Quick Take — France takes legal action against AliExpress and Joom over child sex dolls

Alibaba, Joom and Shein were recently investigated by the French authorities for selling dolls. Other e-commerce platforms, including Temu, Wish and eBay, are also under investigation for selling illicit products on their marketplaces. In some cases, these included weapons such as machetes and knuckles, as well as pornographic material accessible to minors…

France’s resistance against Shein and similar platforms intensified this month following complaints to law enforcement agencies that dolls and other illegal products were being sold on some platforms. The reports coincided with the opening of Shein ‘s first permanent French shop in a Paris department store.

The opening of the BHV shop drew crowds of shoppers and protesters, while French retail associations lashed out at what they saw as unfair competition from companies circumventing French and European regulations…

Meanwhile, the EU said on Wednesday it was investigating Shein‘s potential sale of illegal products, particularly sex dolls and weapons, under the Digital Services Act, which regulates online content.

Below: gendarmerie in front of the BHV

E-Commerce: Lidl, in Italy, does what the Italians have not been able to do, i.e. counter Amazon with its own Marketplace

With this initiative, Kaufland aims to become one of the leading e-commerce players in Europe, offering a viable alternative to the large global platforms and helping to redefine the balance in continental online trade. The entry into the Italian market, in particular, represents a strategic step to intercept a steadily growing demand and to strengthen the Schwarz Group’s presence in the retail trade, both physical and digital

Quick Take — The future of beauty: can Amazon replicate the Tmall (Alibaba) model?

According to a McKinsey-Business of Fashion study, marketplaces such as Amazon are already the leading online sales channel for beauty products, capturing 28% of sales, twice the share of both corporate websites and specialised retailers such as Sephora, both at 15%.

It would seem that in the West Amazon has already won the digital race in beauty, particularly in the luxury segment. In fact, even in Italy Amazon is already a significant player, and as of this year it has been included in the sector sell-out panel, the results of which are religiously studied by the management of major companies