1. Home ›
2. Blog ›
3. This Week In M&A ›
4. This Week in M&A Issue #188

This Week in M&A Issue #188

Namaste!

Today’s trend of the week is “wellness”. 🧘‍♀️

Wellness is becoming a big deal for a lot of people, particularly Gen Z and millennials.

A recent survey found that 84% of U.S. consumers say wellness is a top priority, and it’s easy to see why. With rising stress and burnout, people are looking for ways to feel better. That means more spending on things like fitness apps, wearable tech, massage tools, IV treatments, and even digital wellness platforms.

This growing interest is part of a massive global industry now worth $2 trillion. In the U.S. alone, people spend around $500 billion a year on wellness. And they’re more open to trying new brands than ever before. Shopify saw a 17% jump in first-time health and wellness shoppers since 2022, and a 59% increase in return buyers over the past two years.

Apps for yoga, home workouts, and health tracking are flying off digital shelves. And it’s not just the ladies; men’s personal care is on track to hit $115 billion by 2028. So if you’re an online business owner, now’s the time to jump in. Just don’t forget to stretch first.

Today we have for you:

• Walmart sellers can now use Amazon MCF to fulfill orders
• HubSpot becomes the first CRM to connect with ChatGPT Deep Research

And:

• Is AI killing SEO agencies, or reinventing them?
• Is selling your Amazon FBA business still worth it in 2025?
• Temu’s US decline could open doors for smaller sellers

Alright, let’s dive in.

ecommerce

Walmart now allows sellers on its marketplace to fulfill orders using Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) service, under strict conditions.

As of May 16, 2025, sellers can now tap into Amazon’s robust fulfillment network to process Walmart orders, but only if they follow strict guidelines. Packaging must be neutral, no Amazon logos, and deliveries must avoid using Amazon-branded vehicles. Tracking numbers must be shared only after packages are physically handed over to a non-Amazon carrier.

Walmart’s usual standards still apply: orders must be shipped on time 95% of the time and include valid tracking numbers 99% of the time. Orders not marked as shipped within four days of their expected ship date may be canceled automatically. Fulfillment operations must run five days a week, with order support until at least 11:00 a.m. local time.

Financially, using Amazon MCF comes at a premium. There’s a 5% extra fee added to cover the requirement of blocking Amazon-branded delivery. For example, shipping a 1-pound item priced at $30 using MCF costs about $8.50, while Walmart’s own fulfillment service charges just $3.45 for the same item, nearly $5 cheaper per order.

Historically, Walmart strictly banned the use of Amazon’s fulfillment services, sometimes suspending sellers even for compliant shipments. This change in policy may be in response to Amazon’s own loosening of restrictions around third-party fulfillment, allowing some sellers to use Walmart’s fulfillment services.

For sellers, this means inventory and logistics can be managed more easily across both platforms. Marketing teams can now run campaigns on Amazon and Walmart without needing separate fulfillment systems. It also allows brands to offer consistent delivery times and a better customer experience, no matter where the product is bought.

Overall, this change should make it easier and more profitable for sellers to grow across both marketplaces.

Events

SaaS founders, listen up.

If you’ve ever thought about selling your agency or SaaS for 7 figures, then this is the room you need to be in.

We’re teaming up with GoHighLevel for a no-fluff, all-value event:

🗓️  – SaaSPreneur London
📍  – June 11th
🍻 – Empire Flippers is buying the drinks

Expect 100s of agency owners, SaaS founders & buyers. No boring panels. No fluff. Just sharp entrepreneurs, operators, and buyers, sharing insights, opportunities, and maybe your next big move.

Our CEO, Andy Allaway, will be there too, ready to talk exits, acquisitions, and how to build your business toward a 7-figure exit.

Tickets are moving fast, so get yours now →  https://saaspreneur.gohighlevel.com/live-empire-flippers

Email us once you’ve got your ticket – we’ve got limited 1-on-1 spots to talk strategy with Andy. First come, first serve.

The Opportunity podcast

AI is rapidly transforming SEO. In this episode, Greg is joined by Jerry Chen, Founder of ECF Marketing, to explore what that means for SEO agencies.

Jerry explains how AI tools are automating many low-ticket marketing services, making them cheaper and more commoditized. Agencies that don’t adapt risk falling behind, while those that embrace AI can streamline operations and scale faster.

