Q3 2025: Interesting Retail and Online Commerce Trends
- Jinal Sanghavi
- Sep 28
- 3 min read
1. The Death of Search: How Shopping Will Work In The Age of AI
We can't not talk about the impact of AI on everything we know today. And this one is an interesting listen from a16z, the renowned Silicon Valley VC. You'll learn about how the internet is flooded with low-quality, SEO-optimized content, driven by affiliate marketing models that pollute open search with junk, making it hard for consumers to find genuine product recommendations and trusted reviews. AI will most likely disrupt the middle range of purchases most: not the impulsive, nor the highly considered, but those that benefit from some amount of research, information, and automation (e.g., travel bags, electronics that are typical online shopping). AI agents may automate research, price watching, and decision-making for these “medium” purchases, reshaping consumer behavior and market dynamics.
Link to podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Yk7mbbQ0g
2. How 10-minute delivery is taking over festive shopping
ET published a news article, where it called out how quick commerce has geared up to match the Great Indian Festival by Amazon & Big Billion Days from Flipkart. Offers like ₹19 towels, instant iPhones, and Diwali hampers in under 10 minutes are redefining festive shopping, making speed and convenience central to consumer delight. Quick commerce now makes up 35% of FMCG e-commerce revenues during festive season, signaling a lasting shift in consumer behavior from impulse purchases to planned shopping.
3. There's no stopping TikTok
President Donald Trump signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of American and global investors, valuing the new entity at about $14 billion, significantly lower than earlier estimates on the company's US business. The app has close to 170 million American users. The newly created U.S. company will manage TikTok's American assets, with tech giants Oracle and Silver Lake among the major investors, joined by Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund amongst others. ByteDance would hold less than 20 percent in TikTok US to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law
4. GST 2.0 Ignites Hope
The GST reforms announced by PM Modi as his Diwali gift have sparked optimism across markets, but sustainable gains will ultimately depend on strong fundamentals. The author, Govindraj Ethiraj, shares valid counterpoints. Automotive is a key benefactor. But, high-priced items are often bought with loans and EMIs. An aspirational purchase like a car may happen regardless of whether the price is X or X minus Rs 1.5 lakh (the rough reduction for cars over Rs 10 lakh). Equally, it's unlikely that someone will buy more soap or toothpaste just because the price is slightly lower. What may happen is that consumers might trade up to premium brands within these categories. Consumption for a host of macro reasons should remain steady or strong, but it is unlikely to trigger a boom.
5. OpenAI and Anthropic dropped fresh insights into how millions of people are using them
AI isn’t being used the same way everywhere and the data proves it. Some key insights: a) Claude has become the go-to for coding, while ChatGPT is more about writing, advice, and decision support; b) Users are now asking more search-style and reasoning questions, using AI as a thinking partner, not just a writing machine, c) ChatGPT is spreading 4x faster in low and middle-income countries than in wealthy ones.
Anthropic Economic Index report: https://www.anthropic.com/research/anthropic-economic-index-september-2025-report
Anthropic Economic Index usage: https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index#us-usage
OpenAI usage report: https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/
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