Wednesday 17th September | Join Free
Hello and welcome to your Wednesday Beyond the Basket brief. Temu's UK revenue nearly doubled while prepping for a courtroom showdown with Shein, AI agents are making your analytics look like a funhouse mirror, and Gen Z would rather ask ChatGPT than follow influencers. Add in Amazon pushing Prime Big Deal Days as the new Black Friday kickoff and Kroger bringing back paper coupons for the analog crowd, there's plenty to unpack. Let's dive in. 🤿
In today’s beyond the basket:
🚨 Temu Doubles UK Sales as Shein Court Battle Nears
🔍 AI Agents Are Powering Headless Browsing
🛍️ Gen Z & Millennials Trust AI for Shopping Advice
🛒 Prime Big Deal Days Kick Off Early Holiday Shopping
🏷️ Kroger Brings Back Paper Coupons
+plus four deep reads to help you stay ahead of the competition.
🚨 Temu Doubles UK Sales as Shein Court Battle Nears LINK
TL;DR: Temu’s UK revenue nearly doubled to $63.2m in 2024, with profit rising to $3.9m, as it prepares for a 2026 High Court clash with Shein over copyright and competition claims.
Why It Matters: Temu and Shein’s rapid growth is shaking the fashion and marketplace landscape, helped by exploiting the ‘de minimis’ tax loophole, which lets small-value imports bypass duties. But the loophole is under fire, Trump has already closed it in the US, and UK policymakers are under pressure to follow. If closed, it could erode Temu and Shein’s cost advantage and level the field for established retailers. Meanwhile, the looming legal battle underscores the intensity of competition in ultra-fast fashion, with IP and supplier exclusivity practices under scrutiny.
Your Move: Watch UK and EU trade policy shifts closely, a crackdown on low-value imports could reshape margins, pricing strategies, and competitive positioning across marketplaces.
Wider Context:
Temu opens platform for Swiss companies - Temu has launched its “Local-to-Local” program in Switzerland, letting Swiss retailers sell directly to domestic customers, with plans to expand into other markets later. Read More >
Shein rolls out Xcelerator programme in the UK - Shein is expanding its Xcelerator incubation scheme, giving emerging UK brands access to its DTC infrastructure, on-demand production, and global reach. Read More >
🔍 AI Agents Are Powering Headless Browsing LINK
TL;DR: New AI browsers like Perplexity’s Comet and Dia use headless browsing to mimic human traffic, skewing analytics by making bot sessions look like real visitors.
Why It Matters: Headless browsing was once a developer tool, but AI agents now use it to fetch, click, and scroll like people. For publishers and ecommerce brands, this muddies analytics (what’s human vs. bot traffic), risks ad fraud (ads served to AI instead of buyers), and complicates conversion tracking. TollBit reports a 9.4% drop in human traffic while bot traffic rose sharply in Q2 2025, a warning sign for brands that depend on clear attribution and reliable ad spend.
Your Move: Audit your analytics stack for bot filtering gaps and push partners for transparency on AI-driven traffic before it distorts your performance data.
🛍️ Gen Z & Millennials Trust AI for Shopping Advice LINK
TL;DR: A new survey by Commerce (formerly BigCommerce) and Future Commerce finds that 33% of Gen Z and 26% of Millennials now turn to AI platforms for product research, rivaling search engines.
Why It Matters: This signals the rise of “agentic commerce”, where AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming the first stop in the shopping journey. The survey shows younger shoppers trust AI recommendations more than influencers or social media, reshaping how discovery and trust are built online. For brands, this shift threatens traditional SEO, social, and influencer-led funnels, and makes Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) critical for visibility inside AI results.
Your Move: Don’t just “hope” AI picks you up, start running structured AI query tests monthly, implement schema + Q&A content, and consider looking at partnerships with AI platforms so your product data is in their answer pipeline.
🛒 Prime Big Deal Days Kick Off Early Holiday Shopping LINK
TL;DR: Amazon Prime Big Deal Days return Oct 7–8, and reports show consumers are shopping earlier this year, shifting holiday demand forward.
Why It Matters: Shoppers aren’t waiting for Black Friday. Recent surveys suggest many plan to start gift-buying before Black Friday, drawn by deal events and tighter budgets. For marketplace sellers, this means Prime Big Deal Days may be the new holiday kickoff, not just a mid-season warm-up. Amazon is also pushing creators and affiliates with a new playbook, amplifying reach through influencer-driven content. Brands that wait until November risk missing the first wave of intent.
Your Move: Consider treating Oct 7–8 as the true start of an increasingly extended peak season, lock in inventory, pricing, and campaign plans now, and sync holiday messaging to meet early-bird demand.
🏷️ Kroger Brings Back Paper Coupons LINK
TL;DR: Kroger is reintroducing paper coupons chainwide, saying they boost unit sales and improve customer satisfaction, especially for older and lower-income shoppers without access to digital offers.
Why It Matters: For pure ecommerce sellers, this is more of a signal than a direct play. The takeaway isn’t about printing coupons, it’s about removing friction in promotions and making deals accessible to all customer segments, not just the digitally savvy. Kroger’s move shows that over-digitizing loyalty and offers can alienate shoppers who still want simple, inclusive savings. The lesson translates online: ensure discounts, loyalty perks, and checkout experiences don’t create unnecessary barriers.
Your Move: Audit your promo mechanics and customer flows, if a customer has to jump through hoops to claim a deal, you’re leaving money (and trust) on the table.
📚 The Reading List
Curated deep dives, longer reads and analysis shaping the future of retail and ecommerce.
How People Are Really Using ChatGPT
Entrepreneur (6 Min Read) Read Here >
New OpenAI study shows how consumers are blending AI into daily decisions, from shopping to productivity.
Tariffs Push Brands Away From the US
Modern Retail (7 Min Read) Read Here >
Rising trade costs are driving retailers to scale back in the US and focus on international growth.
The Open Web: Dead, Alive, or Just Complicated?
ExchangeWire (8 Min Read) Read Here >
Examines whether the rise of walled gardens and AI agents means the open web is in decline, or evolving.
Driving Holiday Conversions with Automation & Creators
Digiday (5 Min Read) Read Here >
Insight on how brands are pairing creator partnerships with automation to capture holiday shoppers.
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