Today (29 November) is Black Friday, the last major shopping holiday before the start of the Christmas period proper.
To mark the occasion, we have another round-up of the latest news in e-commerce, including fears over UK consumer demand, the festive surge in sales for Chinese platforms and a probe into toxic toys allegedly being sold to Europe through Temu’s marketplace.
Deflating news?
New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) suggest that renewed inflation could impact sales over the festive period.
The Guardian reports that recent falls in the prices of some goods have slowed, driven by non-food goods and fresh food prices. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said that UK households would have “dampened spending power over the festive period”, largely as a result of an increase in energy prices.
Goods such as tea and coffee have seen increased prices as a result of global issues in supply chains, suggested BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
She predicted that UK traders would struggle with increased costs in 2025 “because of changes to employers’ national insurance contributions, business rates, an increase to the minimum wage and a new packaging levy”.
Consumer group Which? has also warned shoppers that 92% of products discounted by the eight largest home and technology retailers in the period running up to Black Friday have been cheaper or equivalently priced at other times of the year.
TikTok’s big Christmas
China’s e-commerce giants are set to thrive this Christmas in the US, outpacing their American competitors, according to a report by Earnest Analytics.
The major winners in US holiday sales growth this year are TikTok Shop, Temu and Shein, with TikTok’s e-commerce platform achieving a particularly bumper boost, a 213.2% improvement on last year’s figures.
Despite slow customer growth in the months to November, Temu achieved an 18.1% year-on-year improvement in the first 13 days of the month in the US market, building on the recent success of the cut-price Chinese platforms.
Competitors to these platforms in the US, including brands like Walmart, saw falls in their sales compared with last year, while Amazon saw only a 0.5% boost.
Made in Indonesia?
Indonesia took the latest in a series of economic measures – that has also included limiting access to TikTok’s e-commerce platform in recent weeks – by banning the sale of iPhone 16 and Google Pixel phones until Apple and Google agree to domestically manufacture at least 40% of the products sold in the country.
It comes after the previous administration, in which current president Prabowo Subianto served as defense minister, indicated it would look to ban both Teemu and Shein because of their potential effects on domestic SMEs.
“We are not protectionist,” Subianto said the of measures.
“What we are doing is very logical. Every country in the world will fight or protect the national interests of its people.”
A spokesperson for Indonesia’s industrial ministry said last week that “we’re encouraging the local content policy to create fairness for all investors, as well as to create added value domestically”.
Lydia Ruddy, managing director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, told the FT that “Indonesia takes a hit in its competitiveness compared to other countries in south-east Asia as a result of this kind of policy”, adding that it could be a “real deterrent” for foreign investors.
Temu trouble
Temu is also facing a challenge in Europe, where the EU is planning an investigation into the alleged sale of illegal products on the e-commerce platform.
According to the FT, the investigation could be carried out under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which could translate to a fine of 6% of annual global revenue if the company is found guilty.
The European Commission recently asked Temu for evidence that it was working to mitigate “risks relating to consumer protection, public health and users’ wellbeing” from the firm.
A report from the Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) found last month that 80% of Temu-bought toys tested by the organisation did not meet EU safety standards, proving either toxic or otherwise hazardous.
In the research, TIE said:
“It’s unfair on European producers who have to comply with the toughest standards in the world. The playing field is not level.”
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