#199 – Canada Bans TikTok, Amazon’s Virtual Holiday Shop, & Driver Wars Heat Up

by Shopifreaks | Nov 11, 2024 | Recent Newsletters

Hi Shopifreaks

It's that time of year again…

Time for our third annual e-commerce predictions report!

Each year the industry's top voices, executives, analysts, and SaaS builders submit their predictions to shed light on where e-commerce is trending and help you stay ahead of the curve for your e-commerce business, clients, or career.

Last year our 2024 Predictions were read by thousands of e-commerce professionals and even discussed on podcasts.

Our 2025 Predictions report is set to be more comprehensive and impactful than ever, as next year is expected to bring transformative changes to the industry.

🔥 What are your e-commerce predictions for 2025?

Hit reply and let me know what major changes, trends, or milestones you see on the horizon. How about surprise mergers and acquisitions? Who are the sleeping giants that are about to awaken in 2025? What breakthrough technology is going mainstream next year? How will the Trump administration impact our industry?

All predictions are welcome!

Have yours in by Dec 4th for inclusion in this year's report. You can keep them short and sweet or get as detailed as you'd like. And if you've already published your predictions, feel free to send me a link to the post.

Now let's stop thinking about the future and take a look at what happened in the past week (maybe through a pair of smart glasses).

In this week's edition I cover:

U.S. consumers living paycheck to paycheck
Canada's TikTok ban
An update on the United States' TikTok ban
Whole Foods & Amazon Fresh operations unify
Amazon's boring 3D virtual holiday shop
Block shifts to Bitcoin mining
Walmart's holiday driver incentives
Amazon's new driver smart glasses
Meta's pop-up Ray-Ban store
Baidu & Apple to launch their own smart glasses
BigCommerce restructures again
Walmart's techy solution to in-store theft
Amazon's new drone takes off

All this and more in this week's 199th Edition of Shopifreaks. Thanks for subscribing and sharing!

PS: Don't forget to enter my iPhone 16 and Macbook Pro giveaway! All you have to do for a chance to win is mention/tag Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter and/or Paul Drecksler on LinkedIn (bonus entries for both) between now and Dec 20, 2024. You can post about the newsletter once a week for additional chances to win. As for the post, you can either share stories from this week's edition, talk about the newsletter, or repost my weekly recaps — all count as entries.

Stat of the Week

66% of U.S. consumers are living paycheck to paycheck, up from 56% two years ago, according to a PYMNTS Intelligence report. 57% of the lowest-income consumers said they are grappling with insufficient funds and large amounts of debt.

While a 10% increase in consumers living paycheck to paycheck might not sound like a huge increase when looking at a percentage, that translates into an additional 12.7 million households!

1. Canada banned TikTok… kind of.

The Canadian government ordered TikTok to shut down its operations in the country due to national security concerns, following a national security review by authorities. The decision was made under the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may pose a threat to national security.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the decision was based on information gathered during the security review, noting, “We came to the conclusion that these activities that were conducted in Canada by TikTok and their offices would be injurious to national security.”

Of course, like every government that claims TikTok poses a national security threat, they did not release any specific information.

Champagne later told CBC, “I'm not at liberty to go into much detail, but I know Canadians would understand when you're saying the government of Canada is taking measures to protect national security, that's serious.”

Nah, government distrust is at an all-time high. People want answers, not “Trust me, bro.”

Uh oh! So TikTok is banned in Canada? Here's the thing though…

All the government did was ban the company from operating locally (ie: with offices). Canadians can still use the app!

Minister Champagne said, “The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice.”

TikTok offices in Toronto and Vancouver were staffed by employees who sold advertising and worked on the app.

TikTok said it intends to challenge the order in court:

“Shutting down TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone’s best interest, and today’s shutdown order will do just that.”

Michael Geist, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa, wrote in a blog post:

“…banning the company rather than the app may actually make matters worse since the risks associated with the app will remain but the ability to hold the company accountable will be weakened.”

“…it is hard to envision it prioritizing (or perhaps even complying) with Canadian regulatory processes if it is banned from formally operating in the jurisdiction. Moreover, TikTok will likely promote that it has spent significant money on Canadian cultural policy initiatives, with a particular focus on music and indigenous creators. Much like the Meta withdrawal from news and its associated agreements, it is similarly unlikely it will continue to provide that support in light of the corporate ban.”

