TikTok Shop is currently preparing to launch in Poland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Meanwhile, QVC has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. The home shopping channel has recently been suffering increasingly from the shift to TikTok Shop and Whatnot.
In 2025, sellers sold goods worth more than €10.8 billion through the second-hand marketplace Vinted, marking a nearly 50% increase compared to 2024. While net profit declined by 19% to €62 million, Vinted remains profitable for the third consecutive year.
One year after its launch, around 15% of German online shoppers have already purchased via TikTok Shop, according to NielsenIQ. Depth of usage is also increasing: the average purchase frequency rose from 2.3 to 3.3 purchases per year, while spending per buyer increased by around 32%. TikTok is thus increasingly evolving from a discovery channel into a transaction platform.
Roblox has overtaken TikTok as the fastest-growing commerce channel among Generation Z. The platform is increasingly evolving into a relevant sales environment for both digital and physical products. Community-driven interaction and virtual experiences are becoming direct revenue drivers.
After 17 years, Amazon has dethroned retail chain Walmart: With around $717 billion in annual revenue, Amazon is now the highest-revenue company in the United States. However, Amazon’s growth today stems less from retail and more from its comprehensive ecosystem of platform, logistics, cloud business, and advertising.
In 2025, TikTok Shop grew at a rapid pace. According to estimates, its GMV doubled year over year to reach $64 billion. After its home market China, the largest markets are the United States ($15 billion), Indonesia ($13 billion), and Thailand ($11.5 billion). In Europe, only the UK is currently significant, with a GMV of $2.4 billion.
Amazon is reportedly in talks with OpenAI about an investment of up to $50 billion. OpenAI is seeking a total of around $100 billion in fresh capital. SoftBank also said to be among the potential investors. OpenAI has also set the price for its new ads on ChatGPT at $60 per 1,000 impressions. That’s about three times as much as Meta.
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.
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.
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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