🛍️ What's up E-commerce – October 2, 2026

Week of September 25 to October 1, 2026

A week of contrasts: Showroomprivé and Spartoo tighten their belts while Cash Express opens its second-hand marketplace and Best Buy storms TikTok Shop. In the US, Walmart vows never to personalize its prices with AI; in Brazil, Mercado Livre is stopped in its tracks on selling medicines. And with the holidays approaching, DoorDash offers to pick up your returns at your door. Here's what mattered this week.

📢 E-commerce & Shopping

📉 Showroomprivé narrows its losses but expects a covenant breach. In France, SRP Groupe reports half-year revenue of €218.1M (-9.1%) on a GMV of €370M, with net loss reduced to €23.1M. Cash falls to €12.8M and the group expects the "likely non-compliance" with its 2026 EBITDA covenant, tied to €40M of bank debt, while seeking a standstill agreement with its lenders. Second-half priorities: marketplace, social retail media and international. (boursorama.com)

👟 Spartoo widens its loss amid falling activity. In France, Spartoo sees its half-year GMV drop 7.7% to €77M and its active customer base fall 8.4% to 1.3 million, for a net loss of €1.6M. The one bright spot: third-party services, including its TooPost logistics business, grow 7.4% to €10.3M. The CEO points to rising oil prices and inflation. (businesswire.com)

🏠 Maisons du Monde: e-commerce down 11.8% in the first half. In France, Maisons du Monde reports revenue of €412.8M (-7.1%) and a net loss of €64M. Stores decline 3% on a like-for-like basis, but e-commerce drops 11.8%. The group, which completed its refinancing in July, has achieved €15M in savings, mainly in logistics, and gives no guidance. (globenewswire.com)

♻️ Cash Express launches its national second-hand marketplace. In France, the Cash Express network officially launched on September 28 a marketplace connecting more than 120 stores, with a single cart and a single payment for items coming from several locations. AI tools help qualify products, retouch photos and optimize SEO. In August, online sales had already jumped 438% compared with the former website, and opening to circular-economy partners is planned for 2027. (ecommercemag.fr)

🌿 Yves Rocher wants to double e-commerce's share in France. In France, Yves Rocher wants to double the share of e-commerce, which currently accounts for 10% of its business in the country. The brand claims 8 million customers, 1.2 million new customers acquired in 2025 and 200 brands on its marketplace. It is developing AI tools for its advisors and working on its visibility in generative engines. (ecommercemag.fr)

📦 Pick and Smile opens 450 pickup points in one month and passes 700. In France, the bulky-parcel specialist opened 450 pickup points in September, 300 of them linked to Amazon Counter, the others serving IKEA, DHL Express, UPS, Vinted Go and Mondial Relay among others. The company generated €2.4M in revenue in 2025 (+48%) and processed more than 600,000 orders. (ecommercemag.fr)

🎄 Amazon hires more than 9,500 seasonal workers in France for the holidays. In France, Amazon is hiring more than 9,500 seasonal workers across more than 40 logistics sites for Black Friday and Christmas. Four new distribution centers opened in 2026: Illiers-Combray, Colombier-Saugnieu, Beauvais and La Boisse. Around 1,700 seasonal workers were moved to permanent contracts last year. (aboutamazon.fr)

📱 Lydia drops phone-number transfers. In France, Lydia is gradually removing its signature 2013 feature in favor of QR codes and payment links. The company explains that phone numbers have become personal data to protect in the face of exploding scams, in a market now contested by Wero and neobanks. (maddyness.com)

♻️ The government wants to curb rising eco-contributions. In France, the government wants to reform the governance of EPR (extended producer responsibility) eco-organizations so they "collect less": eco-contributions amount to €3B a year and could reach €9-10B in 2030 without intervention. It plans in particular to allocate €150M to textile recycling from January 1, 2027 and to double inspection staff. A direct issue for every company placing products on the market, e-merchants included. (batiweb.com)

🥕 DGCCRF: 15.5% of inspected organic businesses flagged. In France, the DGCCRF (consumer protection authority) inspected around 4,800 organic businesses in 2024-2025, 15.5% of which faced corrective or punitive action, and sanctioned around 10% of companies inspected in 2025 over their environmental claims. Among the cases found: an online reseller claiming unsubstantiated "sustainable farming." Fines can reach €60,000. (economie.gouv.fr)

⚖️ 45% of French online stores don't display a consumer mediator. In France, a compliance barometer published by private company Temovio on data.gouv.fr screened 1,387 online stores on September 26. 45.3% don't name a consumer mediator, 25.1% still refer to the European online dispute resolution platform even though it has closed, and 3% offer a withdrawal period shorter than the legal 14 days. (data.gouv.fr)

📺 Best Buy to open a 10,000-product TikTok Shop store in late October. In the US, Best Buy will launch at the end of October a TikTok Shop store with around 10,000 SKUs, including Microsoft, Dyson, Bose and Oura. Orders will be shipped by Best Buy and can be returned in store or by mail, and creators in Best Buy's program will be able to promote products through affiliate links. (retaildive.com)

