Today’s industry trends are concentrated in the three major themes of “regulation, cost and compliance”.
Coupang is deeply involved in the cross-border regulatory turmoil caused by data leaks; Amazon’s CEO publicly admitted for the first time that US tariffs have pushed up commodity prices, and cost pressures are being transmitted at all levels; Temu and TikTok Shop have responded to the increasingly complex global market environment with “strategic contraction” and “upgrading of rules” respectively.
At the same time, new domestic value-added tax regulations have officially come into effect, and the industry has entered a new stage of strong supervision and refined operations.
Core dynamic tracking of each platform
Coupang: The data leakage crisis is brewing, and the game between the United States and South Korea is intensifying
The data breach of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang (affecting more than 30 million accounts) continues to escalate and has evolved into a complex crisis involving corporate governance, transnational supervision and geopolitics.
The CEO was questioned by the police. Interim CEO Harold Rogers has returned to South Korea recently after ignoring two summonses and is expected to be questioned by the police on January 30 (this Friday).
Police are still evaluating whether to apply for an arrest warrant.
The U.S. government has intervened in a high-profile manner. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance recently warned the South Korean Prime Minister to stop “punitive” investigations into U.S. technology companies such as Coupang, calling the move “discriminatory.”
This move raised Coupang’s regulatory issues to the level of trade friction between countries, adding huge uncertainty to the incident.
In terms of market impact, the incident has triggered class-action lawsuits from investors and caused a significant reduction in the company’s market value.
The platform’s goodwill and operational stability will be severely impacted in the short term.
Amazon: Tariff costs become apparent and profit margins are under pressure
Amazon explicitly admitted for the first time that U.S. tariff policies have had a substantial impact on the platform ecology, marking the platform’s cost structure entering a period of adjustment.
CEOs have spoken out, with CEO Andy Jassy telling the Davos forum that inventory buffers built to hedge against tariffs have been exhausted and costs are pushing up selling prices.
He revealed that the profit margin of the retail business is usually only “mid-single digits”, and a 10% increase in costs is difficult to absorb internally.
Seller strategies diverge. Faced with cost pressure, seller strategies diverge: some pass the cost on to consumers, some absorb it themselves to maintain sales, and some adopt a compromise approach.
The platform is trying to help keep prices at “the lowest level acceptable to consumers.”
Compliance continues to tighten, and platform tax inspections have become stricter. Recently, nearly 900 stores that changed false addresses to avoid inspections were punished.
At the same time, FBA logistics fees have been increased by an average of approximately US$0.08 per item on January 15.
Temu: Turkish business suffered a heavy setback, and the strategy shifted to localization
Temu encountered major regulatory setbacks in the Turkish market and was forced to conduct strategic business contraction, highlighting the compliance risks in its globalization process.
Offices raided: Türkiye’s competition regulator raided Temu’s offices in Istanbul on January 21, and employees were questioned.
Suspension of cross-border sales operations. In response, Temu has suspended all cross-border sales operations in Turkey.
The platform currently only displays products sold by local sellers in Türkiye and provides domestic delivery, which has essentially transformed into a local e-commerce model.
This move is directly related to Türkiye’s plan to cancel the policy of simplifying customs clearance procedures for goods under 30 euros from February 1.
Global regulatory risks. This incident is another major regulatory challenge Temu has encountered in Europe after the raid on its Dublin office in Ireland, indicating that its low-price direct mail model is facing increasing scrutiny in various countries.
TikTok Shop: Dual-track system in the US market, with both support and control
TikTok Shop simultaneously launched a major incentive plan and mandatory new logistics policies in the US market, aiming to screen top sellers and strengthen the platform’s control over the fulfillment process.
Launched the “TOP Plan” and announced the launch of the “TOP Plan” for the U.S. market on January 28, aiming to attract top overseas brands and big sellers with annual sales of tens of millions of dollars.
