Falling Ocean Rates, Temu Turkey Pause, and Google Ads Experiment Center: A Cross-Border DTC Ops Playbook

Daily Cross-Border E-Commerce Briefing | January 26, 2026 (Covering Jan 24–26 Releases)

1. Ocean Freight Keeps Getting Cheaper: Drewry WCI Falls 10% for a Second Week (Pricing + Delivery Promises Need a Refresh)

• The Drewry World Container Index (WCI) dropped another 10% to roughly $2,212 per 40-foot container, marking the second straight week of declines. For Shopify and WooCommerce sellers shipping internationally, falling spot rates can quickly change your real landed cost—especially if your product margins are thin or you sell “free shipping” bundles. Even if you use simple one-piece dropshipping workflows, freight market direction still matters because upstream linehaul costs can flow into supplier shipping quotes and carrier surcharges, especially during peak lanes (Transpacific and Asia–Europe are highlighted as key drivers).
  
  What to do with this trend: revisit your shipping price tables and delivery promises (PDP/checkout messaging), and avoid locking aggressive “fast delivery” claims unless your supplier can consistently dispatch on time. If your store is testing new product ideas via dropshipping, this is also a good window to A/B test shipping thresholds (e.g., “free shipping over $X”) because your cost baseline is improving and you can measure conversion lift without destroying margin.
  Source: Container News, Published on: January 24, 2026

2. Temu Halts Cross-Border Sales in Türkiye After Regulatory Inspection (Market Access Risk Is Rising)

• Temu reportedly suspended all international (cross-border) product sales into Türkiye, shifting the marketplace to show only listings from local Turkish sellers. The change followed an on-site inspection by Türkiye’s Competition Authority and comes amid broader scrutiny of imported low-value parcels. For cross-border sellers, Türkiye is a useful signal market: regulators are increasingly focused on product safety, consumer protection, customs procedures, and platform compliance—meaning “traffic is not the same as permission to sell.”
  
  If you run a lean dropshipping model, this kind of policy shift can instantly break ad funnels and fulfillment expectations for a target country. Practical steps: (1) keep a “country risk checklist” before scaling paid traffic (customs thresholds, restricted categories, labeling rules, return/refund expectations), (2) avoid relying on a single platform-driven demand source, and (3) ensure your product claims and materials are defensible (ingredients, safety certifications, compliance language) to reduce enforcement risk. Even when you sell only on your own site, platform or regulatory moves can reshape consumer expectations and shipping outcomes.
  Source: Türkiye Today, Published on: January 24, 2026

3. Amazon Cuts SAFE-T Claim Filing Window to 30 Days (Seller-Fulfilled Returns Need Faster Ops)

• Amazon is reducing the SAFE-T claim filing window for US seller-fulfilled orders from 60 days to 30 days (effective February 16, 2026). The 30-day clock generally starts from either the return delivery scan or the refund date (whichever comes later), with special timing for lost shipments. For merchants, this is a workflow warning: you need tighter routines for inspecting returns, documenting issues, and filing claims quickly—because delays become unrecoverable losses.
  
  Even if you mainly sell on Shopify/WooCommerce, Amazon’s operational direction is still relevant: marketplaces often set consumer expectations for “instant refunds,” and payment disputes can happen faster than you think. Dropshipping sellers should treat this as an ops playbook reminder: keep proof-of-fulfillment artifacts organized (order screenshots, shipping labels, tracking scans, supplier dispatch confirmations), set a weekly “returns audit” routine, and create a simple internal SLA for investigating refund exceptions. Speed and documentation are your margin protection when policies tighten.
  Source: EcommerceBytes, Published on: January 24, 2026

4. Google Ads Adds Beta for Campaign Mix Experiments (Better Budget Decisions Across Search + Shopping + PMax)

• Google Ads is preparing a beta launch for Campaign Mix Experiments, designed to compare strategies across multiple campaign types within one experimental framework. That includes mixing Search, Shopping, Performance Max (PMax), Demand Gen, Video, App campaigns, and more—so advertisers can run side-by-side “arms” and evaluate incremental performance rather than guessing based on blended attribution.
  
