Online Apparel Market Set to Nearly Double by 2033 — Global Industry Forecast

📊 The global online apparel market is projected to reach $1.37 trillion by 2033.

Major players include Amazon, Alibaba, JD.com, and ASOS.
Growth drivers:
Rising popularity of online shopping
Mobile app adoption and personalized experiences
New sales formats: live shopping, video demos, AR try-ons

💡 Implications for buyers and sellers:
Online platforms will become the primary channel for apparel purchases.
Sellers need to quickly adapt to new tools and interactive formats.
Opportunities for international expansion exist even for small businesses.

The Apple founding document will be auctioned off for $2-4 million.

Christie's will auction off the three-page 1976 partnership contract that launched Apple Computer. The auction will take place on January 23, 2026.

⏪The document is estimated to be worth $2-4 million, making it the most valuable artifact in the company's history.⏩

The contract was signed by Steve Jobs (with a 45% share), Steve Wozniak (45%), and Ron Wayne (10%). A few days later, Wayne withdrew from the company and sold his share for \$800.

➡️ Both documents will be auctioned as a single lot: the original agreement to found Apple and the agreement to let Wayne go.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has fenced off his Beverly Hills villa with a $165 million fence.

The fence is taller than the legal limit in Los Angeles, which requires that the fence in front of a house be no taller than 1 meter. Instead of demolishing the fence, Bezos pays a $12,000 annual fine, which allows him to keep the fence in place.

🔹 Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows.

The ABC of systems thinking for life and business. Whether it's about the environment, the oil market, or a private company, it's impossible to solve problems without systems thinking.

The №1 book on Amazon in the "Systems Theory" category.

Amazon reduces commissions for sellers in Europe — a response to pressure from Shein and Temu

Amazon announced a major revision of commissions for European sellers.

From December 15, the platform will reduce rates for clothing and accessories:
📍from 7% to 5% for goods up to €15/£15,
📍from 15% to 10% for goods €15-20.

The reductions will also affect fulfillment fees, which will decrease by an average of €0.32 per package. This will strengthen Amazon's position in the competition with Chinese marketplaces such as Shein and Temu, which are actively increasing their market share in the EU.

For sellers, this is an opportunity to reduce costs, while for customers, it is a chance to maintain low prices for popular categories.

Marketplace EBay has registered a trademark in Russia.

Marketplace eBay, which has essentially suspended operations in Russia, has registered a trademark in the country.

According to the documents, the application was submitted last fall. In December 2025, it was registered until 2034. The copyright holder is the American company eBay Inc.

In 2022, eBay suspended accepting orders from customers in Russia and Ukraine due to logistical delays.

Zuckerberg is no longer the youngest billionaire in history.

Forbes released analytics for the 15th anniversary of the 30 Under 30 ranking. The main sensation is that Mark Zuckerberg's record has been broken (he earned his first billion at the age of 23, but now the 22-year-old founders of the AI startup Mercor have become the new record holders).

Interestingly, out of the 46 billionaires in the ranking, 19 have only achieved this status this year (partly due to the AI boom). The top list also includes the founders of the code editor Cursor (aged 25-26) and the founder of Polymarket, Shane Coplan.

Throughout the list's history, only three non-IT-related participants have managed to reach a billion-dollar fortune: Rihanna, LeBron James, and Taylor Swift.

Temu has entered the top 5 of German marketplaces and is scaring European retailers.

At the end of the year, Temu became one of the fastest-growing marketplaces in Europe and entered the top 5 of the largest platforms in Germany.
Growth is 3-4 times per year.

For classic retail, this is a wake-up call:
📍 it is becoming more difficult to push prices
📍 the middle business is losing its share
📍 only those who can scale and automate win

Google will release smart glasses with AI in 2026.

In development is at once several models based on the Android XR operating system.

Some glasses will be "screenless" - only with cameras and speakers for communication with the assistant Gemini. Another version will receive built-in displays in the lenses. Also showed the concept of Project Aura - wired glasses that can replace a work monitor or home theater.

To make the gadget look stylish instead of like a bulky helmet, the tech giant has involved fashion brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker in the development. The latter has already received $75 million in development investments.

Amazon: AI + Quick Commerce = A New Race.

Today Amazon officially confirmed: the growth in demand for quick commerce (delivery within 10-30 minutes) is enormous, and AI is becoming its core.

