E-commerce marketing · Industry brief

EMARKETER acquired RetailX's research business, merging its retail industry rankings including The UK500 (top 500 UK ecommerce retailers) and The CustomerX Index (pan-European cross-sector ranking) with EMARKETER's platform. The combined offering will integrate EMARKETER's proprietary research, including its AI Visibility Index for tracking brand visibility in LLM-based search, with new US market editions planned. EMARKETER will also maintain an ongoing media partnership with RetailX's independent events business.

Class action claims against Amazon on its UK Marketplace platform are advancing, with the Competition Appeal Tribunal hearing arguments about disclosure requests from sellers. Amazon sought confidentiality protections, but a senior judge questioned these requests, emphasizing the court's principle of open justice. The underlying £2.8 billion collective action claim against the e-commerce platform concerns Amazon's practices on its seller marketplace. Additionally, Google and SAP face potential German damages actions worth hundreds of millions of euros, with Geradin Partners planning to file on behalf of overlapping class members.

The East African Community Partner States advanced regional e-commerce measures during an October 2026 Regional E-Commerce Engagement Platform meeting in Dar es Salaam, focusing on regulation, consumer protection, and digital trade implementation. Priority actions include harmonizing consumer protection frameworks, strengthening online dispute resolution mechanisms, and improving monitoring and evaluation of the EAC E-Commerce Strategy through updated baseline data collection. The initiative addresses regulatory gaps alongside digital infrastructure, logistics, cybersecurity, and payment systems to support cross-border e-commerce and regional integration under the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade.