Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 125
Inspiration from across the world for retail enthusiasts, e-commerce professionals, marketing lovers and technology fans. Welcome back! I summarized some great links again, I stumbled upon this week.
Goodmorning! I wish you a great start of the day. I booked my ticket to Asia again (Taiwan included) so in March I will show you how it’s there!
🇻🇳 Vietnam amends national advertising law in a good way
Vietnam amends their national advertising law. A law -different from the EU cookie law- that actually benefits (most) users:
Vietnam bans unskippable online video and animated ads longer than 5 seconds. Platforms must show a skip button by then. Static image ads must be immediately closable (no wait), and pop-ups can’t use misleading or fake close buttons. The goal is to protect consumers from frustrating ads, curb illegal promotions, and improve the digital experience, with additional strict rules on sensitive categories like health products and alcohol.
Even though I am a digital marketer, and I generally am interested in ads, I think this is a very good law. It might reduce “ad completion rates” but I think that only forces -us advertisers- to be more creative.
I expect very creative 5 second videos from Vietnam in the near future.
Also most likely new, less intruisive ad initiatives /formats will emerge from Vietnam.
More details: https://saigoneer.com/vietnam-news/28652-vienam-bans-unskippable-ads%252C-requires-skip-button-to-appear-after-5-seconds
🇩🇪 🇳🇱 Dutch vs German retailers in physical stores
This is a blog about retail and differences between countries or regions. Sometimes I read an article in another language, not available in English that is interesting. This article is such one.
You can translate it by any translation service, but basically it is about differences between German and Dutch retailers and Dutch retailers who succesfully expand to Germany, by doing things just a little bit different. Some translated citations from the article:
While the number of bankruptcies in Germany is increasing, Dutch retail chains like Rituals, Dille & Kamille, and Action are profiting in the German market. What is the secret behind their success? “Germans are sensitive to friendly service, a trendy store, and a relaxed atmosphere.”
How can the successful expansion of Dutch companies in Germany be explained?
“Germans are sensitive to service with a smile, a hip store, and a relaxed vibe,” says Van den Biggelaar, who has supported Dutch companies expanding into Germany for more than 25 years.Rita Sack from Möbel-Hübner has little faith left in physical stores. But Coolblue opened its seventh German store in Hannover in November.
“The German consumer does not expect much. They aren’t used to much,” CEO Pieter Zwart said two years ago. Coolblue says it cleverly takes advantage of that.Dutch jewellery chain My Jewellery and clothing brand Mr. Marvis are applying the same playbook, says Van den Biggelaar.
“They target a niche and offer great products—things that truly add something.”Van den Biggelaar: “Adapt a bit to the German market—but do not deny your Dutch roots. Germans like to come to us precisely because we are more locker (relaxed).”
Details:
🥘🇨🇳 Alibaba’s Qwen and food ordering via voice commands
If you want to know how we are going to place our food delivery orders, maybe it will be like what is possible now in China.
Alibaba’s QWEN (by the way free to use, you can download it as an app on your phone or use desktop app) is now able to do grocery orders via voice:
Here’s how it works: you tell Qwen you want food delivery through voice or text. It pulls product data from Taobao Shangou helps you choose what to order, and completes payment through Alipay. You never leave the Qwen interface. This is the complete loop from intent to execution.
So it might be a trend that we use LLM’s to “direct apps” on our phone, as I also showed you earlier with another demo from China (really cool) and the US.
I think this means that companies should re-think how their app is positioned. If this trend continues one might need to:
Put API first, so this means “headless” first then design.
Many companies should put more effort in operational performance of the app (from speed, to error handling, to fewer screens).
A difference can be made on the operational and fulfilment part. That’s what people who use an LLM to order via an app actually experience.
But of course also make an app so user friendly, fun, innovative with added value that users want to keep on using it themselves! Take as example one of my favorite apps “Revolut” that keeps evolving with fresh, engaging features all the time. You really want to open this app.
Via Mario Castelli, Xie Xie Mario
Link to Qwen: https://qwen.ai/
🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🇩🇪 🥏Amazon Marketplace 2026 Trend Report
I believe this report is valuable for anyone involved in online marketplaces, not just Amazon sellers. It offers plenty of definitions and insights that could apply to your own platform, too.
Essentially, the report compares numerous Amazon marketplaces against each other and determines key success factors. Really valuable report and it also fits perfectly this newsletter because of the country comparisons.
Despite global reach, the U.S. remains the best launchpad for new Amazon brands, especially those in niche categories. Fast review velocity, buyer trust, and depth of demand create early traction that compounds into better rankings, cash flow, and ad performance.
Sellers who localize effectively and build compliant logistics systems unlock blue ocean opportunities in Europe, Canada, and beyond.
In second place, Japan offers impressive seller stability despite its smaller size. Around 15% of sellers who joined five years ago are still active today, far above other regions. Japan rewards sellers who adapt to local preferences and build trust with loyal customers.
Sellers who plan their expansion based on these insights—not just GMV—will find steadier growth and stronger results across Amazon’s global marketplaces.
Treat inventory accuracy as your ad budget’s foundation
Use data to iterate—don’t guess
Localize if you expand
Build patience into your strategy—it compounds
Total active sellers declined 25%, but million-dollar sellers doubled, meaning the platform is consolidating around fewer, but much stronger and more professional, competitors.
Amazon is now a retail ecosystem, not a gold rush. Those who master its complexity will own the next decade of ecommerce. (Success now demands institutional-level capabilities from day one (e.g., multi-disciplinary skills in SEO, advertising, inventory forecasting, fulfillment, data analytics, localization, and more)
Details: https://www.bellavix.com/what-you-cant-miss-insights-from-the-amazon-marketplace-trends-report-2026/
Direct report download URL: https://marketplacepulse.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d690a2717ca438fa2ccf2f903&id=577f1ec06b&e=2fb55ccef9&i=c33d613992, if it fails: https://www.marketplacepulse.com/reports/year-in-review-2025
🗑️The rise of micro apps or personal disposable software
The other week, a collegue of mine (Hi Naresh!) he vibe coded “Again a winner -The Amazing Prize Draw Tool-”. This was a one purpose tool to organize a prize draw at our company. We could make it really nice by adding some humor in it and do a live prize draw among all collegues.Turns out we were not the only one doing this. Micro apps are on the rise as Techcrunch calls it.
Because tools ranging from Claude Code to Lovable typically don’t require robust coding knowledge just to get to a functional app, we are witnessing the early rise of micro apps. These are apps that are extremely context-specific, address niche needs, and then “disappear when the need is no longer present,” Legand L. Burge III, a professor of computer science at Howard University, said.
Things will only get easier to vibe code so go try it out with Lovable, Claude Code or any other tool.
When I am at holiday with friends we use an app to keep track of expenses and split money, but this app at some point in time went from freemium to paid.
Now the solution is simple I vibe code my own app and I personalize it even for our holiday with some jokes only for our little holiday group.
I am waiting for a list of vibe coded apps as this might be a huge inspirator for creativity.
Checkout the details here:
🤖 Rand : quote it, cite it, link it share it
This video I will use at work to inform people about the importance of “mentions” for your brand. I share it here also, I wrote about the topic already many times, but this video makes it simpler. A simple start on this topic.
Quote it
Cite it
Link it
Share it
Start with that.
Yes, I know it’s more complicated then that, that also information from your own site is taken into account and that with the query fanout technique you can get a lot of details on where LLM’s get their data from, but this video might be a very good start to get the basics explained in some organisations.
Specially for Rand because of this nice video:
Sparktoro is: An audience‑research tool that uncovers where your target audience spends time online. It identifies the podcasts, YouTube channels, newsletters, and social accounts they follow and surfaces the influencers who shape those opinions.
Details: https://www.similarweb.com/blog/marketing/marketing-strategy/best-competitor-analysis-tools/
🇹🇭 Never skip Thai Ads!
Never do that! They are so funny! I share this one with you, but you can find many on YouTube.
Want to know more on Thai commerce? I once wrote about it on my old blog you can find it here:
https://www.abaar.net/2023/04/retail-and-e-commerce-in-thailand.html
🫡Open to new opportunities
Thanks for reading, liking and subscribing, it means a lot to me! Hope you liked it. Slowly I am considering new opportunities (also international):
Contact me via LinkedIN → https://www.linkedin.com/m/in/alexbaar/
Checkout my archive of previous newsletters if you want to read more :
Solid roundup of e-commerce trends! The micro apps section really caught my attention becuase I've been thinking about this shift for a while. The idea that we'll vibe code single-purpose tools instead of subscribing to bloated SaaS feels inevitable, especially when holiday expense splitters start charging fees. I tried Claude Code last month for a workflow tracker and it took maybe 20 mins to get something workable, versus weeks of evaluating paid tools that do way more than needed.