📦 The Order : Weekly Roundup - ShopCircle & Society Brands
Issue #245
Happy Sunday,
Here’s a quick roundup of last week’s news:
Chart of the Week:
Adobe: Cyber Monday Hits Record $14.25 Billion in Online Spending with Over $1 Billion Driven by Buy Now Pay Later:
With Amazon Rufus specific insights around BFCM from Ian Simpson:
Movers & Shakers 🙌
Shop Circle Expands Partnership with i80 Group, Secures $100M Credit Facility to Accelerate AI-powered Enterprise Software Acquisitions [ShopCircle]
Caravan and Society Brands Forge Strategic Partnership to Bridge Hollywood and Consumer Goods; Launch First Collaboration with Cleanomic [PR Newswire]
Strategy ♟
Lower EU Fees: Update to European Referral and Fulfilment by Amazon fees for 2026 [Amazon]
Amazon and the tightening grip of capitalism [The Guardian]
Amazon’s dynamic pricing is causing chaos for school budgets [The Verge]
Amazon Announces Change to Holiday Deliveries [Men’s Journal]
Amazon’s growing clout in US shipping market [Reuters]
A longtime Amazon exec is jumping ship for OpenAI [Business Insider]
Chinese Sellers Are Abandoning Mainland Registration [Marketplace Pulse]
U.S. consumer delinquency glass is half full [Reuters]
Top South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang apologises over massive data breach [Reuters]
Shopify resolves outage disrupting merchants on Cyber Monday [TechCrunch]
AI-assisted shopping is the talk of the holiday shopping season [AP]
Events 🎤
CES, Las Vegas, Jan 6-9
NRF, New York, Jan 11-13
Shoptalk Luxe, Abu Dhabi, Jan 27-29
Prosper Show, Las Vegas, Mar 10-12
Shoptalk Spring, Las Vegas, Mar 24-26
… And why this week matters even more than usual? Simple Modern’s Bryan Porter’s post highlights this:
Make this week count 🙌
Christian
Really valuable roundup of the e-commerce ecosystem shifts happening right now. The ShopCircle credit facility timing is interesting given where we are in the market cycle. They're essentially doubling down on AI-powered software acquisitions at a moment when many roll-up models are still digesting earlier expansion. The Society Brands + Caravan partnership signals something bigger though. bridging IP-driven content with consumer goods distribution creates an interesting moat in an otherwise commoditized DTC landscape. Your point about this week mattering more than usual is well-taken,that post-Cyber Monday window is where converion efficiency really seperates winners from window shoppers.