Five Things Friday EU: TikTok Shop, Amazon Second-Chance, Decathlon City, US Parcels, Zalando Beauty

Fast EU retail intel: marketplace moves, refurbished economics, urban formats, cross-border shocks, and beauty platform plays.

Fnac Darty’s TikTok Shop test, Amazon’s Second Chance Deal Days across Europe, Decathlon’s new “City” format inside Boulanger in Paris, the impact of new US rules on postal parcels from the EU, and Zalando’s expansion into beauty with virtual try-on and creator boards.

Topics
• Fnac Darty joins TikTok Shop to reach younger buyers and test curated seasonal assortments.
• Amazon runs “Second Chance Deal Days” across Europe: refurbished/open-box with warranties—resale momentum continues.
• Decathlon opens a compact “City” store inside Boulanger in Paris—sports × tech, proximity, services.
• New US customs handling for postal goods from the EU—expect disruption for DTC brands using postal networks.
• Zalando doubles down on beauty: VTO, 360 product views, creator boards, major brand adds; expansion across Europe.

Chapters
00:00 Intro & hosts
00:58 TikTok Shop (Fnac Darty)
03:20 Amazon Second Chance (refurbs)
05:46 Decathlon City × Boulanger (Paris)
08:53 US postal/de-minimis changes
11:05 Zalando Beauty (VTO, creators, expansion)
13:46 Wrap

References (links provided by the hosts)
https://corporate.zalando.com/en/fashion/how-zalando-redefining-online-beauty-across-europe
https://group.dhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2025/new-us-customs-regulations-temporary-restrictions-on-postal-goods-shipping-to-the-us-for-private-and-business-customers.html
https://be.fashionnetwork.com/en-be/news/In-a-company-first-decathlon-opens-paris-city-store-in-branch-of-electronics-chain-boulanger,1758383.html
https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/sustainability/second-chance-deal-days
https://www.ecommercemag.fr/Thematique/retail-1220/strategie-retail-2163/Breves/tiktok-shop-fnac-darty-mise-innovation-confiance-produit-484547.htm

Credits
Host: Alex Rezvan. Co-host: Alexandra
Produced by The Retail Podcast / RetailNews.ai.

Follow the show. Share your take on whether TikTok Shop converts to owned sites, or holds buyers in-app.

Disclaimer
Informational only. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, welcome back to the wonderful Alexandra.
Alex, welcome back. Thank you, It's good to be back.
Good to be back. You're refreshed.

(00:21):
Or does the holiday seem like itwas long, far, far, far away?
You still got that? Got that holiday feeling?
I'm still on holiday mood but I'm sure I'm going to go back to
reality very soon. All right, well, cool.
For those who are joining us forthe first time, my name's Alex.
I help organisations that sell to retailers maintain their

(00:41):
thought leadership and relevancewithin the market.
My Co host from the wonderful Alexandra.
I work for business force, The French Trade commissioned in
London and I specialise in retail technology and I help
French companies spending in theUK and British retailers working
with innovative solutions in France.
Fantastic. So why don't we get started?

(01:05):
And our first news story is withyou, TikTok.
Yes, so my first topic today is about Snackdarty and TikTok.
And the reason why I chose this is because it shows how a
traditional retailer like Snackdarty is adapting to new
digital platforms. So for those who may not know

(01:27):
this retailer, there are major French retailer specialising in
electronics, appliances and cultural products too and both
physical and online. And very recently in June, they
have launched their first store on TikTok shop.
To reach younger consumers, theyhave run a test phase and the

(01:50):
brand focused on small selectionof seasonal and traded products,
for example, air fryers or LED face masks and customers.
We can buy now directly on TikTok.
And while Snackdot doesn't get the customer data, they can
still manage the delivery and the after sales service.

