The Order : Weekly Aggregator Roundup - Pattern

Chart of the week

Scott Galloway details the recent increase of shipping costs. While a 40-foot container along the world’s major trade routes hadn't exceeded $2,000 until 2020, the current high has hit $10,000.

In anticipation of low consumers demand shipping firms had reduced their fleets. Instead the eCommerce craze took off - and demand went up.

Global Container Shipping costs for a 40-foot container along major trade routes [Scott Galloway / Drewry, The Economist]

New funding this week: $225M

Funding Craze 💰

• Pattern raises a $225M at a ~$2bn valuation led by mid-market investment firm Knox Lane LP to acquire and scale DTC brands. Pattern claims to be among the top five third-party sellers by revenue on Amazon - besides operating on a variety of other marketplaces. The company had around $500M in revenue in 2020 and is expected to double that this year [Bloomberg]

Strategy 📈

• "Amazon 4-star opens in the UK, marking its first international expansion" [Amazon]

• "Amazon rolls out early Black Friday deals to jump-start holiday shopping" [CNBC]

• New CFO, new financing strategy? "Top Amazon aggregator Thrasio delays SPAC deal as top executives exit" [CNBC]

• India: Mensa brands details their recent acquisitions - "Ananth Narayanan's Mensa Brands announces investments into 10 D2C brands" [Your Story]

• Rumors on SellerX acquisition of ReviewMeta - "To fuel growth, Amazon aggregators are starting to acquire tech companies" [ModernRetail]

• Selling through social networks: "This $360 billion e-commerce trend is huge in Asia—and it’s coming to the U.S. next" [Fast Company]

• Social commerce by the numbers: "Flipkart’s social commerce arm Shopsy records 40x growth" [Your Story]

• Is Macy's eCom business worth $14bn? "Activist group Jana calls on Macy’s to spin off its e-commerce business to fetch higher valuation, report says"[CNBC]

Events 🎤

• White Label Expo Frankfurt Oct 13-14

• Webinar on Aggregator Investment Trends by Fortia Group Oct 19 4pm UK | 11am EST [Fortia Group RSVP]

Let's make this week count,

Christian