Coverage of global e-commerce marketplaces, online shopping platforms, and cross-border selling.
eBay likely converts at least one more European marketplace to zero private seller fees plus a buyer-paid fee before 30 June 2027, with Spain the base case. The companion call is that the same architecture likely does not reach ebay.com through 31 December 2027.
Amazon has cut fewer than 1,000 corporate roles, mainly in the Stores division that runs its retail and e-commerce business, with staff affected in the US, UK and India. The reductions were reported as Prime Big Deal Days closed and three weeks before third-quarter results on October 29.
Temu’s UK operating company reported revenue of about USD 171m for 2025, up roughly 171% on the year, in accounts filed at Companies House on 30 September 2026. The filing lands as Britain prepares to scrap the GBP 135 low value import duty relief by October 2028.
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days runs 48 hours from October 6, with Walmart Deals spanning October 5 to 11 and Target Circle Deal Days matching Amazon’s two days exactly. Adobe forecasts about $9.9bn of US online spending in the window, which opens on the same day as CBP’s CAPE Phase 3 tariff-refund channel.
Best Buy will open a native storefront on TikTok Shop in late October 2026, offering close to 10,000 products with its own fulfilment and in-store returns. It is the first US big-box chain of its scale to commit a general-merchandise assortment to the platform.
Amazon cut Meta’s Muse agent off from Amazon.com on September 20, citing undisclosed access and credential capture, while Shopify opened Shop Pay checkout to Muse on every store a day later. The split sets the terms for who controls the AI-driven checkout ahead of the holidays.
Amazon looks likely to launch Alexa for Shopping, its agentic assistant, in three or more non-US marketplaces by March 31, 2027, and to open a shopping assistant in Mexico, Brazil or Australia. Fourteen Rufus job postings in 30 days, Alexa+ in twelve countries and a two-speed Prime Big Deal Days announcement point the same way.
Amazon has raised its minimum starting wage for full-time US operations employees to $20 an hour and paired the $1.5 billion raise with a 10-20% grocery discount from October 1 and a lifetime credit union membership. The move matches Costco and lands three weeks before Prime Big Deal Days.
Amazon has confirmed Prime Big Deal Days for October 6–7, 2026, a 48-hour Prime-only sale across 22 countries with deal drops three times a day. The date sets the first hard deadline of the holiday quarter for sellers and fixes the week Walmart, Target and Best Buy will have to answer.
Amazon is likely to name Sweden, Poland or Ireland as a required Pan-EU FBA listing store by 30 September 2027, with Poland the most probable first pick. The Dutch mandate, Kaufland’s Dutch launch and a widening Bol lead point the same way.