Arjan van Oosterhout has been contributing to Ecommerce News Europe since the spring of 2023. He writes news articles for the website on a freelance basis.
Arjan is an experienced journalist in the field of ecommerce. After his student days in Utrecht, he began his career in 2004 at the South African newspaper, the Cape Argus, in Cape Town. Upon his return to the Netherlands, Arjan transitioned into trade journalism. He worked for MarketingTribune and, since 2008, served as an editor and later editor-in-chief of Twinkle, a well-known Dutch trade publication on digital commerce. He was also closely involved with the Twinkle100, an annual study of the largest online retailers in the Netherlands.
Since 2020, Arjan has been an independent entrepreneur. Under the company name Bureau AvO, he works for various journalistic and commercial clients, contributing to articles, magazines, books, and conferences, always at the intersection of content and commerce.
TikTok Shop is expanding rapidly across Europe. On June 15, the platform will launch in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland. Shortly afterwards, the new 'Sell Across Europe' feature will become available, enabling merchants to sell in multiple countries through a single registration.
TikTok Shop has established a strong position in Spain’s ecommerce market in a relatively short time. Both buyers and sellers are embracing the social commerce platform. There are now 21,000 local sellers active on TikTok Shop in Spain.
JD.com is looking to make another move to strengthen its position in the European ecommerce market. The Chinese company is reportedly willing to pay 2 billion pounds to acquire The Very Group, an online retail company from the United Kingdom.
Breuninger is expanding online again after several years. The retailer is launching its online store in three new European countries, bringing the total to thirteen markets. Consumers in Denmark, Sweden, and Romania will be served in their local languages. For deliveries, Breuninger is partnering with PostNord and DHL.
Otto is preparing to open its marketplace to sellers in Poland. A pilot program will begin next month, allowing selected Polish sales partners to participate. It is the second country in which Otto is opening up its marketplace.
Allegro has entered into a partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The Polish ecommerce company will gain access to advanced AI technology and support in developing new solutions for its platform. Recently, Allegro also introduced an AI assistant for sellers.
Blackstone is acquiring Greek ecommerce market leader Skroutz. The American investment company is taking over a majority stake from European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. The founders will remain involved in the business.
Ecommerce giant Amazon is investing 15 billion euros in the French market over a three-year period. The company will use the money to build, among other things, four new distribution centers. Investments in existing and new infrastructure are expected to result in faster delivery times for customers and selling partners across France.
More than one hundred thousand SMEs from the European Union use Amazon as a sales platform. Together, they generated 17 billion euros in cross-border sales last year, 2 billion euros more than a year earlier. Most international trade takes place within the EU.
Users of Vinted in Germany and Austria can now trade directly with each other. Austrian Post has joined as a new logistics partner of the platform. The second-hand fashion marketplace is valued at 8 billion euros, according to a share sale announced today.
Multichannel companies from the Nordics make up Europe’s top three best-performing cross-border ecommerce sellers. These are Sweden-based Ikea, Denmark’s Jysk and H&M, also from Sweden. Behind them, Germany’s Zalando is the first pure player on the list.
A large majority of online transactions in Europe take place on marketplaces. In 2025, marketplaces accounted for 61 percent of total ecommerce GMV, according to ECDB. In other parts of the world, this share is even higher. The concentration is expected to increase further in Europe as well.
Nine out of ten German online sellers say that bureaucratic procedures place a heavy or very heavy burden on them. Rules around product safety and packaging generate the most administrative hassle. Sellers are spending a lot of time and energy on complying with all laws and regulations.
TikTok Shop is preparing to launch in Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. This is evident from job listings for its “strategic readiness team” and for customer solutions managers who are fluent in Polish or Dutch. Seller environments have already been set up, but they are not yet live.
Consumers sold goods worth 10.8 billion euros on second-hand marketplace Vinted in 2025. That is an increase of almost 50 percent, compared to 2024. The company’s revenue reached 1.1 billion euros, also a record high. According to CEO Thomas Plantenga, Vinted delivered strong results across every growth vector. One of these is its delivery services for external clients.