Or as one Reddit user commented:

“So our big answer to tik tok, is allowing them to continue to extract value and information from our citizens, while also not even getting the benefit of any offices or employment here….”

Honestly, I don't get it either.

2. What's happening with the U.S. ban?

Donald Trump's win in the presidential election has folks wondering, “What does that mean for the TikTok ban?”

President Trump has been a major flip-flopper on the issue during the past decade:

Trump was actually the first U.S. President to initiate the calls to ban TikTok, a movement that lost momentum because he didn't win re-election in 2020. At the time, he raised concerns about the Chinese Communist Party potentially gaining access to Americans’ data.
Flash forward to his 2024 campaign, and Trump sings a different tune. This time around appearing more concerned with how a TikTok ban would benefit Meta. He told NBC in March, “Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people.”
Trump actually joined TikTok this past June, posting his first video from a UFC event in New Jersey.
He later posted on Truth Social in all caps, “FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!”

(Isn't that supposed to read, “For all of those who want to save TikTok…” instead of “For all of those that want…”? Who is the appropriate relative pronoun when referring to people, while that is generally used for objects or things. But that's neither here nor there. I'm no grammar perfectionist either, as those who read this newsletter are aware.)

President Biden signed off on a bill in April that gave ByteDance nine months to sell the platform or face a ban on January 19, 2025, the day before Trump's inauguration. However ByteDance has the option of pursuing a 90-day extension, which would put the decision more in Trump's hands.

ByteDance is currently challenging the law in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, making a free-speech argument against alleged national security concerns. The case may ultimately end up in the Supreme Court.

Legal experts have casted doubt as to whether Trump, who pledged during his election campaign to “never ban TikTok,” can actually overturn the decision. G.S. Hans, a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School, told Business Insider, “Because the law was enacted by Congress, I'm not sure how much wiggle room a future Trump administration would have to ignore it.”

Then again, the Republican Party has secured control of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, so it may not be as hard as he thinks.

What are your predictions? Will Trump ban TikTok or use the platform as leverage against Meta? Hit reply and let me know. And while you're at it — let me know any other e-commerce predictions you've got for our 2025 Predictions Report!

Partner News

Getida was nominated for two awards: 1) The “Up-and-Coming Partner Program” award in the PartnerStack SaaS Partnerships Awards, which recognizes the best partnership leaders and programs in the world of SaaS. And, 2) The “Best Audit and Reimbursement” service with The Golden Seller Award, which recognizes and celebrates top players in the seller community. The company considers both nominations a testament to their incredible communities.

Firework launched a new Shop App Home feed integration that enables Shopify customers to showcase their videos in the home feed of Shop App with a simple setup. The feature enables Shop App users who scroll through the app to instantly discover merchant videos, leading to higher conversion. The Shop App Home Feed integration offers free unlimited views on Shop App and 3 minute implementation to push your existing content to your brand page.

3. Amazon blends its Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh operations

Amazon has begun shipping Whole Foods products from 26 of its Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers, further blurring the lines between its two grocery businesses in a new set of experiments. But it's not stopping there…

The company is also planning to build a micro fulfillment center at a Pennsylvania Whole Foods Market and stock it with Amazon Fresh household goods and groceries. Customers would place orders on their phones while they shop at Whole Foods, and then pick up the items at checkout.

And as you might recall, a few weeks ago, I reported that Amazon built an experimental “Amazon Grocery” store inside a Chicago Whole Foods that offers brands and grocery items that Whole Foods normally wouldn't carry. The goal of the store is to remove the need for Whole Foods customers to have to shop elsewhere.

As for its online plans, Amazon aims to pull together various fulfillment networks for its Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh stores into a common ordering and delivery platform, giving its grocery business greater scale with online customers.

The Wall Street Journal wrote, “The company’s goal is to create one-stop shopping for products ranging from organic produce to Tide detergent and Cheez-It crackers and eliminate the need for shoppers to visit multiple stores.”

I wrote a few weeks ago, “Just sell soda in Whole Foods and get it over with already!” — and it seems like Amazon is practically here. At what point will they stop making customers place orders for Vanilla Coke and Pepperidge Farm Cookies on their phones and simply stock the items in-store for customers to add to their shopping carts?

Amazon could simply designate a section of Whole Foods stores as “Amazon Fresh Favorites” and get the merger over with.

Would it dilute the Whole Foods brand to sell low-quality non-organic foods?

Sure, maybe a little. However it would make life more convenient for Whole Foods shoppers who want to pick up a few junk food staples without having to stop at a competing grocery store on their way home.