↩️ TikTok Shop adopts Happy Returns' box-free, label-free returns. In the US, TikTok Shop buyers can now drop off returns with no box or label at around 10,000 Happy Returns "Return Bars," a UPS subsidiary, including at Ulta Beauty and Staples, with an instant refund. The service is open to independent sellers as well as those using TikTok's fulfillment. (chainstoreage.com)

🏷️ Walmart pledges not to personalize its prices with AI. In the US, Walmart CEO John Furner published a letter to customers on September 25: "We price the product, not the person." The retailer commits not to set prices based on a customer's identity or the time of day, and its AI assistant Sparky will not use shared data to raise a price. A stance taken as the FTC prepares a policy statement on personalized pricing. (thenextweb.com)

🎯 Target cuts prices on nearly 2,000 items ahead of the holidays. In the US, Target is lowering prices on around 2,000 apparel and home products, with the Threshold queen comforter, for example, going from $89 to $69. These cuts add to the more than 10,000 price reductions made last year, and loyalty members get access to Target Circle Deal Days on October 6 and 7. (corporate.target.com)

🛵 DoorDash launches a $7.99 returns service and welcomes Macy's. In the US, DoorDash unveiled "Dasher Returns" on September 30: starting in November, a courier picks up a return and drops it off in store in about thirty minutes, for $7.99. Macy's, Anthropologie, The North Face, Vans and Timberland join the marketplace, which is also launching ordering by text message and testing its DoorDash Air drone. (about.doordash.com)

📮 USPS and Amazon test same-day delivery for late orders. In the US, parcels dropped off by Amazon at a USPS facility between 12 pm and 1 pm are delivered the same day between 2 pm and 8 pm. The pilot starts in Morgantown and Lake Havasu City, with a maximum of 200 parcels per site, and Columbia will join on October 20. (supplychaindive.com)

🇮🇳 Flipkart boosts warehouse capacity by 50% ahead of the Big Billion Days. In India, Ekart, Flipkart's logistics arm, is adding 14 million cubic feet of storage and more than 900 hubs, for a network of more than 8,200 sites, and is covering more than 750 new postal codes. Flipkart Minutes has nearly 1,200 micro-fulfillment centers. The Big Billion Days start on October 9. (businesstoday.in)

👗 Shein's shares fall after its first results as a listed company. In China and Hong Kong, Shein reports first-half revenue of $20.1B (+1%). In the second quarter, sales fell 14% in Europe and 6% in the US, which the group attributes in particular to the end of customs exemptions on small parcels and higher freight costs. The stock closed down 10.7%. (finance.yahoo.com)

🍾 Temu opens its anti-counterfeit portal to geographical indications. In Europe, Temu now allows holders of geographical indications, such as Champagne or Parmigiano-Reggiano, to report suspected counterfeits directly. The feature came out of more than 100 meetings with European trade associations. (prnewswire.com)

📦 DACH: 60.6% of e-merchants fully cover return costs. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a study by the EHI Retail Institute of 108 merchants shows that 60.6% fully cover return shipping costs, up from 49.2% in 2025. 67.5% of fashion merchants have a return rate above 20%, and return shipping accounts for 70.6% of the cost of processing a return. (ecommercenews.eu)

💊 Brazil: Anvisa orders Mercado Livre to stop selling medicines. In Brazil, the health agency notified Mercado Livre on September 28 of an order to suspend the brokering and promotion of medicines, three days after the launch of prescription drug sales, including GLP-1 pens. Abrafarma, which represents pharmacy chains, filed the complaint; Mercado Livre says it complies with the regulations. (poder360.com.br)

🇦🇺 Target Australia arrives on Uber Eats with under-one-hour delivery. In Australia, Target becomes the country's first fashion retailer on Uber Eats, with more than 25,000 products (fashion, beauty, home, toys) delivered in under 60 minutes. The service starts in a selection of stores and is set to expand in early 2027. (uber.com)

👑 AliExpress tests a free VIP program for its big spenders. In the UK, Germany, Spain and Australia, AliExpress is testing "Elite," according to The Information: a free, invitation-only program for customers spending more than $800 a year, with an extra 5% discount, 24/7 customer service and simplified returns. The stated goal: 1 million members by year-end, as part of a repositioning against Amazon. (pymnts.com)

🤝 Gumtree launches secure "Pay & Collect" payments. In the UK, Gumtree now lets buyers pay online for listings under £250: the buyer reserves the item, inspects it at pickup, then enters a 6-digit code that releases payment to the seller. They are fully refunded if not satisfied. (channelx.world)

📣 Marketing & Ads

🤖 Amazon rebuilds its ad business around an AI agent. In the US, at unBoxed 2026, Amazon merged its DSP and its advertising console into a single platform, the "Amazon Ads Agent," which can be operated in natural language. Its new AI-managed "Full-Funnel" campaigns reportedly delivered a 67% higher long-term ROAS in beta, according to Amazon. The ad business is also launching "Branded Conversations" to engage shoppers in Alexa for Shopping, and an Amazon Ads MCP server. (advertising.amazon.com)

