Your eCommerce and Marketing recap of April
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Bite-size updates on what happened in marketing and eCommerce this month, to keep you ahead of the curve and inform your campaigns.
🛒 eCommerce & Retail Highlights
UK Looks to Scrap the Low-Value Imports Loophole
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a review into the £135 threshold, which currently lets international retailers like Shein and Temu sell goods into the UK without paying tax. British brands say it's unfair competition, while delivery companies warn scrapping it could cause delays and higher logistics costs.
Why it matters: If you’re selling into the UK, expect a shake-up in cross-border logistics, and if you're a local brand, get ready to shout louder about your British credentials.
ASOS: Losses Narrow as the Turnaround Picks Up Pace
ASOS has cut its pre-tax losses by 17% this half-year, helped by faster stock reactions and supply chain diversification. Overall sales were still down 13%, but the company says its new “Test and React” model is helping it focus on winners and clear underperformers faster.
Why it matters: Agile product strategies and tight inventory control are becoming non-negotiable if you want to survive, not just for fashion players, but across eCommerce.
US Pressures India to Open Up eCommerce Market
The US is leaning hard on India to give companies like Amazon and Walmart full eCommerce access, threatening a 26% tariff on Indian goods if barriers aren't removed. India currently blocks foreign eCommerce players from owning inventory directly.
Why it matters: If the door opens, India could become an even bigger global battleground for eCommerce players and local brands will need to seriously level up to compete with the giants.
🤖 AI & Martech Innovations
AI is Eating SEO: Brands Pivot to Chatbot Visibility
Consumers are now using AI-generated content for around 40% of their searches. Brands like Ramp and Indeed are racing to build tools that monitor how they show up in AI chatbot answers, not just Google rankings.
Why it matters: Traditional SEO is no longer enough. Getting your brand to appear in AI chat results is the new frontier and it needs a completely fresh approach to content strategy.
WPP Buys InfoSum to Supercharge AI Targeting
WPP has acquired InfoSum, a platform that lets companies collaborate on customer data without sharing it directly, a big win for first-party data strategies. WPP plans to use it to improve how it trains AI models across its media businesses.
Why it matters: Privacy-first data collaboration is going to be the backbone of future AI marketing. If you’re still relying heavily on third-party data, the clock is ticking.
📱 Social Media & Advertising Updates
Threads Opens for Global Ads: A New Channel to Watch
Meta’s Threads app is now open for advertisers globally, with access to its 320 million monthly users. Early advertisers are seeing strong engagement, especially in markets like the US and Europe.
Why it matters: Threads offers a fresh paid social channel, but cracking it will need different creative strategies than Facebook or Instagram. Don’t just copy-paste what’s already working elsewhere.
TikTok’s Big 2025 Trends: AI Creativity, Niche Influence & Emotional Wins
TikTok’s latest “What’s Next” report is packed with insights: AI will become a key creativity tool, niche creators will outshine mega-influencers, and emotional, personal storytelling will beat traditional "life stage" campaigns.
Why it matters: It's a clear call to ditch cookie-cutter campaigns. Consumers are craving authenticity, emotional intelligence, and creative flair and TikTok is showing where the bar is heading for everyone, not just short-form video.
🔮 Trends & Insights
Voice Commerce is Finally Breaking Through
Technavio's 2025 report indicates that 30% of smart speaker owners use voice commands for shopping and ordering items. Brands are already adapting; optimising listings for natural language queries and conversational search. For example, instead of having “Running Shoes”, you might have “The Best Running Shoes for Marathon Training”.
Why it matters: If your eCommerce journey isn't voice-friendly, you're risking huge lost sales. Now’s the time to rethink how your products are discovered and described.
Social Commerce Isn’t a Trend — It’s the New Marketplace
Social platforms have officially crossed the line from inspiration to transaction. Fueled by haul culture, viral reviews, and the rise of live shopping, apps like TikTok and Instagram have become powerful eCommerce engines, especially for small brands. With 66.4% of UK consumers saying social media influences their purchases and 76.4% planning to buy more through platforms like TikTok, the message is clear: customers are ready to check out without ever leaving the scroll.
Why it matters: For marketers and founders alike, social media is no longer just a brand-building channel, it's now a high-converting storefront with built-in social proof and real-time reach.
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Bite-size updates on what happened in marketing and eCommerce this month, to keep you ahead of the curve and inform your campaigns.
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