📦 The Order : Weekly Roundup - Havas & Qeen.ai

Issue #201

Happy Sunday,

Here’s a quick roundup of last week’s news:

Chart of the Week #1: Amazon Q4

Amazon

• Growth of key segments in Q4 2024:

  • Third party seller services: +9% YoY to $47.4B

  • Advertising services: +18% YoY to $17.3B

  • North America profit boost: Net Sales +9.5% to $115.5B & Operating Income +43.2% to $9.3B

  • International turns profitable: Net Sales +7.9% to $43.4B & Operating Income from prior loss to $1.3B

Credit to Jon Derkits for sharing the chart below as part if his analysis (full annual view):

Chart of the Week #2: Temu vs Amazon

In ‘China's De Minimis Boom Goes Bust’ Marketplace Pulse highlights how imports under the threshold have been increasing (referred to as ‘Section 321’ import entries). Last weeks regulatory update puts an end to that:

This increases import prices, with consumer price effects to be expected: Jianlong Hu dug into price comparison between Temu & Amazon post tariff updates - the price gap narrows:

Movers & Shakers 🙌

• Havas acquires Channel Bakers [Havas]

• Qeen.ai raises $10M for AI agents for e-commerce in the Middle East [TechCrunch]

Strategy ♟

• Amazon Prime members enjoyed fastest-ever delivery speeds in 2024, and US members saved on average over $500 on delivery fees [About Amazon]

• Amazon, King of Online Retail, Can’t Seem to Make Its Physical Stores Work [Wall Street Journal]

• Why Tom Holland’s Bero chose to start selling on Amazon [Retail Brew]

• Hackers target Singapore baby brand’s Amazon Account, threatening US$78 million business [The Business Times]

• Amazon says German customers won't lose Amazon Prime as a result of court ruling [Reuters]

• Use Case–Based Shopping on Amazon: Experimental Insights and Seller Optimization Strategies [Andrew Bell]

• Shopify pushes for 'open trade' as Trump delays import exemption [TechCrunch]

• OpenAI’s Operator Signals The Agentic Era Of Commerce Is Here [Crunchbase]

• The limitations of 'Made in America' labels [Modern Retail]

• U.S. apparel manufacturers brace for the Trump era [Modern Retail]

• Shein, Temu, Amazon Haul set for price hikes as US shuts trade loophole [Reuters]

• Trump's de minimis cancellation is bad news for Temu, but worse for Shein [Reuters]

• U.S. Postal Service Reverses Decision to Halt Parcel Service From China [The New York Times]

• 'The fastest growing business we've ever launched': Faire adds retargeting capabilities to its ad business [Modern Retail]

• TikTok to let US Android users download app via kits on its website [Reuters]

• EU to make Temu, Shein and Amazon liable for 'unsafe' goods, FT reports [Reuters]

• China’s super app WeChat bolsters e-commerce credentials via gift-giving feature [South China Morning Post]

Events 🎤

• eTail West, Feb 24-27 in Palm Springs

• Prosper Show, Mar 25-27 in Las Vegas

• Shoptalk, Mar 25-27 in Las Vegas

Make this week count 🙌

Christian