Marketplace talk: March's ecommerce news

🛒 Amazon considers shifting Prime Day to June

Amazon is reportedly planning to move its Prime Day event from July to late June, marking a rare shift for one of the biggest ecommerce sales moments of the year. The change would bring the event into the second quarter and closer to the back to school shopping season.

Prime Day continues to be a major revenue driver, generating over 24 billion dollars in online spending across US retailers last year. At the same time, competition is intensifying, with players like Walmart and Target launching rival deal events and investing heavily in fast delivery capabilities.

“Prime Day is no longer just Amazon’s event, but a key battleground in the wider ecommerce promotions calendar. By shifting timing, Amazon is not only optimizing its own sales cycle but also forcing competitors to react earlier. For brands and sellers, this means rethinking promotional strategies, inventory planning and budget allocation across multiple peak moments rather than relying on a single event.”

Niels Floors
VP of Strategic Development

🏷️ Amazon enforces FNSKU labeling for resellers

Amazon is introducing a key update to its FBA labeling rules. From March 31, 2026, resellers must use Amazon barcodes for all products, even if items already have manufacturer barcodes like UPC or EAN. Brand Registry sellers can continue using manufacturer barcodes without stickers.

The change is designed to improve inventory tracking and prevent commingling, ensuring each seller’s stock is clearly separated. For resellers, this means adjusting prep workflows, labeling every unit and potentially managing new FNSKU based SKUs for future shipments.

“What seems like a small operational change will have a real impact on how resellers manage inventory, costs and scalability on Amazon.”

Jorrit Steinz
Founder & CEO

💂 JD.com enters UK with new marketplace Joybuy

Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com is launching its Joybuy platform in the UK, expanding its presence in Europe. The marketplace will offer a wide assortment including electronics, home goods, beauty and groceries, supported by distribution centers in Milton Keynes and Luton.

The company plans to provide next day delivery to around 17 million households, positioning itself as a strong competitor on speed, price and assortment. JD.com is also launching simultaneously in multiple European markets, including Germany, France and the Netherlands.

📦 Delivery issues continue to frustrate EU online shoppers

More than a third of EU online shoppers experienced problems in 2025, rising to 35.4% from 33.1% in 2023, according to Eurostat. In several markets the issue is even more pronounced, with over half of shoppers reporting problems in countries like Malta, the Netherlands and Spain.

Late delivery remains the biggest pain point, affecting 20% of consumers. Other common issues include poorly functioning websites and incorrect or damaged orders. Interestingly, more mature ecommerce markets report higher problem rates, likely driven by higher expectations and order volumes.

🌍 Online shopping reaches saturation across Europe

In 2025, 78% of EU internet users made at least one online purchase, according to Eurostat. With internet penetration reaching 94.5%, ecommerce adoption is nearing saturation, though still adding millions of new shoppers each year.

Ireland leads with over 95% of internet users shopping online, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Meanwhile, countries like Romania, Italy and Bulgaria still lag behind, highlighting significant regional differences in ecommerce maturity.

“Europe is no longer in a growth phase for ecommerce adoption, but in a maturity phase where the focus shifts to frequency, value and experience.”

Niels Floors
VP of Strategic Development

🤖 Retailers double down on agentic commerce investments

Ecommerce retailers are rapidly increasing investments in agentic commerce, with 96% already adopting AI in some form, according to a LogicBroker survey. Nearly half plan to invest over 1 million dollars in the next year, focusing mainly on customer facing applications such as product discovery, chatbots and personalized recommendations.

AI is no longer limited to backend operations. Retailers are bringing it directly into the customer journey to drive revenue, improve experience and increase efficiency. At the same time, challenges remain. Chatbots still struggle with complex queries and poor handoffs to human agents often frustrate customers, while rising costs could impact long term ROI.

👶 B&Q expands marketplace with baby and nursery category

B&Q Marketplace is expanding its assortment with the launch of a new baby and nursery category. The move supports the retailer’s strategy to become a broader home destination, helping customers shop for everything from home improvement to family essentials in one place.

The new category opens up opportunities for baby and nursery brands to tap into B&Q’s large and loyal UK customer base. It also reflects a wider trend of marketplaces extending beyond their core categories to drive growth and increase basket size.

“Marketplaces are expanding beyond their original categories, turning into one stop destinations to capture more customer needs and increase share of wallet.”

Dex van Hofwegen
Director of Sales & Customer Success

🤖 Best Buy bets on AI driven product discovery

Best Buy is positioning itself at the forefront of agentic commerce by making its product catalog accessible to AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google. The retailer is adapting its website to be more agent friendly, enabling AI systems to browse, recommend and guide purchases on behalf of customers.

The company is also supporting emerging standards like Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, allowing transactions directly within AI environments. At the same time, ensuring clean and accurate product data is critical, as poor handoffs from AI to brand websites can quickly erode customer trust.

“Being visible in AI discovery is important, but brands must ensure they do not lose control over the customer relationship and experience in the process.”

Jordi Vermeer
VP Revenue, North America