The Order : Weekly Aggregator Roundup - Pilot Wave Holdings & GoNorth - plus ChatGPT co-autor

Chart

Teikametrics released BFCM ad benchmarks in its ebook "The 2022 Black Friday, Cyber Monday Benchmark Report".

Platform Ad Comparison BFCM 2021 vs 2022 [Teikametrics]

New funding this week: $ 25M

Funding Craze 💰

• US: Pilot Wave Holdings (which among others acquired Tapuya last year) adds a $20M credit facility from Tiger Finance [PR Newswire]

• EU: GoNorth adds a credit facility of $5M [Yahoo Finance]

Movers & Shakers 🤝

• Thrasio Expands its Leadership Team with Hire of Kunal Thakkar as Chief Supply Chain Officer [PR Newswire]

Strategy 📈

• "Amazon launches Inspire, a TikTok-like shopping feed that supports both photos and videos" [Techcrunch]

• "Amazon Seller M&A Market Active Despite Aggregator Struggles" [Marketplace Pulse]

• "Amazon Will Pay You $2 a Month to Monitor Your Phone Traffic" [Gizmodo]

• "Amazon reportedly agrees to treat sellers better to end EU antitrust probes" [Engadget]

• Re-categorization: "Amazon Buyers Beware: Scammers Are Targeting the Best-Seller Badge" [Bloomberg]

• "Some DTC brands moved up to 30% of their holiday ad spend from Meta to Amazon" [Business Insider]

• Updated holiday season stats - 2022 growth [Adobe Insights]

• Third party seller marketplace updates in the making? Not fast enough for the French authorities: "French watchdog orders Amazon to pay $3.5 mln in penalties" [Reuters]

• "Freight rates from China to West Coast down 90% as global trade falls off fast" [CNBC]

• "Macy’s Inc.’s CFO on How It Is Modernizing" [Yahoo]

• "Bol.com lays off 10% of staff" [eCommerce News]

• Outlook through a Shopify lens: "E-commerce 2023: Thriving through uncertainty" [Shop Circle]

Events 🎤

• Much anticipated webinar from our friends at Hellotax: "eCom Growth Plan 2023-Global Expansion - All-In-One Tool - Brand Insights - Reimbursements and Taxes!" , Dec 14 1pm EST [Signup via Zoom]

• Titan Holiday Parties, Dec (various)

• eCom Camp, Jan 8-10, Orlando, FL

Welcoming our new co-author: ChatGPT 👋

It's been an exciting week for AI as OpenAI pushes the limits towards mainstream adoption of its models. Here is ChatGPT taking a stab at the top 10 news this newsletter should have focused on:

1. Walmart announces new partnership with popular clothing brand source

2. Shopify introduces new, streamlined checkout process source

3. Amazon launches Prime Video in over 200 countries source

4. Walmart unveils new mobile app feature allowing customers to easily reorder items source

5. Shopify offers free shipping for all merchants for the holiday season source

6. Amazon introduces Alexa Skills Blueprints, allowing users to create their own custom voice apps source

7. Walmart announces expansion of same-day grocery delivery to over 100 cities source

8. Shopify adds support for 3D product modeling, allowing merchants to create more engaging product listings source

9. Amazon releases new line of AmazonBasics furniture and home decor source

10. Walmart partners with Postmates to offer on-demand delivery from stores in select cities source

Credits to the OpenAI team 🤖

Let's make this week count,

Christian