate on keywords alone, but aim to understand intent and prepare purchase decisions based on that. This requires complete, structured, and consistent data – not just within a single marketplace, but across all channels. At the same time, the conversation gets very practical: which tasks in marketplace operations can already be meaningfully automated with AI, where real time savings can be achieved, and how to get started without overhauling everything. Barbara’s recommendation: don’t start with your entire catalogue, begin with your top products and assess whether your data is truly decision-ready. Note from the sponsor eDesk: As soon as sellers operate across multiple marketplaces, customer support quickly becomes highly complex. Irene Epp from Pertemba described this vividly: her team handles more than 1,000 customer inquiries per day – across over 130 marketplaces worldwide. Having spent many years in customer support herself, Irene calls it the “watchdog of the company.” Together with Gareth Cummings from eDesk, she explained in podcast episode 145 how this volume can actually be managed: all messages, orders, and customer data are brought into one central inbox, marketplace SLAs are tracked, and response times stay within required limits. Routine inquiries such as shipping status or returns can be automated – allowing the team to focus on more complex cases that require real judgment. If you missed the episode, it’s definitely worth a listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1cKbdDr2ipbnGCwo0KmxKF Note from the sponsor Kaufland Global Marketplace: If you’re looking to expand your marketplace business internationally – for example to Poland or Italy – it’s worth taking a closer look at the Kaufland Global Marketplace. Through Kaufland, you can currently sell in seven European countries: Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and France. The key advantage: you can manage all marketplaces through a single account, without having to set up your products separately for each country. We also have an interesting offer for you: With the promo code MP-UNI2026, new sellers can sell on all Kaufland marketplaces without a base fee for three months. The offer is valid until May 31, 2026. And if you’d like to learn more about how brands can build visibility and branding on Kaufland marketplaces, make sure to tune in to our upcoming podcast episode 147. Our guests will be Markus Anstots (Kaufland), Jan Weiß and Marvin Thöne (both Sleepling).

More than 1,000 customer inquiries per day – across over 130 marketplaces worldwide. That is the reality Irene Epp from Pertemba describes in this podcast episode. Irene spent many years working in customer service herself and therefore calls support the “watchdog of the company.” It is where problems in the business become visible first: a SKU with unusually high return rates, a carrier struggling with deliveries, or customers suddenly asking the same question over and over again. Together with Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk, she speaks with Ingrid about why customer support in marketplace businesses is far more than an operational service function. Different platform rules, strict SLA deadlines, and customers across multiple time zones quickly make support highly complex – and responding too slowly risks not only unhappy buyers but also ranking losses on the platform. At the same time, the conversation shows why automation is becoming increasingly important: most inquiries revolve around the same topics – shipping status, returns, or tracking. Without automation, this global support reality would be almost impossible to manage. Note from the sponsor bol: King’s Day on April 27 is one of the most important retail moments in the Netherlands. Together with our partner bol, the country’s largest online marketplace, we analysed which products actually perform around this occasion – and why occasion commerce is about much more than simply offering “orange items.” Successful sellers plan their campaigns early, clearly separate occasion-driven assortments from evergreen products, and pay particular attention to delivery capability. In the Netherlands, next-day delivery is the standard expectation – and if that reliability is missing, customers quickly switch to another seller. The same dynamics apply to other seasonal peaks such as Back-to-School or major sports events. You can find the full deep dive here on Marketplace Universe. https://marketplace-universe.com/kings-day-in-the-netherlands/ Note from the sponsor Front Row: Customers don’t experience brands in channels – they experience one continuous journey: from discovery on social media to research on marketplaces and finally to purchase. In its new Connected Commerce Guide, our partner Front Row explains how brands can connect Amazon, D2C, retail media and CRM instead of optimizing each channel in isolation. The guide shows why focusing only on short-term metrics like ROAS can hide the real impact marketplaces have on overall customer lifetime value. It also includes practical frameworks and a quick self-check to help brands understand how connected their own commerce setup really is. You can download the guide for free here! https://www.frontrowgroup.de/insight/connected-commerce-guide/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=omr&utm_campaign=connected-commerce-guide

How does a DTC brand build a scalable marketplace business? In this episode, Ingrid speaks with Adrien Gosteli and Sebastian Thalheim from KoRo, as well as Lucas Bassa from Channable, about the food brand’s journey from a DTC startup to a marketplace player. Today, KoRo sells on Amazon, eBay, Kaufland and Galaxus, and is preparing launches on Decathlon and TikTok Shop – but building this business turned out to be far more operational than many brands expect. The guests offer a rare look into the “engine room” behind marketplace growth: from flatfiles, variant logic and listing rejections to the specific challenges of the food category, such as FBA requirements and expiration dates. They discuss how KoRo uses marketplaces to test new markets, why product data and content cannot simply be copied from platform to platform, and why data quality, reliable order synchronization and automation become critical as assortments grow and new marketplaces are added. The conversation also explores what it takes to build a scalable setup: automated data rules, order synchronization, repricing logic, and how tools like Channable can help reduce operational complexity. A practical look at why marketplace expansion is often less about marketing – and more about infrastructure. Note from the sponsor Pixelmoda: Founded in Milan in 2021, Pixelmoda specializes in AI-assisted image and video production. The key feature is that the AI does not generate the images, but supports the team and models in taking the best possible shots quickly by optimizing camera position, lightning, model poses, and so on. This significantly shortens production time and reduces costs up to 70 % for photo production and up to 90 % for video production. Pixelmoda produces over 14 million images and videos per year. Its customers include over 100 brands from more than 20 countries, including three of the top five global online marketplaces and lots of luxury brands. If you want to know more, listen once again our episode 126 with Gianni Serazzi from Pixelmoda. https://marketplace-universe.com/captivate-podcast/image-ai-for-fashion-what-it-can-and-cant-do-ltm126/

“Peak Amazon” is back. The recurring narrative suggests that Amazon has passed its zenith – saturated markets, slowing growth, eroding dominance. Yet with USD 717 billion in revenue in 2025, surpassing Walmart for the first time, the data paints a more complex picture. In this family & friends news episode, Ingrid is joined by Andrea Engelmann (OnMacon) to question whether we are really seeing structural limits – or simply strategic prioritisation. The Netherlands serves as a case in point: Amazon is investing €1.4 billion in logistics, infrastructure and visibility, and has already overtaken bol in search visibility. The idea of “romantic local heroes” standing firm against global giants sounds appealing – but when Amazon decides a market matters, power dynamics shift quickly. Beyond the Peak debate, they discuss TikTok Shop’s $100 billion GMV milestone, the rise of Roblox as a Gen Z commerce environment, Reddit exploring community-driven commerce, regulatory pressure on the Buy Box, and the open question of how AI agents will reshape platform control. A focused conversation about shifting ecosystems – and why “peak” may be the wrong lens to assess what’s happening. Note from the sponsor Channable: Different feeds, different platform requirements, manual workarounds – and a lack of transparency. Does this everyday chaos in marketplace operations sound familiar? Then the next podcast episode is exactly what you need. We talk to the drugstore brand KoRo about precisely this chaos, and how to bring it to an end. KoRo is known for its natural food products and now sells across multiple channels: brick-and-mortar retail, its own online shop, and marketplaces such as Amazon and Kaufland. Adrien Gosteli from KoRo will explain how the team structured its marketplace activities and brought operational complexity back under control. The case is supported by Lucas Bassa, Product Lead Marketplaces at Channable. If you are responsible for marketplaces, want to scale your company, or are already operating at an expert level, make sure to tune in next week – this case will be well worth it.