Ctrl+V won't win these markets

Why winning playbooks in one market can flop in another. Quick commerce, ecommerce enablers, and pizza all learn Ctrl+V doesn't always work.

Read from your browser Sunday Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's Sunday newsletter, your weekend brief on the biggest moves in Asia's tech and startup world. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS Peter Cowan on the limits of Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V Quick commerce takes on the town A new Indian recipe for Gopizza Hello Betamax, When you read this, Spain and Argentina will be just days away from the World Cup final. Both made it this far playing football that's distinctly their own, neither trying to copy a more fashionable style that just wouldn't fit their skills. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V don't work on the pitch and often don't work in business either. This week's top stories are a reminder of that. Take my colleague Samreen's article on quick commerce, for example. In India, 10-minute deliveries - the winning formula in Bengaluru or Delhi - isn't a differentiator in smaller towns where local shops already deliver in 20 minutes. Or take a look at Jofie's piece on ecommerce enablers' changing role in Southeast Asia, where the old one-size-fits-all bundle no longer cuts it, forcing a rebuild around what actually drives profitability for each brand. Finally, you might think of pizza as the most universal concept. Miguel's exploration into Gopizza's pivot to India shows that this isn't always the case. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V doesn't ship. Peter Cowan, engagement editor EDITOR'S PICKS 1️⃣ Math of the town: Can quick commerce work outside big cities? While India has a quick commerce market worth some US$12 billion, growth is slowing. The solution? Expanding to Tier 2 cities and towns, according to players like BazaarNow. The same shift is happening in Southeast Asia, but operating the same model with razor-thin margins in smaller markets looks fraught. Interestingly, this could require companies that for years have relied on "partner drivers" and gig labor to actually hire full-time drivers. 2️⃣ Rising fees are changing the role of SEA ecommerce enablers Southeast Asia's ecommerce enablers built their business on marketplace store management, but brands are less willing to pay for that today. To grow revenue, enablers are shifting into higher-value, brand-specific services like analytics, fulfillment, and live commerce. 3️⃣ Gopizza cools on Singapore, fires up its India ambitions After aggressively expanding across Asia, tech-enabled pizza chain Gopizza has scaled back in Singapore - where rent and labor costs are steep - to focus on India. There, it's launching full-service restaurants and new food concepts that likely wouldn't work elsewhere. SHORT CUTS 1️⃣ Penny for your thoughts, PayPal? Remember when PayPal was the go-to way to send money online? Now, it's facing a takeover offer from what was once a smaller competitor, Stripe, and a private equity firm, Advent. The bid values PayPal at US$53 billion, quite a dramatic drop from its peak valuation of US$340 billion in 2021. PayPal's board is reportedly unimpressed by the offer, but it just goes to show how quickly you can go from giant incumbent to just another acquisition target. 2️⃣ Deal-hungry Speaking of blockbuster acquisitions, Uber has ended a long will-they-won't-they story by acquiring food delivery company Delivery Hero. The deal is reportedly worth US$14.8 billion and will see Uber take over the assets of Delivery Hero subsidiary Foodpanda in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. This also closes a chapter in Southeast Asia's delivery wars, replacing Grab's longtime rival Delivery Hero with a new owner whose ambitions for the region remain unclear. 3️⃣ Logging off South Korea is the latest country to mull age restrictions for social media, following the lead of countries including Australia, the UK, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Would we all be happier without access to endless scroll and vertical videos? At the time of writing, I'm hours away from boarding an eight-hour flight, and what I'm most excited about is not having WiFi, so you be the judge. ONE VISUAL STORY YOU SHOULDN'T MISS Speed of the essence for Indian quick commerce players Quick commerce players in India moving into Tier 2 cities and towns is a stark reminder that ecommerce is far from blue ocean territory in the country. Our funding data is another reminder. Funding inflows into the sector have steadily dropped over the past five years, indicating that investors think the smart bets are elsewhere. Time may be running out for quick commerce players to make their mark - unless they move fast. WEEKEND DEEP DIVE Skill nostalgia Hopefully AI hasn't taken your job yet, but there's a good chance it might have taken some of the joy from your work. This Aeon essay links the modern obsession of working with our hands for fun (think baking and pottery) to a long history of "skill nostalgia," a longing for the methods and tools of the past. This phenomenon is only speeding up as AI takes over more and more of what humans used to do. Skill nostalgia can also turn nasty (make America knit again, anyone?) or be redirected into a real standard for what meaningful work should look like. This piece is a sharper lens on the future-of-work conversation, and goes beyond the usual "AI will take your job" hand-wringing. As for me, I don't exactly pine for the days when writing at night involved quills and candlelight, but it would be nice not to have an inbox inundated with AI slop masquerading as op-ed pitches. SHOWCASE YOUR FUNCTIONAL AI PRODUCTS Move beyond the pitch deck to production reality Do you have a functional AI solution built for more than just a slide deck? That belongs in the AI Showcase Zone of Tech in Asia Conference 2026. We are curating a space where Asia's leading organizations come to see tangible tech in action. This is your chance to move from ideation to deployment by demoing your real-world builds directly to decision-makers. Every spot is vetted for technical relevance and hands-on interactivity to ensure that we're bridging the execution gap. Stop pitching your potential and start proving your impact to 1,500 enterprise leaders today. Apply for the AI Showcase Zone here. 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