It's not like Whole Foods would be discontinuing their mission of providing high-quality natural and organic foods to customers altogether. There'd still be $8 apples and boxed camel milk for sale. There would just also likely be some Lay's BBQ Chips and Sunny Delight in a section of the store too.

Personally, I wouldn't care one way or another, but I also have no brand relationship with Whole Foods other than occasionally visiting the Asheville NC location to have a coffee and cookie with my mom. I'm more of a Trader Joe's guy myself.

What do you think? Would selling a few select normie grocery items in-store ruin Whole Foods? Or would it be a service to customers? Hit reply and let me know.

4. Amazon launches a 3D virtual holiday shop

Amazon is offering customers a new immersive shopping experience called The Virtual Holiday Shop, which leverages 3D technology powered by Amazon Beyond to showcase a curated selection of top holiday gifts and interactive content.

The shop highlights the top 100+ gifts, stocking stuffers, holiday decor, and premium products from brands like Beats x Kim Kardashian, Kate Spade, Bumble and Bumble, and Coach.

The virtual experience also includes a Virtual Toy Shop, which spotlights popular toys from LEGO, Play-Doh, and Disney.

Amazon wrote in a statement, “We're always innovating to enhance the shopping experience and empower customers to discover products in easy and fun ways. We're always innovating to enhance the shopping experience and empower customers to discover products in easy and fun ways.”

Personally I find the virtual shop to be unappealing, cumbersome to navigate, and poorly curated.

For example, one display wall showcased a single roller skate, a red beanie, a thermos, and ski goggles alongside a colorful kid's basketball, an herb seed pod kit, and a Polaroid camera. What store did I supposedly just walk into to discover this haphazard collection? Goodwill?

The other thing that's a bit off putting about the virtual shopping experience is that all of the items are open on the shelves with no packaging, where packaging usually plays a big role in capturing the attention of in-person shoppers.

None of the items are viewable in 3D. Clicking on them simply opens the 2D Amazon listing on the right side of the screen.

The whole experience feels rushed — like Amazon threw something together last minute to compete with Walmart's Realm that launched earlier this year, and Shopify's partnership with Roblox that was announced in September.

It could also be that I'm just not a fan of virtual shopping malls where I have to click around to move 12″ through the store like an idiot. Save that type of movement for the Meta Quest — in which Amazon's Virtual Holiday Shop would also be a bore.

Who says improvements in virtual reality have to lead us in the direction of recreating in-person shopping experiences that include walking?

Remember Cher's carousel closet from Clueless? Make a virtual version of that to discover new clothes!
Create an environment of virtual avatars using and demonstrating products around me to capture my attention. (ie: A kid roller skating in a park alongside a couple taking a picture together with a Polaroid camera.)
Throw me into a Turkish bazaar environment where street vendors are yelling at me and trying to sell me a JLo Beauty Holiday Set.
Let me rob a car Grand Theft Auto-style and have a few popular items discoverable in a shopping bag on the passenger seat.

Anything but this 90s replica point-and-click shopping experience that lacks discoverability and interactivity! It's just boring.

5. Block shifts focus to Bitcoin mining

Block is scaling back its investment in Tidal, the music streaming platform it bought from Jay Z in 2021, and shutting down TBD, an arm of the business that previously set out to build a decentralized Internet called “Web5.”

TBD was originally designed to be Block’s platform for developers, with a mission to create a more decentralized, secure and private internet. (Wasn't that the plot of Silicon Valley?) CEO Jack Dorsey said in a tweet in 2022 that Web5 “will likely be our most important contribution to the internet.”

Narrator: “It wasn't.”

The company instead intends to shift focus into Bitcoin mining and further developing its self-custody crypto wallet, Bitkey, which it started shipping in March, according to a recent shareholder letter.

Dorsey said on Thursday's call, “What we’re focused on in terms of our strategy overall on Bitcoin is making it more accessible, making sure that more people can access bitcoin, buy, sell it, obviously, but also send it peer-to-peer.”

Dorsey added that he wants “the Internet to have a native currency,” because that would allow Block to move money faster and offer Cash App and other products in more markets.

Block doesn't plan to mine Bitcoin itself, but instead wants to sell equipment to firms that do, with initiatives that include building its own mining computer. The company said in April that it completed the development of a 3-nanometer mining chip, which it had been working on for a year.

