otto

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.

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.

Marketplace Universe News 06.10.2025 – ChatGPT starts in-chat-shopping / Amazon tests Haul in Spain / Platformisation in Germany

OpenAI is rolling out a native checkout in ChatGPT, letting users in the U.S. buy products without ever leaving the chat. The first integrations are with Etsy and Shopify sellers. Users can see product options, select variants, and complete the purchase directly in the interface. It’s a first step toward what some call “agentic commerce” – where AI handles not just discovery, but also transactions.

Scroll to Top