Q2 2025: Interesting Retail and Online Commerce Trends

1. 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡: 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑

Mary Meeker, renowned VC, is back after years with a report on AI. Worth spending time on this to understand this generational tech(tonic) shift. As the report puts it: When these new users come online, they likely won't be met by browsers and search bars. They'll start with AI and in their native language. Real-time translation and voice cloning tools are erasing localization barriers.

Link to report: https://www.bondcap.com/report/pdf/Trends_Artificial_Intelligence.pdf

2. 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒-ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑝 𝑅𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒

Many food delivery startups like Foodpanda, UberEats, Tiny Owl died a painful death in the last decade. But Rapido thinks it can do things differently here, replicating its mobility playbook. It is officially rolling out Ownly, its zero-commission food delivery platform to challenge the Swiggy-Zomato duopoly.

Link: https://inc42.com/buzz/rapido-food-delivery-play-ownly-zomato-swiggy-duopoly/

3. 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 $30 𝐵𝑛 𝑖𝑛 2020 𝑡𝑜 $300 𝐵𝑛 𝑖𝑛 2030 - 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎’𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 10𝑋

A new report from Bessemer “Click, Watch, Shop: The Consumer Opportunity in India” unveils a $1 trillion digital potential in India. As per the report: The next wave of digital growth will be powered by rapidly expanding online commerce (both e-commerce and "q-commerce"), a content revolution with growth in short-form video, regional language platforms, and increasingly discerning consumers, who demand aspirational, high-quality, and mass premium brands.

Link to report: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/click-watch-shop-the-consumer-opportunity-in-india

4. 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝐷𝑒𝑙ℎ𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠

Once valued at $850 Mn, Ecom Express was acquired by rival Delhivery for just $165 Mn, an 80% value erosion. Series of missteps led to this fireside sale from overdependence on Meesho to leadership churn and missing the quick commerce wave.

Link: https://inc42.com/features/what-triggered-ecom-express-165-mn-fire-sale-to-delhivery/

5. 𝑁𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎 6 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐷2𝐶 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡

Nike officially returned to Amazon, a move reversing the 2019 decision to pull back from third-party marketplaces and instead focus on building direct-to-consumer relationships.

Link: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2025/05/28/nike-s-amazon-return-marks-turning-point-dtc-purists

Check out Q1 2025 trends here.