If you follow the marketplace news item by item every week, it’s easy to lose sight of how much is shifting at the same time. That’s why Ingrid and Valerie take a step back in this episode and put October’s developments into context – partly for Valerie, who admits she has mostly just skimmed the news in recent weeks.

What mattered:

• AI shopping: ChatGPT gets an official buy box, OTTO opens its catalogue via an interface, and European marketplaces still barely show up in AI answers.
• Shein and Temu: Shein reports its first-ever decline in both profit and revenue, while Temu rises to number one in several European countries.
• Amazon in Q4: The logistics surcharge goes up, and Returnless Resolutions bring a new opt-in. Who is it worth it for?
• Expansion wave: new marketplace launches, from ABOUT YOU in Romania and Kaufland in Spain to OTTO opening up to Austrian sellers.

An episode for everyone who wants to keep the big picture in view amid the day-to-day business.

Note from the sponsor Allegro:

Planning your expansion across Europe? Then it’s worth looking east as well. Allegro is the leading marketplace in Poland and now also operates in Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, with around 21 million active buyers in total. For 2026, Allegro expects its international business to grow by 65 to 75 percent. In our marketplace portrait, we show which sellers the move pays off for, how shipping with Smart! and One Fulfillment works and which onboarding programmes are available. 👉 Read the full Allegro portrait!

For brands that want to dig deeper, we’re hosting the webinar “How Brands Grow on Allegro” on November 18. 👉 Register for the webinar – or watch the recording later.

Glass is one of the least forgiving products to sell online: it’s fragile, often heavy and not particularly expensive per piece. On top of that comes the question of who actually decides where your glasses show up online, at what price and next to which lookalike. Valerie and Ingrid discuss this with Bettina Proft. She heads e-commerce at Stölzle Lausitz, a glassmaker since 1889, and after years in the French e-commerce scene, she is bringing a B2B brand to private customers.

• How Stölzle manages its brand when retailers set the prices and its glasses end up on more than 100 marketplaces
• Why lookalikes are a bigger problem than counterfeits
• Glass breakage, infrequent repeat purchases and logistics being rebuilt for D2C
• How to bring e-commerce into a traditional company with a small team – and what AI assistants change about it

For everyone bringing a long-established brand to marketplaces and wanting to stay in charge of it there.

Note from the sponsor Allegro:

Planning your expansion across Europe? Then it’s worth looking east as well. Allegro is the leading marketplace in Poland and now also operates in Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, with around 21 million active buyers in total. For 2026, Allegro expects its international business to grow by 65 to 75 percent.

In our marketplace portrait, we show which sellers the move pays off for, how shipping with Smart! and One Fulfillment works and which onboarding programmes are available.

👉 Read the full Allegro portrait: https://marketplace-universe.com/marketplace-portrait-allegro/

For brands that want to dig deeper, we’re hosting the webinar “How Brands Grow on Allegro” on November 18.

👉 Register for the webinar – and watch the recording later: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0glR_zzBQ8mELj9swRFtNA#/registration

When people talk about Turkey and Europe, they usually mean exports to Europe. Yaman Alpata of MegaMerchant sees business increasingly flowing the other way as well. He knows the market from his time at Trendyol, Hepsiburada and AliExpress, and today as a seller. With Ingrid, he discusses why Turkey is becoming attractive for European brands right now – and what they need to prepare for.

In this episode:

• Market size, growth and a young, mobile customer base: why Turkish e-commerce is structurally interesting
• The lira’s real-terms strength: a tailwind for imports – and how long it is likely to last politically
• Campaigns, brand awareness, “Made in Europe” and low return rates: how Turkish shoppers buy
• Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon – and entering the market via a local partner

For anyone looking for a new sales market for their brand on Europe’s doorstep.