Block currently holds a significant Bitcoin stake, valued at around $630M.

In other strange Block news… Employees at the company were ordered to not discuss Jay Z or mention his name on internal company forums like e-mail or Slack, with no reason given for the order. Apparently the hip hop business mogul already had 99 problems, but office gossip ain't one.

Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, is one of Block's nine board members since Block acquired the majority stake in Tidal from him in 2021 for $297M. Shortly after employees were given that warning, CEO Jack Dorsey held a virtual meeting where he turned off the ability for employees to ask questions anonymously, which is a tradition at the meetings.

6. The driver wars are heating up. May the best man deliver.

Walmart will begin paying independent delivery drivers new undisclosed financial incentives to pick up online orders at its U.S. stores and deliver them to customers during the holiday season, as part of the company's plan to boost sales to upper-income households and compete with Amazon.

Walmart relies on a loosely organized network of thousands of freelance drivers who download its Spark Drive app and make between $11-$13 per trip, which equates to around $21-$23 per working hour. The actual pay varies according to order size and distance. For example, according to Walmart, if an online shopper requests delivery to an apartment, or of heavy items such as furniture, drivers earn more (if they can fit a nightstand in their Toyota Corolla).

Spark Drivers sign up through the app, undergo a background check, and, upon approval, can accept delivery assignments directly from Walmart and other businesses. This approach contrasts with Amazon's model, which utilizes third-party delivery service partners to manage drivers.

By engaging drivers directly through the Spark Driver app, Walmart streamlines the delivery process and maintains closer oversight of the delivery experience. It also helps Walmart avoid the scrutiny that Amazon has encountered with its Delivery Service Partners arrangement, which many feel was designed to bypass responsibility for providing safe and prosperous working conditions for its drivers.

Meanwhile in the world of delivery… Amazon is developing smart glasses for its drivers to help guide them to, around, and within buildings, in an attempt to smooth the final stretch of an order's journey to a customer's home. The glasses would provide drivers with turn-by-turn navigation on a small embedded screen along their routes and at each stop, which could shave seconds off each delivery by providing left or right directions off elevators and around gates.

Reuters sources said that the glasses are still in development and may take years to perfect. However, no better way to perfect the system than to have drivers wearing them! Similar to how Tesla's autopilot system learns and adapts from human drivers, Amazon's smart glasses system could gather data and create routes for future drivers based on today's deliveries.

In fact, gathering data doesn't even require smart glasses or a device with a screen. Cop cameras can record footage for up to 8-14 hours on a single charge. Amazon could adapt that existing technology to gather data on delivery routes, while delivering commands via voice. “Turn left after exiting the elevator. Apartment 201 is two doors away on your right.”

7. Speaking of smart glasses…

Meta opened its first pop-up Ray-Ban smart glasses store in Los Angeles, hoping to test out whether it can move the needle with broader adoption by selling the glasses in-person. Meta calls the store “experiential retail,” having modeled it after the Meta Lab pop-up at Connect 2024 in October, which allowed event-goers to try on a pair of smart glasses to capture photos and videos.

Meta is smart to want to further its head start in the smart glasses arena, because competitors are coming for them!

Baidu (ie: China's Google) is preparing to launch its own AI-powered smart glasses soon, which will include cameras and voice interactions, much like Meta's smart glasses. Baidu's smart glasses will integrate with its existing services such as Baidu Maps and Baike, the company's Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia.

The new product is anticipated to debut at the Baidu World event in Shanghai this week. Market availability is expected by early 2025.

Apple is also reportedly thinking about entering the smart glasses market, recently having gotten employee input on a range of existing smart glasses with plans to hold further focus groups. Apple is notoriously slow to enter new markets, but when it does, often knocks it out the park. Apple smart glasses that interact with Apple Intelligence and the rest of its hardware and software ecosystem could be a gamechanger for Apple users.

Apple is also continuing to develop AirPods with outward facing cameras, which, in combination with the cameras on smart glasses, could turn Apple users into human Tesla cars.

The mass adoption of smart glasses could launch a new wave of e-commerce, opening the door to features like instant product reviews using the camera's image recognition features, real-time virtual customer support through voice, and easier facilitation of location-based offers. “Hey Meta, any lunch deals nearby?”

8. BigCommerce increases revenue, lays off staff

BigCommerce conducted another round of layoffs, letting go of 10% of its workforce, according to LinkedIn posts by former employees. The move follows a round of layoffs in both 2023 and 2022 where the company let go of 7% and 13% of its staff respectively.

