marketplace

Marketplace Universe News 26.01.2026 – OpenAI charges sales fee / Wolt becomes shopping platform / Decathlon buys Rebike

OpenAI is making its “ChatGPT Instant Checkout” a paid service and charging a 4% sales commission – initially from Shopify merchants. The reason for this is the high pressure to monetize due to the high investments. At the same time, OpenAI is changing the retail landscape: those who don’t pay lose convenience and thus sales – a clear signal that agentic commerce is no longer a free traffic channel.

Marketplace Support reality: The ten most frequently asked questions and how to deal with them

Marketplace Support Reality: The Questions That Decide Your SLAs Every Day

Customer support on marketplaces is often misunderstood as purely reactive chaos. In reality, it is highly predictable: the vast majority of ticket volume is driven by just ten repetitive questions. The real challenge for sellers is not the complexity of these questions, but the “death by a thousand clicks” caused by fragmented inboxes and strict SLAs. This deep dive analyzes the anatomy of support volume, why it scales non-linearly, and how smart sellers turn “Where is my order?” into a retention engine.

Marketplace Universe News 19.01.2026 – Google pushes standard for AI commerce / Temu catches up with Amazon / OpenAI eyes Pinterest

Google has introduced a new open standard called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UPC). Its goal is to accelerate the AI-platform shift in commerce by standardizing processes such as product search and checkout via AI bots. Platforms and retailers including Walmart, Etsy, Shopify, Shopee, Carrefour, Target, Macy’s, and Wayfair were involved in its development, as they seek to secure their position within the customer journey.

Marketplace Universe News 12.01.2026 – Amazon Shop Direct controversy / Allegro divests in Slovenia & Croatia / No Black Week figures from Amazon

Amazon tests new feature without retailer consent
Amazon is causing controversy with its new feature Shop Direct. The company lists products from third-party retailers without their prior consent. Product data is sourced from publicly available brand websites and purchases are completed via redirects to external shops. However, retailers can request an opt-out. Industry experts are criticizing the unsolicited data scraping – a practice Amazon itself has historically pushed back against.

JD.com: Built for Control, Not Scale

With the Ceconomy takeover, Chinese Corporation JD.com shows its clear interest in the European market. But who is JD.com exactly, and how do they operate?

Vinted european markets volume

Vinted in Europe: Market Position, Growth, and Competitive Dynamics

Vinted is growing rapidly in Europe – but by no means everywhere. While some countries such as the UK and Portugal are leading the way with double-digit growth rates, saturated markets like Germany are noticeably slowing the momentum. The range from -25 to +72 percent clearly shows how differently re-commerce works across Europe. Our overview explains where and why Vinted is gaining market share – and where it isn’t.

2025 Marketplace Year in Review: The Great Re-Architecture

As we close out 2025, it’s clear this wasn’t just another year of incremental growth – it was a year of structural re-architecture. The marketplace model has moved from being a “digital shelf” to an integrated, AI-driven, and internationally fluid ecosystem. For sellers, the “Bigger Picture” of 2025 is the transition from managing listings to managing complex, cross-border value chains.

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