E-commerce Morning Brief: Indonesia to Roll Out Platform-Mandated Seller Income Tax Collection One Month Early; Cainiao Unveils Guangzhou’s First Climbing Robot-Powered Warehouse

Item 1: Indonesia to advance rollout of e-commerce platform-collected seller income tax

As of September 18, Indonesia will require e-commerce platforms to collect and remit income tax on behalf of sellers starting October 1, one month ahead of the previously announced November implementation date. The country’s tax chief stated the collection system is fully operational, with covered platforms including TikTok-owned Tokopedia, Sea Group’s Shopee, and Alibaba-backed Lazada. The policy reverses a delay imposed by the former finance minister over concerns about dampening consumer spending, and was revived this week following senior leadership changes at the Ministry of Finance. Indonesia’s e-commerce market is projected to double from $71 billion in 2025 to $140 billion by 2030.

Item 2: Cainiao delivers Guangzhou’s first climbing robot-powered warehouse

On September 18, Cainiao announced it has recently delivered Guangzhou’s first next-generation warehouse equipped with its self-developed climbing robots, which triples warehouse space utilization and delivers a sharp increase in order picking efficiency. Launched just five months ago, Cainiao’s proprietary climbing robots have already been deployed in fully operational projects across Dongguan, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, with projects in Spain and the Netherlands currently in the delivery phase. The solution covers both domestic Chinese logistics and European logistics networks, serving sectors including domestic e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce, electronics manufacturing and apparel production.

Item 3: JD.com’s Wine & Spirits Super Category Day posts 30% year-over-year transaction growth

According to data from JD Supermarket, the Wine & Spirits Super Category Day campaign held from 00:00 on September 14 to 24:00 on September 16 recorded a 30% year-on-year increase in total gross merchandise value, with cumulative full-channel exposure exceeding 500 million. On the brand front, Moutai saw transaction value rise 23% year over year, Langjiu jumped 95%, and Gujing Gongjiu surged 140%, with multiple baijiu brands delivering explosive growth during the event.

Item 4: Ant Group’s Afu launches “AI Diet Score” with 100 million egg giveaway

On September 17, Afu, Ant Group’s health-focused AI service, officially launched its “AI Diet Score” feature: users can snap a photo of their meal, and the AI will automatically identify food items, calculate nutritional content and calorie counts, and generate a clear, easy-to-read diet score. As Ant’s dedicated health business unit, Afu also announced it will give away 100 million eggs to drive adoption of daily diet management for household users.

Item 5: Starbucks China store count hits 8,238, with 227 net new openings in fiscal 2026 to date

As of September 17, data from the official Starbucks China Consulting Center website shows that as of September 15, Starbucks China operated a total of 8,238 stores. Since the start of fiscal 2026, the chain has added a net 227 stores, entered 69 new county-level markets, and maintained strong profitability across newly opened locations.

Item 6: Taobao Live launches pre-Double 11 “new product testing competition”

On September 17, Taobao Live announced the launch of its New Product Festival ahead of this year’s Tmall Double 11 shopping festival, rolling out a “validate first, scale later” new product operation model. Brands are placing new products in livestream rooms for stress testing, with real user feedback determining which SKUs will be included in the core Double 11 merchandise lineup. Data shows that 88VIP members contributed more than 60% of new product transactions during the testing period, with average order value 21.6% higher than regular users; in the first 11 days of September, total new product transaction value on Taobao Live rose 76% month over month, while super new products posted over 90% growth.

Item 7: JD Logistics opens first fresh produce cold chain warehouse in Xinjiang, covering northern Xinjiang

On September 17, JD Logistics announced the official launch of its first self-operated fresh produce cold chain warehouse in Xinjiang, located in the Urumqi Logistics Park. The 2,000-square-meter facility has a daily processing capacity of over 4,000 orders. Upon launch, it serves more than 450 delivery routes across northern Xinjiang, enabling same-day delivery of fresh produce for Urumqi, Shihezi, Wujiaqu and Changji, and next-day delivery for Altay, Karamay, Turpan and other areas.

Item 8: Russia seizes control of local Nestle and Auchan operations

Per reports on September 18, Russia has taken control of local operations of Nestle and Auchan, placing relevant shares under temporary management of Lev·Management JSC. The move marks the Kremlin’s largest seizure of foreign corporate assets since 2024, amid rising tensions between Russia and Europe and an increasingly challenging operating environment for international companies in the Russian market.

Item 9: Wildberries accelerates rollout of automated pickup points, smart pickup user base grows over 6x

On September 17, Wildberries announced it is continuing to expand its network of automated pickup points. Since May 2026, the number of users using smart pickup services at these locations has grown more than sixfold. The staff-free model allows consumers to pick up orders by generating a QR code via the mobile app and scanning it at an in-store terminal, applicable for orders with dimensions not exceeding 60×40×40 centimeters and a single-item value no higher than 50,000 rubles. Top categories collected via the service include beauty products, apparel, food and stationery.

Item 10: Shopee to disable core functions on Chile and Colombia sites starting September 22

On September 17, Shopee announced that starting September 22, 2026 (Beijing Time), it will officially shut down multiple core seller functions on its Chile and Colombia platforms. At that time, sellers will no longer be able to access order details via OpenAPI, nor modify logistics channels or print shipping documents via the Logistics OpenAPI. Cross-border sellers are advised to adjust their local site operations and fulfillment arrangements in advance.

Item 11: Share of Asia-Europe container ships transiting Suez Canal rebounds to over 25%

As reported by Bloomberg on September 18, the share of container ships on Asia-Europe routes transiting the Suez Canal has rebounded to just over 25% from 17% in early August, as carriers gradually shift back to the shorter routing. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced the rerouting of four services via the Red Sea, while MSC has also resumed Suez Canal transits on certain routes, though some cargo owners remain concerned over risks of Houthi attacks.

Item 12: EU formally adopts new customs regulations, to impose unified handling fee on cross-border small parcels starting November 1

On September 17, the European Parliament approved the customs reform package in its second reading, following final approval from the Council of the European Union on September 3. Under the new rules, effective November 1, non-EU e-commerce platforms selling goods to EU consumers will be designated as the importer of record, responsible for customs procedures, tariff payment and product compliance, and will be subject to a unified handling fee for cross-border small parcels.

That wraps up today’s morning brief. For more e-commerce insights, stay tuned to Ebrun Audio.

This article was first published on the official Ebrun website