🎁 Adobe forecasts a record $275.1B in US holiday online sales. In the US, Adobe expects $275.1B in online sales from November 1 to December 31 (+6.7%), including $12.9B on Black Friday and $15.1B on Cyber Monday. Traffic from AI tools to retail sites is expected to grow 130% over the season, and mobile to account for 57.4% of spending. (news.adobe.com)

💳 PayPal: 64% of Americans plan to spend as much or more for the holidays. In the US, a Morning Consult survey for PayPal shows that 58% of consumers say they are more worried about their finances, yet 64% plan to spend as much or more than last year. 58% plan to shop before Thanksgiving, 67% favor retailers offering cashback and 55% have used or considered buy now, pay later. (newsroom.paypal-corp.com)

🇧🇷 TikTok Shop Brazil puts R$100M in coupons into its Black Friday. In Brazil, TikTok Shop is investing 100 million reais in coupons for a Black Friday running from October 27 to December 12, with discounts of up to 70%. The platform claims 134 million users in the country. (diariodocomercio.com.br)

🤖 AI & Tech

🛠️ PrestaShop 9.2: One Page Checkout and a built-in AI assistant. In France, PrestaShop released version 9.2 on September 30, with a single-page checkout (including guest checkout) and "Ask AI," a natural-language back-office assistant compatible with OpenAI, Gemini, Claude and Mistral. It also adds native custom fields and a Klaviyo integration. (ecommerce-nation.fr)

🏬 Cegid wants to turn Retail One into an agentic platform. In France, Cegid is integrating conversational AI agents into its Retail One point-of-sale super-app to guide store staff through processes such as returns or restocking, with no prior training. A pilot started this quarter, and omnichannel modules as well as conversational AI for headquarters are planned. (mind.eu.com)

🥗 Carrefour upgrades its Hopla AI assistant to promote healthier eating. In France, Hopla now suggests four alternatives after each search ("free-from," plant-based, high-protein, reduced-sugar products), analyzes the basket nutritionally and estimates the nutritional value of a dish from a photo. Carrefour aims for half of its revenue to come from "eat better" products by 2030. (pointsdevente.fr)

🛒 Shopify opens its checkout to AI agents. In Canada and worldwide, Shopify is extending the WebMCP protocol to checkout: an AI agent authorized by the shopper can now view, edit and complete an order, Shop Pay included, on all eligible merchants. Until now, WebMCP only covered browsing and the cart. Meta's Muse and Instinct are named as the first partner agents. (techcrunch.com)

💰 AI agent Instinct raises $1B at a $10B valuation. In the US, Instinct, a personal AI agent used via messaging apps, raises $1B in a Series C from Sequoia, Benchmark and Coatue. According to its founder, the platform is approaching a billion dollars in annual transactions, more than half of them in travel, with a team of 14 people. (techcrunch.com)

🧠 OpenAI launches always-on agents at DevDay 2026. In the US, OpenAI unveiled on September 29 "Dots," agents that run continuously and carry out tasks on a schedule or trigger, as well as "Sign in with ChatGPT" to reuse one's ChatGPT identity in third-party apps. ChatGPT claims 1.2 billion weekly users, according to TechCrunch. (openai.com)

🔍 Google tests buying Flipkart products directly in Gemini. In India, some users see a "Buy" button next to Flipkart products in Gemini and in Google Search's AI Mode, with a Flipkart checkout without leaving Google's interface. The test covers smartphones and electronics, and Google reportedly plans to expand it in October. (techcrunch.com)

🏭 Atomic raises $12.5M to automate purchasing and inventory. In the US, Atomic, whose agentic AI platform automates inventory and purchasing decisions for customers such as DoorDash and HelloFresh, raises $12.5M in a Series A led by Klass Capital and Madrona. Its recurring revenue has grown fivefold since the start of 2026. (techcrunch.com)

🍎 Apple Pay arrives in India, without UPI. In India, Apple Pay now works with Axis Bank credit cards, in stores and online. UPI, which handles most of the country's digital payments, is not supported, nor is the national RuPay network. (macrumors.com)

📉 77% of e-merchants aren't ready for Google's AI shopping. In the Netherlands, Channable analyzed 9,689 companies on its platform: 77% score below 60/100 on its readiness score for AI Mode and Gemini, and fewer than 1% exceed 80. The main obstacle: missing or inconsistent product data. Channable is launching an audit tool at the same time. (channelx.world)

📅 Agenda

🔐 FEVAD: webinar on strong customer authentication on October 13. In France, FEVAD (the French e-commerce federation) is hosting a webinar on October 13 at 11 am, led by Lyra and b.connect, on balancing payment security and customer experience: passkeys, merchant-initiated authentication and delegated authentication. (fevad.com)

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