Takealot bets local scale can hold Amazon at bay

Shopify taught AI to spot duplicate products. Here’s why retailers are scrambling.

Shopify ra mắt Catalog, hệ thống sử dụng LLMs để gom nhóm sản phẩm trùng lặp dưới một mã định danh sản phẩm chung, giúp các AI shopping agent nhận diện mặt hàng giống nhau. Hệ thống này xác định "giá trị cốt lõi" của sản phẩm để nhóm đúng biến thể, đồng thời Shopify cùng Google giới thiệu giao thức UCP, tiêu chuẩn mở cho tương tác AI với thương nhân, được ủng hộ bởi nhiều nhà bán lẻ lớn.

Lập trình viên nên đọc bài này để hiểu cách AI hiện đại hóa quản lý sản phẩm thương mại điện tử bằng cách xử lý dữ liệu sản phẩm phức tạp, từ đó tìm hiểu về kiến trúc hệ thống mới như Universal Product Identifier và cách tích hợp AI vào các nền tảng thương mại để tối ưu hóa trải nghiệm mua sắm và tự động hóa kinh doanh.

Trustpilot is embedding its reviews inside Shopify stores as AI search reshapes online shopping

Trustpilot has partnered with Shopify to let merchants embed and manage Trustpilot reviews natively inside their online stores, with the integration launching June 29. The deal is driven by a 1,490% surge in click-throughs from AI-powered search engines during Trustpilot's FY25. As AI assistants increasingly handle product discovery and purchases, verified human reviews are becoming critical data for AI recommendations. Trustpilot removed over four million fake reviews last year using ML detection tools. The company posted its first full-year operating profit of $16M on $211M revenue, with shares up 46% year-to-date on AI-search momentum.

Amazon’s rapid-delivery push wipes $15bn off India’s Eternal and Swiggy

Amazon's rapid-delivery service Amazon Now is expanding to over 300 cities in India, triggering a major market selloff. Eternal (parent of Blinkit) has fallen ~28% from its all-time high and Swiggy ~47%, together losing over $15bn in market value. The quick-commerce market in India was previously dominated by Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart controlling ~95% of the market. Amazon's entry threatens not by immediately taking market share, but by forcing incumbents into costly defensive moves: deeper discounts, higher delivery costs, and faster dark-store expansion — all of which delay the path to profitability that investors had been counting on.

Prosus profit roughly doubles as its e-commerce bets and Tencent stake pay off

Prosus reported $7.3bn in revenue for the year ending March 2026, with headline earnings per share nearly doubling (91–100% growth) driven by stronger e-commerce performance and gains from its Tencent stake. Core EPS excluding Tencent rose 19–28%, signaling the underlying businesses — primarily iFood and OLX — are now generating real profit. CEO Fabricio Bloisi has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy, including the €4.1bn purchase of Just Eat Takeaway and a €480m investment in French health insurer Alan, while framing AI-driven automation as a key driver of margin improvement. Prosus is positioning itself as a $100bn lifestyle e-commerce business spanning Latin America, Europe, and India, deliberately measured excluding its Tencent holding.

Profits arrive at Takealot, but Naspers stays cautious

Takealot, South Africa's largest online retailer, has reported its first full-year adjusted operating profit of US$11 million for the year ending March 2026, reversing a $13 million loss the prior year. Group revenue grew 18% in local currency to $1 billion, while aEbitda climbed 86% to $78 million. Despite the turnaround — achieved in the first full year competing against Amazon — parent company Naspers declined to reverse a R5.9-billion impairment booked in 2024, citing lingering uncertainty in its forecasts. Naspers plans to scale Takealot Fulfilment Solutions as a standalone revenue stream in 2027, opening its logistics network to external merchants in a move mirroring Amazon's own fulfilment-as-a-service model.

European Accessibility Act first year: a toddler still waiting for the first tooth – Bogdan on Digital Accessibility (A11y)

One year after the European Accessibility Act (EAA) took effect, a survey of 106 e-commerce homepages across all 27 EU member states reveals widespread non-compliance. Every single homepage had automatically detected WCAG issues, with the worst showing 247 violations. Only 20% of sites had an accessibility statement, and 13 countries had no accessible statement at all among their major retailers. Just 9 sites claimed partial conformance, and 5 statements mentioned no standard whatsoever. The author argues that the directive alone cannot harmonize accessibility maturity across member states, and calls for shared responsibility among authorities, vendors, educators, and organizations to drive real progress rather than superficial compliance.

Australia sues Amazon over Prime Video ads, citing unfair contract terms

Australia's consumer regulator, the ACCC, has filed a lawsuit against Amazon in the Federal Court, alleging the company used unfair contract terms to introduce ads to Prime Video for over one million annual subscribers without offering refunds or compensation. Before July 2024, Prime Video in Australia was largely ad-free; Amazon then added ads and charged an extra A$2.99/month for subscribers who wanted to restore the ad-free experience they had paid for. The ACCC's case hinges on Australian consumer law's unfair contract terms regime, which now carries civil penalties. If successful, more than a million Australians could be entitled to compensation. The case reflects Australia's broader pattern of aggressive digital platform enforcement and could set a legal precedent relevant to other markets where Amazon made similar changes.