In Episode 95 of This Week in E-Commerce, Mal Chia flies solo to break down the biggest shifts in the retail landscape. From Amazon Prime Day’s increasingly disruptive influence to the quiet rebellion against free shipping and returns, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the post–EOFY slowdown. Mal also unpacks Lululemon’s lawsuit against Costco, the growing importance of micro-moments in retail, and the global fallout from Trump’s new $3 trillion deficit bill.

Grab a coffee and strap in — it’s a sharp, insightful solo session packed with strategy and real talk.

Retailers Reconsider Free Shipping & Returns:

• New Shippit data shows brands like H&M and Uniqlo are reversing free return policies.

• Returns in marketplaces can be as high as 50%, significantly eroding margins.

• Mal’s advice: be transparent with customers, use loyalty incentives, and reset expectations before it’s too late.

The Power of Micro Moments:

• A good product isn’t enough—memorable moments matter.

• Mal highlights brands like Apple, Frank Green, and Amino Z for nailing end-to-end customer experience.

• Personalised touches and post-purchase surprises create long-term brand equity.

Trump’s $3 Trillion Deficit and Tariff Fallout:

• New U.S. legislation could push interest rates higher and strengthen the USD.

• This risks increasing import costs for Australian retailers sourcing in USD.

• Recommendations: explore FX tools (Airwallex, Revolut), rethink pricing strategy, and consider reshoring or nearshoring

Lululemon vs Costco: The War on Dupes:

• Lululemon sues Costco for copying its Align leggings and promoting them as dupes.

• Implications for premium and luxury brands trying to protect their image.

• Mal calls on brands to protect IP, build community, and highlight what makes their product really different.

PLUS: Online Retailer Conference is around the corner!

Mal will be hosting the NORA stage at ORC Sydney, July 23–24. Use the code MalChia for a free show floor pass.

https://www.onlineretailer.com/en-gb/register.html?cat=retailer&ct=U2FsdGVkX19lx0W5QMdQQ70KvdPKNrC74XrRblRub4nMH0x7/8QIRGidKg+LF5Yk

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Website: malchia.com

In Episode 94, Mal Chia and Alex Ross dive into a jam-packed week for Australian retail. Recording on the road, Mal and Alex cover:

💎 Billionaire Bling & Excess Culture — What Jeff Bezos’ $150M wedding says about the rise of flashy consumerism, the return of “swaggy and braggy” style, and its impact on luxury retail and jewellery trends.

🛍 Fit Tech & Virtual Try-Ons — Google’s standalone “Doppl” app and the future of virtual fitting, plus why solutions like MagicFit may offer better accuracy for apparel.

🎀 Labubu's Everywhere — From Uniqlo partnerships to airport sightings, why Labooboo’s rise keeps accelerating.

🍔 Barbie Cafés & Third Spaces — Barbie’s café concept lands in Melbourne, alongside trends like Netflix’s planned IRL stores and laundromat-cafés as new consumer hubs.

🏠 Omnichannel in Action — What retailers can learn from Kookai x Hawthorn’s merch collab and the success of brands blurring online and offline.

This episode explores how popular culture and retail continue to collide — and what smart retailers can do to stay relevant.

Is EOFY being overshadowed by Prime Day? And what does a $100 million penalty say about retail culture?

In this week’s episode, Mal Chia and Alex Ross unpack the headlines that are reshaping Australian retail—from Amazon’s 4-day Prime Day blitz to the fallout at Optus and bold acquisition plays closer to home.

🔍 This Week’s Topics

• Amazon Prime Day expands to 4 days

  What Aussie retailers can learn from the US giant’s precision-timed sales machine—and why LeBron is now the face of Prime.

• Optus fined $100 million

  A damning ruling for targeting vulnerable customers. Mal breaks down what this says about leadership, accountability, and the ethics of sales culture.

• DigiDirect buys M-Wave

  Another under-the-radar acquisition from the camera and tech retailer. What’s the strategy here—and how does it differ from Mosaic’s model?

• AMART and Freedom form a $1B furniture empire

  More PE-backed consolidation. But will it work? And what lessons does retail need to learn from Mosaic’s unraveling?

• The risk and reward of founder content

  Inspired by the Shameless podcast, a look at why founder-led storytelling is dominating—and how burnout, brand-building, and visibility intersect.

💬 Quote of the Week

“You’re either a faceless brand or you’re someone people connect with. Founder content builds trust—but it also doubles the stakes.” – Mal Chia

This week marks a fresh chapter for This Week in Ecommerce as Alex Ross officially joins as co-host! In this packed episode, Mal and Alex dive into three major stories shaping retail right now:

1. The ACCC Cracks Down: Major Aussie retailers like Michael Hill and Hairhouse have been penalised for misleading Black Friday discounts. What this means for trust, and how brands should rethink their promotional strategies.

2. The Fall (and Pivot) of Alchemy Brands: With the closure of National Geographic stores and the pivot toward Lego and General Pants, Mal and Alex explore the deeper strategy behind brand licensing and experiential retail.

3. The Rise of Labubu: From viral TikToks to $250K plush toys, the hosts dissect the Labubu phenomenon and how novelty, scarcity, and celebrity seeding are fueling a new wave of “dopamine shopping.”

Key Takeaways:

• Why urgency-based EOFY offers are working—and where brands get it wrong.

• The cost of consumer mistrust and why compliance is non-negotiable heading into Black Friday.

• What the closure of NG stores tells us about brand reach, licensing power, and cultural relevance.

• How Labooboo and fruit charms are driving a “lipstick effect” resurgence in novelty shopping.