Looking ahead, Jerry reminds us that it’s only a matter of time until we see the rise of “single-person unicorns”, businesses generating billions in revenue, run by one person with the help of AI agents.

The conversation also dives into the growing value of personal branding. As AI-generated content floods the market, genuine human connection and authenticity will be what sets winning brands apart.

Whether you run an agency or want to stay competitive in a changing landscape, this podcast inteview is packed with valuable insights on the future of SEO and marketing.

AI

HubSpot has launched a new integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, making it the first CRM platform to connect directly to OpenAI’s deep research service. This powerful new connector allows small and mid-sized businesses to run advanced data analysis and extract actionable insights from their customer data, tasks that were once reserved for enterprise-level companies with large data teams.

OpenAI’s Deep Research is designed to handle complex analysis by reviewing large amounts of information. HubSpot’s new connector makes this technology available to everyday business users, allowing marketers, salespeople, and support teams to ask plain-language questions and get detailed answers based on their own CRM data.

For example, a marketer could ask ChatGPT to identify the most effective customer groups and then launch a targeted campaign, all from within HubSpot. A support team might analyze seasonal patterns in customer requests and use the insights to manage staffing and automate ticket responses.

This integration simplifies work by reducing the need to switch between apps or manually pull reports. According to HubSpot, 75% of its users already use ChatGPT, so adding this connector helps them make even better use of AI in their daily operations.

For smaller businesses, this is especially valuable. Instead of needing technical skills or extra employees, teams can now do in-depth research and make data-driven decisions quickly and easily.

This launch follows HubSpot’s earlier release of a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which lets its CRM connect with other AI models like Anthropic’s Claude. Together, these tools give small businesses access to the kind of advanced analytics that were once only possible for large enterprises.

The HubSpot deep research connector is now available to all users with a paid ChatGPT subscription. To get started, admins simply enable the connector in ChatGPT, select HubSpot as a data source, and sign in to begin exploring insights.

Read All About It!

💻 Amazon seller resource directory: best software & tools for selling on Amazon

🧍‍♂️ Building a 6-figure marketing agency with 0 employees: using AI to scale

💡 Content business ideas you can start this weekend with $0: build with purpose

📣 The rise of microentrepreneurs: making money without big followings

YouTube

Data-Backed Truth about the State of Amazon FBA Today

If there’s one thing sellers know, it’s that the Amazon FBA market changes rapidly. From highs like the Covid boom to the ensuing aggregator crash.

But where does the market stand today? Is it recovering, stagnating, or evolving into something new?

In this video, Greg dives into real data from our marketplace to compare the state of FBA in 2023 vs. 2024, revealing trends, shifts in sales multiples, and what it all means for buyers and sellers in 2025.

• Are FBA businesses getting more or less profitable?
• Did valuations go up or down?
• Is now a smart time to buy or sell?

If you want the answers to these burning questions, check out the video.

Google Search

Temu, the Chinese e-commerce platform known for ultra-low prices, has seen a steep decline in its U.S. user base, losing 48% of its daily users in May. This drop followed the end of the de minimis rule on May 2, which had allowed goods under $800 to enter the U.S. without tariffs. Temu had relied heavily on this rule to sell cheap goods directly from China, avoiding import taxes.

In response, Temu’s parent company, PDD Holdings, is reworking its operations. The platform is now encouraging merchants to store inventory in U.S.-based warehouses. This change, referred to as a “half-custody” model, lets factories in China ship in bulk to the U.S, where Temu acts as a marketplace rather than directly handling inventory. The goal is to reduce shipping delays and cushion the impact of new tariffs on prices.

Temu has also drastically reduced its paid advertising in the U.S., leading to an 80% drop in paid search traffic. This makes it harder to attract new customers. This is a pattern that e-commerce sellers have seen many times before. Large platforms push aggressively to gain market share, but struggle to sustain growth when advertising costs rise or margins shrink.

The financial impact of these changes has been significant. PDD Holdings recently reported a 38% year-over-year drop in profits, driven in part by these policy changes.

While this is bad news for Temu, it could create new opportunities for smaller e-commerce sellers who previously struggled to compete with Temu’s super-low prices and massive ad spend.