Cross-border

BigCommerce has announced today it will expand to France, Italy, and the Netherlands. The expansion takes place in the form of a fully localized experience, letting merchants use the platform to manage their store in their local language. Local payment methods and currencies are also included.

Online electrical retailer AO wants to more than double its turnover in five years' time. In this time frame, the UK company also aims to be active in five different markets. "Our mission is to be the global destination for electricals", AO stated during its full year results presentation.

Vanbruun, a fast-growing online jewelry and diamond retailer from Sweden, has expanded to Germany. This is the first foreign market outside of Scandinavia where Vanbruun has launched its online shop.

Zalando has launched its online store and platform in Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia today. The German fashion giant has also announced it will further expand to Croatia, Estonia, and Latvia this year, and to Hungary and Romania next year.

Dutch retailer My Jewellery expands to Germany. Tomorrow, the omnichannel retailer will launch its first online shop abroad. In time, My Jewellery wants to open physical stores in Germany as well.  

Sameday, a courier company from Romania, is expanding in Hungary. It already offers delivery options to customers in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, but soon the company will expand its coverage nationwide.

SmartRoutes, an Irish provider of delivery route planning software, has plans to expand its operations across Europe and the United Kingdom. It also plans to double its team for the second year in a row to meet the demand for its service.

Dutch department store De Bijenkorf is expanding in Europe again. After launching an ecommerce website in France last year, it's now opening an online store in Austria. This marks the fourth foreign market for the Dutch omnichannel retailer.

Last year, Dutch consumers spent nearly 2.6 billion euros on purchases from foreign online shops within the European Union. This amounts to an increase of almost 32 percent compared to the situation a year earlier.

Seven Senders, a German delivery platform for parcel shipping, has concluded a Series C financing round of 40 million dollars (33 million euros). The company wants to use the money to further support Chinese and US online retailers with their business activities in Europe.

Online retailer Wildberries from Russia has announced the launch of its website in the US. This marks the fourteenth country where the ecommerce company is present.

The online cross-border market in Europe was worth 146 billion euros in 2020. This is an increase of 35 percent compared to the situation one year before. The cross-border share represents 25.5 percent of total online sales in Europe.

Italy is a developing ecommerce market in Europe. But although it's lagging behind on some other European markets, the online retail industry of Italy has lots to offer. Let's take a look at the opportunities for European ecommerce companies in Italy.

Budbee, a last-mile delivery startup from Sweden, will soon become available in Belgium. The logistics tech company has announced it will start in Flanders and Brussels. Later on, it will also expand to Wallonia.

Gorillas, a delivery startup from Germany, has launched its services in London. The company offers a full range of groceries from its own distribution hubs within 10 minutes. The UK is the third market in Europe where Gorillas is active.