What Amazon is doing right now:
🔹 Training models to forecast demand a quarter in advance,
🔹 Optimizing routes and warehouse inventory using AI algorithms,
🔹 Improves marketplace recommendations using new ML models,
🔹 Automates seller workflows, from analytics to product displays.

😨 Shein in court over illegal products — hearings until Dec 19

French authorities require Shein to strengthen filters for age-restricted and prohibited products after inspections. Shein claims the requirements are incorrect as the platform has already paused its marketplace in France.

OpenAI has announced the launch date for ChatGPT's "adult mode."

According to Fiji Simo, the top manager, the option will debut in the first quarter of 2026.

The company is currently testing a model that can accurately distinguish between teenagers and adult users, allowing it to automatically apply the appropriate filters and avoid blocking content unnecessarily.

Recognition algorithms are already being tested in several countries: the neural network must learn to distinguish minors without error before granting access to content.

The American Dictionary has chosen the main concept of the outgoing year.

It was the term Slop ("slop"), which describes low-quality content generated in huge quantities by neural networks.

Linguists note that historically, this was the name given to liquid mud or slop. In 2025, the word took on a new meaning: it became a derogatory term for a stream of absurd AI videos, fake news, and "crooked" images.

Instead of cash: one in two Zomers don't mind getting crypto as a gift

Can crypto replace cash as a holiday gift? According to a survey by Visa and Morning Consult, almost one in two Gen Zers believe that it can.

Among all respondents (about 1,000 adult Americans) 28% of respondents said they wouldn't mind receiving a cryptocurrency gift. Among Generation Z, 45% would like to receive cryptocurrency. Among millennials, 34% would like to receive cryptocurrency, while 24% of Xers and 17% of baby boomers would like to receive cryptocurrency.

The survey was conducted in mid-October. Since then, the value of Bitcoin has decreased by 20%, according to Reuters. However, for young buyers looking to purchase cryptocurrency during a downturn, this only increases the appeal of cryptocurrency as an investment tool.

Elon Musk became the first person in history with a fortune of $600 billion

The founder of Tesla and SpaceX set an absolute financial record. According to Forbes, his capital reached $677 billion.

A sharp jump occurred due to the revaluation of SpaceX. In early December, the company announced a stock sale that valued the business at $800 billion, double what investors had estimated in August. Since Musk owns about 42% of the company, his personal wealth instantly increased by $168 billion.

Just ask Google.

Hollywood actress Sarah Jessica Parker stars in Google's new ad, Shop the Vibe. The service uses AI technology to offer a virtual shopping experience with try-on features.

If in 2025, travelers were looking to take a break from their gadgets and social media, 2026 promises to be the year to tune in to your body, your brain, and your needs, according to the Daily Mail.

The publication cites a forecast by British Airways Holidays and the Globetender agency, which predicted which trends will be popular in the travel industry next year. One of the trends is vintage shopping.

In a world of marketplaces and cheap items, more and more travelers are looking for something unique. They are searching for authentic souvenirs, pre-digital era items, and visiting flea markets, second-hand stores, and retro shops. The top destinations for such shopping tours include the United States, France, and Japan, where you can find entire retro neighborhoods and immerse yourself in history.

Nvidia has confirmed plans to establish a joint factory with Samsung and an AI cluster with Hyundai, solidifying its status as a key player in the technology industry.

The CEO of NVIDIA has become the face of the technology industry in the past year, as the company became the first in history to reach a capitalization of $5 trillion under his leadership, thanks to deals with Samsung, Hyundai, and investments in Nokia.

However, the most talked-about episode was undoubtedly his informal dinner with the heads of Samsung and Hyundai, Lee Jae-yong and Jung E-in, at Kkanbu Chicken.

The Chinese marketplace was threatened with a 3-month ban on trading in France.

The French Ministry of Finance suspended Shein in early November for selling "child-like sex dolls." The Paris Court deemed the suspension of Shein's operations "inappropriate" and "unjustified" and overturned the Ministry of Finance's decision.

The court also ruled that Shein cannot sell sexual and pornographic products until it implements a robust age verification process. In response, the platform has pledged to remove such products from its inventory.

The French government intends to file an appeal. The Shein scandal occurred on the eve of the launch of its first physical store in Paris. The opening caused a controversial reaction among local residents. Opponents of Shein staged pickets and complained that the Chinese brand was occupying space in the country's main department store, BHV Marais, displacing local companies.