BigCommerce also shared that it would be exiting some of its real estate positions and discontinuing software projects, but it did not provide specifics.

The news was buried in a Q3 financial results announcement:

“On September 30, 2024, the Company initiated a restructuring program that includes a reduction of the Company's workforce, select real estate exits within certain markets, abandonment of certain software development projects and contract amendments and terminations to better align operating expenses with existing economic conditions and the Company's strategic priorities.”

“The Company incurred $9.8 million of restructuring charges for the three months ended September 30, 2024 in connection with the 2024 Restructure, consisting primarily of severance benefits, contract termination costs, right-of-use asset impairments, lease termination gain, software impairments, and professional services costs. The Company expects to incur additional restructuring costs through fiscal 2025.”

I found out about the layoffs from LinkedIn posts of former employees who I've either directly worked with when BigCommerce was this newsletter's sponsor, or connected with as a result of my former relationship with the company. Lots of talented folks were let go, but I'm confident they'll find opportunities elsewhere. If you're hiring, I'm happy to make connections.

The headline news of BigCommerce's Q3 2024 financial announcement was that:

The company increased revenue to $83.7M in its most recent quarter, up 7% YoY.
Total annual revenue run-rate was $347.8M, up 5% YoY.
Subscription solutions revenue was $62.8M, up 7% YoY.
However number of enterprise accounts was 5,892, down 1% compared to Q3 2023. Somewhere out there is a Shopify executive taking credit for that one.

Travis Hess, the new CEO of BigCommerce, said:

“BigCommerce has been significantly underrepresented in the marketplace relative to the strength of our products. Our third-quarter revenue increased 7% year-over-year, but we have the potential to do much better. As CEO, it is my top priority to reach that potential. We are making significant changes to re-accelerate growth and re-align our team to help discerning organizations solve business problems, maximize agility and optimize revenue.”

9. Other e-commerce news of interest

Walmart is testing technology in stores that lets customers open security locks for products using their cell phones, in an attempt to protect against theft without hindering sales. The company is rolling out the test to employees first, with discussions of extending mobile unlocking to Walmart+ members next.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers determined that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not personally liable in over two dozen lawsuits accusing his company of causing social media addiction in children. The plaintiffs, which include parents and school districts, say Zuckerberg “directed, participated in, knew of, and in fact, served as the guiding spirit behind Meta's tortious concealment and omissions,” however the judge said that they had insufficient evidence of the claims.

Amazon received regulatory approval to fly its new, smaller MK30 drones, which have a longer range and light rain capabilities, as part of its Prime Air program, and to do so beyond the visual line of sight of pilots. Matt McCardle, head of global regulatory affairs and strategy, noted in a LinkedIn post that for the first time, Amazon's drones are fully integrated into the Amazon Fulfillment Network and ready to provide delivery speeds of less than an hour.

WooCommerce is set to roll out a new logo in early 2025, according to its CMO Tamara Niesen, who said that the updated logo aligns with the company's new product vision. The logo showcases “WOO” in white letters against a deep purple background, occasionally animated to transition the logo into a shopping cart, with the “O”s doubling as wheels and the “W” as the cart.

The FTC charged Sitejabber, an online review platform, with violating its new fake reviews rules by using point-of-sale reviews to misrepresent what customers think about products. The agency said that Sitejabber “deceptively” punched up businesses' review counts by incorporating responses to questionnaires asking customers to rate and review their shopping experience, before they'd actually gotten any products or services. This is one of the FTC's first enforcement actions under its new rules banning companies from making or selling fake reviews.

Amazon Location Services released 17 new and enhanced APIs that expand capabilities for the Routes, Places, and Maps functionalities for developers. Apps that tie into its API can now access advanced route optimization, toll cost calculations, GPS traces snapping, and a variety of map styles with static and dynamic rendering options, and perform proximity-based search and predictive suggestions.

Some brands have found that TikTok Smart+, the platform's AI-powered automated advertising solution that launched in October, has delivered inconsistent performance and lacked clear revenue data beyond the basic campaign metrics like impressions, conversions, and ROAS, according to AdWeek. However other brands are reporting a 50% decrease in CPA, a boost in conversions by 47%, and lifting of overall ROAS by 42%. Just like any of the automated advertising solutions, including Google PMax and Meta Advantage+, results may vary.

