The Order : Weekly Aggregator Roundup - Olsam, WPP & Helen of Troy

Chart of the Week:

Marketplace Pulse digs into "Amazon's DTC Master Plan" around Amazon's announcement to make Prime accessible to other retailers. Stratechery's "Beyond Aggregation: Amazon as a Service" further looks at how Amazon is further evolving and comparing it to Shopify's subscriptions approach.

Prime DTC Flywheel [Marketplace Pulse]

Amazon's Growth

It wasn't a great week for Amazon, definitely not for its shareholders (-14% on Friday). But as Marketplace Pulse uncovers that's still above the pre-pandemic trendline so far: "Amazon's Growth Was Expected to Slow"

Amazon Paid Units Growth [Marketplace Pulse]

New funding this week: $-M

Funding Craze 💰

n/a

Movers & Shakers

• Europe: "London-based Amazon aggregator Olsam Group has acquired US-based Marketfleet as 'the aggregation of the aggregators' continues" [Business Insider]

• Europe: "WPP takes on THG’s Ingenuity with plan to run brands’ online stores" [The Times]

• US: Helen of Troy Acquires Curlsmith for $150M [WWD]

Strategy 📈

• "Amazon Posts First Quarterly Loss Since 2015 as Costs, Rivian Stake Weigh on Results" [Wall Street Journal]

• "Amazon’s Flagship Online-Shopping Business Stalls After Decades of Growth" [Wall Street Journal]

• "Good news for Amazon, Alphabet: Despite reopening, analyst sees e-commerce growing fast" [CNBC]

• "India to launch open eCommerce network to take on Amazon, Walmart" [Mint]

• DTC brand Your Super does $60 million in annual sales. Now the wellness startup is locking down retail partners like Target and CVS with a laser focus on profitability. [Business Insider]

• "How eCommerce enables inflation" [Axios]

Events 🎤

• eCom World, May 4-6 online

• KPMG Retail VAT and Customs Masterclass 2022, May 12 online

Let's make this week count,

Christian