ChatGPT is testing in-chat shopping – from product search to recommendations and even checkout via Stripe. No webshop, no marketplace – just conversation. Shopify reacts immediately, blocking AI shopping agents. The battle for the customer interface has officially begun. In this episode, Ingrid and Valerie discuss how AI agents are shifting the power dynamics in e-commerce – and what this means for marketplaces, sellers, and brands. They also unpack the stories behind these headlines:

• Galaxus pushes international expansion despite heavy losses
• Tesco builds a massive new distribution center
• bol.com opens up to non-EU sellers
• Zalando & About You – merger approved, but many questions remain

Note from the sponsor eBay:

Selling internationally sounds easy – but the reality often tells a different story. Because shipping abroad is not the same as being truly ready to scale across borders. That’s why our partner eBay has put together a super helpful whitepaper that helps you check your international readiness with a detailed checklist and gives concrete advice on pricing, customer service, inventory, returns – and even how to identify the right markets and products. One highlight: With the eBay Product Research Tool, you can analyze three years of sales data by country and category. So if cross-border commerce is on your radar, download the free whitepaper “From Germany to the World” by eBay right now: https://www.ebay.de/sml/whitepaper-internationalverkaufen

Note from the sponsor base:

Base is a SAAS e-commerce solution provider originally founded 2006 in Poland. The platform offers features such as automations for order management, inventory management and fulfilment, a marketplace management tool for lots and lots of B2B and B2C channels, and integration options to include other backend tools in real-time. Base is present in 11 countries, the solution is already used by companies such as OBI, Kärcher, MediaMarkt, Samsung, Decathlon, Intersport, Develey. If you would like to learn more about Base, join us at our Connect Event with Base on September 17 in Cologne. Register right now: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/1wBV5bM8AALuEq8GfFLwj7tLJ80w9AZL4cf4DN1nvG4uMLrSOfA5NxaV1X0qvNAC7

Chapters:

01:00 AI's Impact on Marketplace Shopping

07:40 Galaxus's Internationalization Strategy

09:41 Tesco's New Distribution Strategy

11:49 Zalando and About You Merger

15:30 Bol's Expansion to Non-EU Sellers