Amazon introduced its Associates program in 1996. For years, it was the only Amazon affiliate marketing option out there. But it came with limitations: minimal control, few creator tools, and outdated tracking.

In the decades since, a wave of affiliate marketing tools has reshaped the landscape, and now those platforms are better than ever. They’re designed specifically for Amazon sellers, offering better creator discovery, real-time performance tracking, and scalable workflows to drive off-Amazon traffic. But the affiliate ecosystem has also become more polarized, forcing many publishers and creators to choose between promoting Amazon affiliate links, or going directly to direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.

Marketplaces have become the go-to way for retailers to quickly expand their assortment in a low-risk way. And Ulta wants in. The cosmetics retail chain recently launched UB Marketplace not to expand the assortment of its core offering, but to test products in adjacent categories, such as grooming, wellness, pro tools and global beauty, said James Lang, Vice President of Marketplace at Ulta.

“We like to think of this as the second floor to our digital store,” Lang said. “These brands, these categories that we’re launching are really things that you would expect to see, and if we had more floor space, you would naturally see these brands in our stores.”

Marketplaces have a huge power and reach in the European market. We look in at the overall sector and assess the performance of 15 key marketplaces in detail. While only 43 of the EU’s Top 1000 retailers are marketplaces, that belies the retail power and reach of these platforms in the region. Almost three quarters (72%) of Europe’s consumers shop on a marketplace at least once and month and 53% of these marketplaces generate up €10bn in revenue annually. A fifth hit closers to €100bn. As retailers, they are powerful.

In case you were wondering what problem AI should solve next, Amazon has an answer: helping you decide what to buy next. Amazon introduced a new AI-powered “Help Me Decide” button that recommends products based on shopper browsing history and preferences. Amazon said the idea is to offer a clear product recommendation with explanations.

The goal is to help shoppers save time and offer confidence in their purchase decisions, Daniel Lloyd, Amazon’s VP of personalization, said in a statement. The tool taps into AWS tech like Bedrock, SageMaker, and OpenSearch to make those calls.

Ulta Beauty’s highly-anticipated digital marketplace, called the UB Marketplace, has officially launched. “Internally, we call it the second floor of the E-comm store, [or] a digital mezzanine,” Josh Friedman, svp of e-commerce and digital at Ulta Beauty, told Glossy. “[It’s filled with] the things you would expect or hope you would find on ulta.com that we typically haven’t carried before [due to space constraints].” 

The marketing funnel is no longer an easy road paved with gold. These days, it can feel like a bumpy ride in a city cab—potholes and all. When the customer journey is choppy, it can become a real issue for marketers tasked with creating and managing a brand, generating awareness, and driving sales-qualified leads. Instead of a smooth, clear path that reinforces loyalty, you get a bunch of lost, would-be customers who quickly lose interest.

Amazon continues to add international marketplaces, but most sellers aren’t following them across borders. Despite Amazon’s efforts to make global selling easier, nearly 70% of sellers remain active in just one marketplace. According to Marketplace Pulse research, 69% of Amazon sellers operate in a single marketplace, while less than 1% are truly global – selling in 11 or more countries. Even among the more ambitious sellers, only 6% have expanded to six or more marketplaces.

Amazon revolutionized retail. What one thing has made Amazon a digital superpower? It isn’t their vast selection of goods – even as a small online bookstore, they were disrupting retail by transforming the way we buy and consume media. It isn’t their reliable delivery – customers expect this of any retailer. It isn’t their customer service – while it excels in the eyes of consumers and has a positive impact on Amazon’s bottom line, it’s nothing that most other retailers can’t mimic or even surpass.