(02:11):
And this is the goal here is to build trust with the younger
consumers. And it's not only about sales,
but also about it's more about brand image.
So Snackdotty wants to stand outby offering reliable products on
the platform that is very often linked to cheap products and

(02:34):
imports. And they are hoping to satisfy
the Tick Tock buyers and that they will later return on their
own website because, you know, it's important to get.
Yeah, yeah. I think this shows how important
it is for retailers to go where their customers are and not just

(02:57):
and not just wait for them to visit their website.
And TikTok has a massive audience, especially among
younger generations. So even if it's not a huge sales
channel right now, it's a smart way for snack data to stay
visible and relevant in this in this audience.

(03:18):
Yeah, love it, love it. I think it's the bit that you
mentioned about them starting onTikTok with, you know, meeting
their customers where they are, but with the ambition to get the
customer to move on to their asset.
I think is is interesting to seewhere if that happens or not in
terms of will customers just keep going back to TikTok shop

(03:39):
or will they go to Fanaganti? OK, cool.
I think we both love this one because we both love recycle,
reuse or upcycle. And Amazon has just launched its
first ever second chance deal days, a weak focus entirely on
returned and refurbished products from the 3rd of
September. So from Wednesday till I don't

(04:01):
know when the 9th of September is.
So the 9th of September we can think about Renewed, which is
the tech and open box HomeGoods with up to 50% discounts.
The event is live across Europe,including Germany, France,
Italy, Spain and the UK. And Amazon says there are 10
millions of second hand items inthe catalogue with over 60

(04:26):
million Europe wide and more than 30 million.
So more than half in just the UKalone, which is a really clear
signal that you know, values to control nearly new.
And I think generationally as well as long as conditions and
transparency in Warren who is and support, it's clear, which I

(04:49):
think most of them come with a 12 month guarantee anyway, which
is very similar. But again, what a really
interesting move and I think what what we'll see as the
expected traffic shift from pristine to refurbish listings,
especially in consumer electronics and small domestic

(05:10):
appliances brands and marketplace sellers lean into
this sort of quality cues looking at battery health, look
at graded conditions and no hassle returns, which really
bundles the resale experience into device and protection plan.
And I think again, it's, it's fantastic news for us as

(05:32):
consumers. And you know, the, the just the
fact that they've got 30 millionitems from the UKI think gives
you an idea of how much is sold through the UK market.
But anyway, it's it's a great signal in my mind.
Yeah, I'll definitely, definitely give it a try.
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm curious to see what's on there myself.

(05:53):
So I will be on there later today moving on to you.
Yes. So next topic is about
Decathlon. So this article shows how again
the brand is adapting to urban retail, this time with a new
format. So last week they have opened a
new Decathlon City store in Paris and more precisely in

(06:17):
Montparnasse. But this one is very special
because it is located inside another another store called
Boulanger. For those who don't know
Boulanger, it is very similar. It is very similar to Snack
Darting. It's a retailer specialising in
electronics. And yes, this new shop is

(06:38):
smaller, about 700 metre squaresand focuses on urban sports like
cycling, fitness, running along with seasonal activities like
hiking or what sports. And this is Decathlon's ninth
store in Paris and the third with the city format.

(06:59):
And they would like to attract more customers with like
services such as bike repairs, lockers for online pickups and
even product products testing before purchase.
I haven't tried it, but I think this is really interesting.
And their goal is to have the store less than 20 minutes away

(07:21):
from where people live, work or travel in big cities.
So I think the partnership with Boulangy is very smart because
it mixes sports and tech, something that this is something
that is very unusual, but it shows how big retailers are

(07:42):
changing their strategy to be closer to People's Daily lives.
And by sharing the store together, they both save money
on costs and they can offer a new experience with sports and
electronics together to their customers.
I think I'm. Super curious, maybe when, when
we're both, well, when I'm at, when we're in NRF Paris, I'll go

(08:04):
along and have a look because itseems like such a mixed-use case
of sports and electronics. But then I, I have no idea how
they've planned it. So whether or not it is, you
know, like you go into a department store, one floor has
clothing, one floor has electronics.
Is it the same, you know, so, and maybe that's the strategy

(08:25):
behind this. How do we create that department
store feel? Because Decathlon's range just
keeps expanding. And so, yeah, really
interesting. I'm I'm looking here.
It's worth a visit. Wait for Paris.
Is it, is it far away? Is there another compete?
It's probably on the other side of Paris, right?
I'm not sure you know, pop the prairies so.

