E-commerce 2026 Hypotheses, Black Week, TikTok Shop & Accio

Kassenzone special. A reality check of the latest retail topics and predictions for the new year

With Black Week under way, Alex and Karo take a critical look at major discount campaigns such as Black Friday. They discuss why these events often no longer bring in the revenue retailers hope for and instead mainly put pressure on margins and cause high acquisition costs. Could trade-in campaigns become the revenue driver of Black Week in 2026?

They also cover the changes in e-commerce driven by Chinese platforms such as Shein, SheGlam, Temu and TikTok Shop. Karo and Alex discuss the flattening growth forecast for 2026, shifting consumer trends and live shopping formats. Finally, they look at the new sourcing platform Accio, which connects to Alibaba.com via ChatGPT and enables fast product research and supplier contacts.

An overview of the conversation

1. 2:36 A critical look at Black Week
2. 12:07 Changing consumer behavior
3. 15:33 China's influence on the market
4. 28:32 The future of retail models
5. 30:29 Shein, Temu & TikTok Shop: The development of Chinese platforms
6. 47:38 Accio as a new sourcing platform

Accio user interface.

Addressing margin pressure with tech excellence and AI

The sustained margin pressure of Black Week and the rapid expansion rate of Asian marketplaces such as TikTok Shop and Temu are putting local retailers under massive pressure. When classic sales levers no longer work, the digital transformation of business models becomes a real question of survival. This is exactly where we come in as digital consultants. In order to keep pace with the high dynamics of the market, companies must modernize their digital infrastructure. Through consistent tech stack optimization and smart vendor configuration (for example through targeted marketing automation implementation or individual data integrations), we build highly flexible and scalable systems with which retailers can react immediately and, above all, with performance to changing consumer trends.

At the same time, innovations such as the new Alibaba sourcing app Accio illustrate how drastically artificial intelligence is revolutionizing traditional procurement and trading processes in a very short time. If you want to remain competitive here, you need a targeted AI implementation in companies that goes beyond mere experiments and delivers real business impact. From well-founded AI strategy consulting to tangible process automation with AI, we support our customers end-to-end in their AI Transformation. We identify and implement use cases that fit smoothly into existing system landscapes and measurably accelerate operational processes, so that modern technology in retail does not become an end in itself, but a decisive value-added lever.