Beyond the Basket - 08/09/25

Monday 8th September | Join Free

Hello and welcome to your Monday Beyond the Basket briefing. This week kicks off with Shein allegedly funnelling £2bn through Singapore to minimise UK taxes, Gen Z is busy spending their way through beauty aisles online, and apparently pointing a camera at lipstick and buying it instantly is the shopping experience we never knew we needed. From tax havens to TikTok, here's what's reshaping ecommerce, retail and marketing today.👇

In today’s beyond the basket:
💸 Shein Accused of Shifting UK Profits to Singapore
💄 Gen Z Drives Nearly Half of Online Beauty Buys
🏬 Modella and HMV Owner Battle for Claire’s
🔍 Amazon Adds AI Visual Shopping with Lens Live
📱 TikTok Hits 200M Users Across Europe

+plus three deep dives and analysis to keep you on the ball.

TL;DR: Campaign group Fair Tax Foundation claims Shein moved 84% of its £2bn UK sales to its Singapore parent in 2024, leaving just £38.2m in UK pre-tax profits and a £9.6m tax bill.

Why It Matters: The group argues this structure mirrors the tax strategies of big tech, with Singapore’s lower rates (as low as 5%) meaning less taxable income in the UK. Shein denies wrongdoing, saying its practices align with global norms and reflect the low-margin nature of fast fashion. The allegations come as the UK government reviews its £135 de minimis rule, which exempted much of Shein’s shipping from customs duty and could have cost up to £200m in import charges.

Your Move: Monitor UK tax and customs reforms closely, any changes to the de minimis rule or corporate tax scrutiny could reshape the cost base for overseas sellers.

Wider Context:
UK reviews £135 import loophole — HMRC data shows most low-value parcels come from China, prompting scrutiny of a rule seen to benefit Shein and Temu. Read More >

UK de minimis rule under review — The government is weighing changes to the £135 threshold that exempts small imports from customs duties, a policy critics say distorts competition. Read More >

TL;DR: Gen Z accounts for 46% of online health and beauty purchases, with digital baskets in this category averaging $138.61 vs. $84.67 in-store, according to research by PYMNTS.

Why It Matters: Beauty remains the top driver of in-store visits, but the money is flowing online, where broader assortments and upselling push basket sizes 64% higher. Gen Z flips typical shopping patterns, they prefer to buy beauty digitally, but big-ticket items like furniture and appliances in-store. This generational shift highlights a blended journey: physical retail as the discovery channel, ecommerce as the conversion and upsell engine.

Your Move: If you sell to Gen Z, double down on beauty-focused online merchandising and checkout experiences, while using physical touchpoints for trial, sampling, and funnel entry.

TL;DR: Modella Capital and Douglas Putman, the investor who rescued HMV, are competing to acquire Claire’s UK arm after it entered administration in the UK, along with it’s US, and France operations.

Why It Matters: Modella is quietly becoming a major force in shaping the UK high street, already taking over WHSmith’s retail arm and owning Hobbycraft. A Claire’s rescue would likely shrink the estate to around 100 viable sites, a reminder that only leaner, strategically placed stores will survive. With rivals like River Island and Poundland restructuring, Modella’s portfolio signals where investors still see value in physical retail.

Your Move: If you’re online-first or a competitor, treat this as a land grab moment, Modella’s bets point to categories where stores still work, and Claire’s instability creates short-term openings for rivals to capture share.

TL;DR: Amazon launched Lens Live, a camera-based shopping tool integrated with its AI assistant Rufus, letting customers scan products and buy directly in view.

Why It Matters: This moves Amazon’s app towards a more visual-first approach, similar to TikTok and Pinterest, and could normalize visual search at scale by rolling it out to tens of millions of users. Competitors like Google, eBay, and Pinterest are also racing to own this discovery entry point, which means whoever wins here could control the top of funnel for online shopping.

Your Move: Test your product imagery and listings for visual search compatibility, crisp photography and unique design cues could drive discoverability.

TL;DR: TikTok now counts 200 million monthly users in Europe (including the UK), up from 175 million last year, with SMEs on the platform adding €4.8bn to local economies, according to Oxford Economics.

Why It Matters: The growth cements TikTok as a top-of-funnel engine for brand discovery in Europe, even as it faces regulatory pressure in the U.S. Its scale, paired with rising adoption of TikTok Shop, means it’s becoming a critical channel for retail and ecommerce sales. With 30 million UK users alone, TikTok is now central to reaching Gen Z and younger millennials, audiences driving beauty, fashion, and lifestyle spend.

Your Move: If Europe is a growth market for your brand, treat TikTok as a sales channel, not just a media channel, optimise creative for in-stream shopping and SME-friendly discovery.

Curated deep dives, longer reads and analysis shaping the future of retail and ecommerce.

Warehouse automation boosts fulfilment and sustainability
InternetRetailing (5 min read) Read Here ›
Survey finds most retailers see automation as both a cost saver and key to hitting sustainability goals.

Study: More LinkedIn posts drive more engagement
Inc. (4 min read) Read Here ›
Analysis of 2M posts challenges the myth of LinkedIn content fatigue.

Topshop’s comeback shows limits of retail nostalgia
Insider Trends (6 min read) Read Here ›
Explores whether heritage retail names can thrive on brand memory alone.