The plan provides exclusive resources including 3% commission reduction, 1,000 free short video materials, logistics green channels, etc., and is valid until March 31.
Mandatory logistics integration, announced that starting from February 25, 2026, the seller shipping model will be completely canceled in phases, and all orders will be forced to use logistics services managed by TikTok Shop.
This move will significantly enhance the platform’s control over fulfillment experience and data, but it will also increase switching costs and operational risks for sellers, especially those with mature logistics systems.
To crack down on illegal activities, the platform continues to crack down on illegal activities such as the purchase and sale of store accounts. Related cases have been detected by the police and some sellers’ funds have been frozen.
Industry policies and macro environment
Comprehensive upgrade of domestic tax compliance
From January 1, 2026, the new “Value-Added Tax Law of the People’s Republic of China” will be officially implemented, which will have a direct impact on cross-border e-commerce sellers.
The core impact of the new law is that the two key adjustments to the general taxpayer identification standards and the sales retrospective mechanism put many cross-border sellers at risk of being retroactively identified as general taxpayers, resulting in a significant increase in tax burdens.
As a regulatory signal, the State Administration of Taxation has issued a new version of the “Going Out” Tax Guidelines. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce export overseas warehouses (9810 model) have fully implemented the “tax refund upon departure” policy to encourage compliance and sunny operations.
Global trade barriers and facilitation coexist
In terms of trade barriers, U.S. President Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran, adding variables to global trade.
The EU’s policy of canceling tariff exemptions for packages below 150 euros has also been confirmed.
In terms of facilitation measures, the General Administration of Customs of China has promoted 25 cross-border trade facilitation measures across the country, which clearly include the full implementation of “tax refund upon departure and re-accounting after sale” for cross-border e-commerce exports to overseas warehouses, aiming to improve customs clearance efficiency and stabilize foreign trade.
Industry activities focus on “scale growth”
On January 26, the first “Fengboju” cross-border e-commerce industry ecological flagship summit was held in Shenzhen.
The summit pointed out that the global e-commerce retail scale has exceeded US$6 trillion in 2025. The industry is undergoing a key transformation from “opportunistic growth” to systematic “scale growth”, and AI technology, branding and localized operations have become core capabilities.
Trend insights and strategic suggestions
Core trends
Cost restructuring, tariffs, platform fees, and compliance costs jointly push up the total operating costs, making the simple low-price model unsustainable.
Compliance is paramount. Regardless of domestic taxation or overseas market supervision, compliance has changed from “optional” to “survival line”.
Platform rules dominate, and major platforms continue to strengthen control over the ecological chain through logistics integration, traffic tilting and other means, and sellers’ independent operation space is compressed.
Localization and branding. In order to cope with trade barriers and increase profits, it has become a clear direction to deploy overseas warehouses and build local brands.
Strategic suggestions
For all sellers, immediately initiate tax self-examination to clarify the identity of taxpayers under the new value tax law, ensure compliance, and avoid the risk of retroactive tax repayment.
Reshape the cost and pricing model, incorporate explicit tariff costs and rising platform fees into profit accounting, and prudently adjust pricing strategies.
For platform selection, pay attention to the TikTok Shop “TOP Plan”. Qualified brand sellers can actively apply and use the short-term resource window to achieve growth.
To evaluate Temu’s market risks, it is necessary to re-evaluate emerging markets (such as Türkiye) where its business is highly volatile, and prioritize areas with stable supervision.
Suppliers/VC sellers that adapt to Amazon’s cost transmission and have in-depth cooperation with Amazon need to be prepared to deal with its possible cost sharing requirements.
For long-term layout, promote the construction of supply chain resilience, consider using the global supply chain infrastructure provided by “JD.com”, or build your own overseas warehouses to improve your ability to resist risks.
Turn to brand and content-driven, increase investment in brand content on content e-commerce platforms such as TikTok, and get rid of pure price competition.