It’s the end of an era—and the start of a brand new one. In his final solo episode before bringing in a sharp-tongued co-host, Mal Chia unpacks a wild week in ecommerce. Toys R Us collapses again, TikTok Shop is turning into a digital dollar store, and Aussie wine producers are literally ripping out their vines. Brutal. But wait—there’s hope. With Nike teaming up with Lego and local legends like Robern Menz punching above their weight, not all is lost in the war for cultural relevance.

In this jam-packed episode:

• The third (and likely final) fall of Toys R Us—why nostalgia isn’t enough anymore

• TikTok Shop’s reality check: low spend, high returns, and bargain basement chaos

• Australia’s wine glut and why red grapes are being bulldozed from Barossa to the border

• How Robern Menz and Lego are winning by licensing culture, not just pushing product

• The one metric your next brand collab must hit—or don’t bother

It’s a world where products don’t just need margin—they need meaning. And this week proves it.

Episode 90 hits hard. While insolvencies shake Australia’s retail scene—with big names like Jeanswest and Mosaic Brands biting the dust—Mal breaks down what’s really causing the collapse: strategic debt, digital irrelevance, and a dangerous addiction to discounting.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Across the Pacific, e.l.f. Cosmetics just dropped a jaw-dropping $1B on Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand. Why? Because cultural capital and community beat catalogue codes and clearance bins.

In this episode, Mal unpacks:

• Why Australia’s retail mid-market is cracking under the pressure

• The slow fade of Jeanswest and what it teaches us about brand neglect

• What e.l.f. really bought with $1B—and why Rhode’s audience-first model is the future

• Tactical moves every founder and operator must make now to survive (and thrive)

It’s not about being everywhere. It’s about mattering somewhere.

This week, Mal brings the fire from Retail Fest week with a jam-packed episode that swings from sober reflection to tech fascination and geopolitical trade chaos. Kicking off with a poignant nod to National Sorry Day and the importance of Indigenous partnerships in business, we quickly shift gears to tackle:

• 🔥 Donald Trump’s new tariff threats and why Apple and Walmart are in his sights (hint: it’s not pretty)

• 📱 The real cost of making iPhones in America – and the wild $3,500 prediction

• 🇨🇳 Chinese ecommerce giants flood into Australia, changing the retail game overnight

• 💡 Why Aussie retailers must stop competing on price and double down on value

• 🕶️ Google’s wearable reboot: teaming up with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to give AR glasses another shot

• 📈 What AI glasses mean for customer experience, privacy, and the future of in-store shopping

Whether you’re prepping for EOFY sales or just trying to stay sane amidst global disruption, Mal’s got your back. It’s one of those episodes where politics, tech, and retail collide—and it’s unmissable.

Mal’s back from Singapore and just in time to break down one of the juiciest weeks in retail. With the RBA announcing a second interest rate cut for 2025, you might be tempted to pop some bubbly—but hold the cork. This episode explores what the rate drop really means for consumers, ecommerce brands, and the struggling fashion sector. Mal also unpacks the collapse of cult favourites like SurfStitch and Collette by Collette Heyman, and why private equity is moving from mid-market fashion to high-margin, high-fandom concepts like Lego stores.

And in a final twist, Google just might be coming for Shopify’s lunch—with AI-powered virtual try-ons and agentic checkouts, the search giant is testing a seamless end-to-end shopping experience that could shake up D2C.

Key highlights:

• What the RBA’s rate cut actually means for ecommerce (spoiler: don’t bank on a boom)

• Why fashion brands are folding—and what Lego can teach us about retail resilience

• Mal’s no-BS guide to end-of-financial-year sales (RIP sitewide discounts)

• Google’s AI shopping assistant and the threat to merchant-owned ecommerce

• The big question: is the link between consumer confidence and interest rates broken?

Reporting from the floor of eTail Asia in Singapore, Mal brings a fast-paced episode packed with big headlines and even bigger opportunities. With Trump scaling back tariffs, Aussie exporters breathe a little easier—though not for long. Meanwhile, SurfStitch quietly bows out, and Zero Co confirms its closure, ending two chapters in local ecommerce.

Add to that a tightening capital market as Shopify Capital and Wayflyer start pulling back on lending, and it’s clear the ecommerce landscape is shifting again. But it’s not all doom and gloom—Mal shares fresh insights from Asia, where Australian brands are winning hearts (and carts).

In this episode:

• Trump’s tariff reversal: What 30% now means for Aussie-made-in-China exports

• SurfStitch’s silent shutdown and Zero Co’s graceful exit

• Revenue-based lending gets stricter—what it means for growth capital

• How brand Australia is seen in Singapore—and the untapped wholesale potential

• Why omnichannel is non-negotiable in Asia

• Top tips for entering new markets: visibility, partnerships, and avoiding the “set and forget” trap

If you're looking at new markets or new capital, this one’s a must-listen.

Follow MalLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malchia/Website: malchia.com

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This week, Mal recaps the political mood post-election and what it really means for ecommerce (spoiler: not much), before diving headfirst into a tidal wave of AI drama, market shifts, and unexpected wins for Aussie brands.

Meta’s “infinite creative” vision gets both praise and a hard side-eye, Microsoft leapfrogs Apple in value, and Australia Post drops some juicy news that could reopen the US market for local sellers. Big week? Massive.

In this episode:

• Why the federal election probably won’t move the needle much for retail

• Microsoft overtakes Apple—and how tariffs exposed Cupertino’s soft spot

• Meta’s AI power play: exciting, risky, or both?

• Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, Copilot wins, and that Zuckerberg vision of the future

• Australia Post’s tariff clarification: huge news for cross-border ecommerce

• Why now might be the right time to push back into the US market

A wild week of shifts, shocks, and sausage rolls. Buckle up.

Follow Mal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malchia/

Website: malchia.com

Follow Ecom Nation

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecom-nation/

Website: ecomnation.com.au