  For independent-store growth, this matters because many brands overspend on the wrong blend: they scale PMax or Shopping without understanding whether Search, creator-led traffic, or remarketing is driving the incremental lift. If you run a dropshipping catalog or frequently test products, campaign-mix testing is especially useful: you can validate whether new products should be pushed via Shopping-first (feed strength) or Search-first (intent keywords), and you can measure the real ROI impact before committing budget. The biggest win is not “more ads”—it’s faster learning cycles with clearer incrementality.
  Source: PPC News Feed, Published on: January 24, 2026

5. Google Ads Launches a New Experiment Center (Centralized Hub for Tests + Lift Studies)

• Google introduced a new help page for the Experiment Center—positioning it as a centralized dashboard that combines Experiments and Lift Studies. In practice, this makes it easier to manage testing workflows (bidding, targeting, creative assets) and to measure impact through different lift methodologies (brand lift, search lift, conversion lift). For Shopify and WooCommerce stores, anything that reduces experiment setup friction is a direct advantage—because consistent testing is how you outperform competitors with bigger budgets.
  
  If you’re scaling paid traffic with a flexible product strategy (including dropshipping tests), use this change to build a repeatable “weekly experiment cadence.” Examples: test price points (landing page pricing vs. bundle discounts), test product-page messaging (delivery promises, guarantees, reviews placement), and test creative angles (problem-solution vs. gift-ready). A better experiment workflow helps you stop “optimizing by feeling” and start optimizing by measurable lift.
  Source: PPC News Feed, Published on: January 25, 2026

6. Performance Max Gets “Your Data Exclusions” (Cleaner Prospecting vs. Remarketing Control)

• Google Ads added expanded “your data exclusions” options for Performance Max, allowing advertisers to exclude Website Visitor lists and Customer Match lists—meaning you can more directly control whether PMax acts like a prospecting engine or leans into remarketing. This is an important lever for e-commerce because blended PMax often over-attributes to remarketing, making you think scaling is profitable when you’re actually just paying to re-capture customers who would have purchased anyway.
  
  For independent-store sellers, the practical value is measurement clarity. If you’re running dropshipping tests, you need honest signals fast: exclude past purchasers or recent site visitors in certain tests to see whether PMax can find new buyers at a sustainable CPA. Then compare results to a “remarketing-heavy” version. Cleaner separation helps you avoid scaling a campaign that only works when it’s recycling warm audiences.
  Source: PPC News Feed, Published on: January 25, 2026

7. Google Moves Logo Settings in Merchant Center Next (Brand Consistency Impacts Shopping CTR)

• Google relocated logo management in Merchant Center Next. Logos are no longer found under Business Info; they now live under Marketing → Brand → Logo, and access may require Admin/Super Admin roles. This sounds small, but it’s operationally important: Shopping placements are increasingly brand-forward, and inconsistent or missing branding can reduce trust, click-through rate, and perceived legitimacy—especially for new stores competing against established brands.
  
  If you run a one-piece dropshipping store, brand trust is your biggest conversion lever (because shoppers may not recognize your name). Treat this update as a reminder to lock down brand assets: consistent logo, favicon, product imagery style, and store policy pages. Also confirm the correct teammates have access to Merchant Center branding settings so changes don’t stall during high-traffic periods or seasonal promotions.
  Source: PPC News Feed, Published on: January 25, 2026

8. PayPal Expands “Agentic Commerce” by Acquiring Cymbio (Catalog Visibility in AI Shopping Surfaces)

• PayPal agreed to acquire Cymbio, a platform designed to help merchants sell products across AI chatbot surfaces used for product discovery. The deal supports PayPal’s push to help merchants make catalogs more discoverable via AI-driven channels while maintaining control over brand visibility and customer relationships. As AI-assisted shopping grows, product data quality (titles, attributes, variants, pricing, shipping times) becomes even more critical—because agents will recommend products based on structured signals and reliability, not just ad budgets.
  
  For Shopify/WooCommerce sellers, the practical takeaway is: treat your catalog like a “machine-readable storefront.” Standardize product titles, clarify variant naming, add accurate specs, and keep shipping/handling promises realistic. Dropshipping sellers should be extra careful here—because inconsistent dispatch times or mismatched product details will create refunds and disputes. Better catalog hygiene improves not only AI discoverability, but also conversion rate, Shopping feed performance, and customer trust.
  Source: The Edge Malaysia, Published on: January 26, 2026