Facebook's algorithm censored businesses from Coulsdon, England due to the town's name having the letters “LSD” in it. Pages for local theaters, hardware stores, history groups, and residents' associations have been affected by the censorship, which Facebook said is now fixed. In 2021, Facebook had incorrectly censored and banned users who posted about Plymouth Hoe, a landmark in the coastal city of Plymouth. Makes me wonder how the folks in Booger Hole, West Virginia and Dickshooter, Idaho are doing…

The EU's Consumer Protection Cooperation Network notified Temu that it has infringed upon consumer laws by promoting practices that “may mislead consumers or unduly influence their purchasing decisions.” The allegations come just days after the European Commission launched a formal investigation into the company over potential violations of the Digital Services Act, which centers around the company's potential sales of illegal goods and addictive design.

Australians with high risk of gambling and alcohol addictions are being “force fed” Meta ads for that content, according to a study by University of Queensland, which found that gambling and alcohol ads can be served up many times in a short period to folks who are most vulnerable to temptation. The study found that some users had been tagged by Facebook with 89 different alcohol and gambling related interests, and that 201 alcohol companies and 63 gambling companies had in turn shared data with the platform about those people, which allowed further ad targeting.

TikTok published a guide to help marketers capitalize on their “Q5 opportunities,” which is the time period immediately after Christmas when consumers look for post-holiday bargains. The company wrote, “Consumers aren't done spending once the holidays end—they're just getting started. Armed with gift cards, holiday cash, and New Year's resolutions, consumers remain in shopping mode well into January.”

In leadership shakeups this week… John Lagerling, CEO of Mercari US, announced that he is resigning his position at the end of the year, with founder Shintaro Yamada stepping in to lead both Japan and U.S. operations of the company. StockX's current CEO Scott Cutler will also be stepping down at the end of the year, with co-founder and current COO Greg Schwartz taking over in 2025. Estee Lauder appointed Stephane de La Faverie as its next CEO, effective Jan 1st. And OpenAI hired Caitlin Kalinowski to oversee its AI robotics effort.

India's financial crime agency raided offices of some sellers operating on Amazon and Flipkart in an investigation into alleged violations of foreign investment rules, particularly bypassing laws that ban marketplaces from selling their own products. The raid comes a few weeks after India's antitrust body found that the two companies and their sellers violated competition laws by giving preference to select sellers on their platforms.

Amazon India launched its Amazon Clinic in the country, a telemedicine service that provides online consultations for over 50 medical conditions. The service allows users to consult with a specialist for as low as ₹299 (around $3.54 USD), and consultations can be booked directly through the Amazon app. Wow, that's a good price. Can American consumers book appointments too?

The U.S. government renewed its calls for Italy to repeal its domestic web tax, a 3% levy introduced in 2019 on revenue from Internet transactions for digital companies with sales of at least €750M if at least €5.5M are made in Italy. The U.S. considers the scheme unfair discrimination because it mainly targets U.S. tech companies. Italy intends to maintain the tax for now, waiting for the new Trump administration to show its stance on the matter before taking any action.

Flash, the India-based payment management service that tracks all your online purchases, announced that it is entering the U.S. market, giving American customers the ability to manage their online spending in one place and earn rewards, such as gift cards and cash back. Up until now, Flash has only been available to users in India. The company was started in 2022 by Flipkart's former senior VP, Ranjith Boyanapalli. Next on the company's roadmap is a global version of the app, set to launch in mid-2025.

The U.K. announced plans to apply a higher rate of tax to large distribution warehouses used by retailers like Amazon, targeting properties with a ‘rateable value' of over £500,000, which is based on an assessment of the property's annual rent. Brick and mortar retail shops have seen a steady decline since COVID, with an average of 38 stores per day closing so far in 2024. The new tax aims to level the playing field by easing the burden of business rates on property-intensive sectors.

67% of parents intend to use BNPL to finance the holidays this year, according to a study from Splitit and Pymnts, with clothing and accessories to make up 60% of purchases. 40% of consumers indicated that they plan to use BNPL for self-gifting during the holidays. LOL, that's just a cute way to say “buying yourself stuff.”

In February 2014, Facebook bought the messaging app WhatsApp for $19B, which is 19x what it paid for Instagram two years earlier, and now the acquisition is finally starting to pay off. During its Q3 earnings call, Meta said that WhatsApp was the primary driver of a 48% YoY spike in non-advertising revenue from its family of apps, mostly driven by WhatsApp's business messaging product, which lets companies pay to chat with customers.