(08:48):
You found the Paris geography. It's too much of a Londoner.
Exactly. All right, OK, moving on DHL,
Oh, I'm sorry, it's not actuallyDHL this story. the US and
tariffs, tariffs, tariffs, the US ends its minimus EU post post
parcels, which basically means the US has suspended the $800

(09:11):
minimum duty free threshold for low value imports that came into
effect on the 29th of August. For those who listen to the
Australia AIPAC show, we were talking about how the Australia
Post has had to do what the European postal companies are
now, which is cease all postal postal shipments to the US

(09:35):
because they don't have the mechanism to charge the consumer
upfront for flat rate duties, which range from anywhere from
$80.00 to $200 per package. And so these postal, you know,
they're traditional postal companies are thinking about how
do they address this problem because they're going to have to

(09:58):
either outsource it or re redo their systems to be able to take
this payment from consumers. And the new systems roll out
will obviously it's not going tohappen overnight.
So I see this as a position that's going to happen.
I'm sorry, which will a positionthat will continue and many
European postal operators obviously forced to, as I

(10:19):
mentioned to restrict or or temporarily pause US bound
parcel sighting, limited timing,unclear collection mechanisms.
Some carriers like DHL that we've got have confirmed postal
network suspensions for businessparcels from Germany, but
express shipments continue undertheir new standard commercial

(10:40):
clearances. So it's a, it's a moving beast.
I think it'll have, I think it'sgoing to have a, a massive
impact for especially for directto consumer brands that are
shipping direct to the US, potentially medium sized
organisations because they won'thave that flexibility of, of
shipping suppliers because it's all cost and the poor customer

(11:05):
at the end of the day will end up having to either lose out or
pay more. And so who who knows what's
going to happen with this movingon into our last one.
And we're, we're, we're just almost there, Zalando.
Yes. So next topic about Zalando.
So we mostly know Zalando profession, but now they're

(11:25):
really pushing into the beauty sector, which I find very
interesting. Their sales have been growing
fast in this category. What is very interesting is that
most customers buy, I can now buy beauty products along with
clothes. I know this is something that
some of the brands are doing, but this is very surprising for

(11:47):
a brand like Salando which has always been specialising on
clothes. So now you're able to buy skin
care along with your your favourite clothing brands.
To support this, Salando is using technology and a lot of
different digital tools which I find very, you know,

(12:07):
interesting, like virtual try ONS.
You can for example, see how a lipstick or eyeshadow will look
like on you using your phone. They also use smart
recommendations to suggest matching products and you can
also browse the products with a 360 product view.

(12:29):
So that that's interesting. And they also have boards
created by influencers and customers.
We can explore the looks, routines, trends.
So they they went full on and they keep adding big names like
big like a Drunk Elephant, LauraMehl, Keels and they are
expanding their beauty offer to more countries like Spain and

(12:51):
Finland. So their goal is very clear.
They want to become the leader on on for online beauty in
Europe, especially for younger shoppers who want shopping
experiences to be more creative and personal.
So I think Zelando is making a bold move into a competitive

(13:13):
space and they are going up against beauty specialists like
Sephora, for example, which is also pushing similar
technologies and digital features.
So combining fashion and beauty in one place is great.
But I'm very curious to see on the long term whether their

(13:33):
customers will still be engaged,will stay with them instead of,
you know, moving to specialised beauty retailers like Sephora.
So yeah, looking forward to I think.
You have a really, a really tough one.
I think with with beauty being such a big category out there,
it'll be interested whether or not people just fall into

(13:55):
getting their staples. But anyway, we've hit time.
Alex, thank you so much for joining me.
I'm glad that you had some time off and I look forward to
seeing. Well, we're going to talk.
We're going to have one more show before the the meet up.
I am excited about Paris. So anyway.
Yeah, and me too. It's a beautiful city and it's
going to be nice to see you in person.

(14:19):
Well, have a lovely week and I'll look forward to seeing you
next week. Thank you.
See you next. Week, take care.
Bye.