Posts by Pleuni

Swedish parcel delivery service Instabox has raised 174 million euros in a financing round. Its value is now estimated at 1 billion euros. This makes it the newest unicorn in Sweden.

Online fashion marketplace Secret Sales is entering Belgium and the Netherlands with dedicated online shops. The websites will be managed by a local team in the Netherlands. It's the first step in the company's planned European expansion.

Logistics provider Direct Link has announced its launch in Turkey. The company is owned by PostNord, the Swedish and Danish national post company. It is already globally active, but will now also set up operations with local personnel.

German fashion platform About You is launching a new digital fashion platform called Hypewear. In doing so, the company wants to provide the mainstream with fashion NFTs. Upon registration, new customers will receive a free fashion NFT.

The large amount of returns in ecommerce is a cause of worries for many online sellers. However, 71 percent of consumers say that online sellers don't offer any sizing tools, which could reduce returns.

Shipping platform Shippo has entered Ireland with the opening of its new research and development center in Dublin. This is the company's first office in Europe, while it already offers its services in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. It wants to expand further internationally.

Currently, only 10 percent of manufacturer revenue comes from digital sales. While a large majority knows the importance of digitalization, challenges to implement digital sales channels hold them back to implement a complete ecommerce strategy in their business.

Ecommerce giant Amazon has launched the second edition of the Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards. The competition supports European innovative startups. The winner will receive the 'Startup of the year' prize of 100,000 euros.

This week, Amazon UK announced that it no longer packs products in single-use plastic delivery bags. The company has switched to recyclable paper delivery bags and cardboard envelopes for orders shipped from its own fulfillment centers.

Cross-border ecommerce in Europe was worth 171.2 billion euros in 2021. This is a growth of 17 percent when compared to the year before. European online businesses generated a cross-border revenue of 100 billion euros.

German fashion retailer About You has released its preliminary Q4 and full-year results. It was able to grow its revenue between 48.3 and 50.5 percent when compared to a year before. However, the branch is also suffering millions in losses because of growth investments.

Croatian price comparison platform Jeftinije.hr has launched a new service: Jeftinije Marketplace. In addition to comparing prices from different sellers, the marketplace allows consumers to buy these products directly from the platform.

French logistics provider Bigblue has raised 13.66 million euros in a Series A round. The funding will be used to expand further internationally. In order to do so, the company plans to hire 100 new people in the next 12 months.

Finnish social shopping app Blidz has raised 6 million euros in Seed funding. The company will use the funding to accelerate its growth in Western markets. Additionally, the funding will be used to expand the product suite and supply chain.

Dutch online auction company TBAuctions is acquiring the Bjarøy Group and Swedish auction platform PS Auction. The acquisitions accelerate the company's plan to build a pan-European platform for second hand goods.