10. Seed rounds, IPOs, & acquisitions

OpenAI acquired Chat.com, one of the oldest domains on the web that was registered in September 1996 and most recently acquired for $15.5M by HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah, marking one of the top two all-time publicly reported domain sales. (Voice.com was the most expensive domain purchase in 2019 for $30M.) Shah announced last March that he'd sold the domain to an unnamed buyer, and a post on X recently confirmed that OpenAI was that buyer. Shah did not disclose the domain's exact sale price, but hinted that he had received shares in OpenAI as a result of the transaction. Chat.com currently redirects to ChatGPT.com.

Printful and Printify, two Latvian print-on-demand companies, announced a merger, with the combined company expected to be able to offer better prices to customers while operating on a bigger scale. Both brands will continue to operate under their own names, while increasing their respective product selection and geographic reach.

Swiggy's long-awaited $1.4B IPO was oversubscribed on Friday, with institutional investors rushing in with orders on the final day of India's second-largest initial public offering this year. The IPO received bids more than 3x the shares on offer by the end of the last day, with the portion reserved for institutional investors subscribed 6x and shares earmarked for retail investors 114% subscribed. While Swiggy, one of India's largest food and grocery delivery services, has narrowed its annual losses in recent years, it has yet to turn a profit.

Zaelab, a digital commerce advisory firm that helps B2B and D2C businesses navigate the digital economy, acquired Trellis, a B2B-focused digital commerce and marketing solutions agency, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will help Zaelab support B2B organizations across all major sales channels and help the company solidify its position in the industry of B2B digital transformation solutions.

Parker, a NYC-based e-commerce financial platform that offers capital based on merchants' revenue and cash balance, raised $20M in a Series B round led by Valar Ventures. The company's suite of products now includes high-yield accounts, no transaction fees, and the ability to instantly open and configure multiple accounts for smarter budgeting and cash flow management, accounts payable software, and advanced intelligence tools for merchants to monitor their finances.

Talabat, the Middle East business of Delivery Hero, a Germany-based online food ordering and delivery company, plans to launch its Dubai IPO this week, according to three people familiar with the matter, marking one of UAE's biggest IPOs this year. The deal could see the largest food ordering business in the Middle East sell stock worth more than $1B.

Modifi, a Germany-based B2B BNPL platform, raised $15M in a round led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund. The company plans to use the funds to scale Asian exports for SMEs and expand its operations across the region, including in China and India.

Chris Zheng, founder and CEO of SpeedX, a last-mile delivery provider that serves major metropolitan areas in the U.S., acquired Accelerated Global Solutions, an Ontario-based cross-border e-commerce logistics, ground transportation, and warehousing provider, for an undisclosed amount. Zheng aims to create a $1B end-to-end supply chain solution infrastructure within 18 months of the acquisition. In 2024, the combined revenues of both companies are expected to surpass $500M.

NorthLadder, a UAE-based trade-in platform for electronic devices that offers an automated assessment journey and home pickups, raised $10M in a Series B round led by stc Group's tali ventures. The funds will fuel the company's global expansion efforts and the continued development of its platform, which recently established European operations in Amsterdam.

Sunbit, a Los Angeles-based BNPL provider that offers a no-fee credit card and POS lending option, secured a $335M debt facility from JP Morgan, Mizuho Bank, and Waterfall Asset Management. This is the company's second debt facility this year, following a $310M facility from Citi and Ares Management in January.

Swissport, a Swiss aviation services company that provides airport ground services and cargo handling services, signed an agreement to acquire ViaEurope, a logistics services provider that specializes in end-to-end cross-border e-commerce solutions. The combination of the two companies will provide a single point of contact for shippers, cargo airlines, and freight forwarders for services including aircraft handling, warehousing, customers clearance, tracking, and preparation for delivery.

Huboo, a UK-based warehouse management and delivery logistics provider, raised £44.7M in a round likely led by UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. The found comes several months after the company's cofounder and CEO Martin Bysh stepped down and was replaced by Andrew Pinnington.

Tako, a Brazilian payroll management platform that uses an LLM to keep up with the constant changes in the industry, raised $13.2M in a round co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. While there are U.S. legacy payroll companies operating in Brazil, the company feels that it makes sense to have a local solution because Brazil's payment system is quite unique and laws change frequently. Tako plans to put the funds towards research and development, as well as increasing its headcount.