Cross-border

German supermarket chain Edeka has launched a new, international purchasing alliance. Together with European colleagues such as Picnic, Biedronka, Jerónimo Martins and Magnit, the purchasing alliance, called Epic Partners, should help with negotiating great deals with brand manufacturers.

Dutch discount retailer Zeeman is expanding its online presence in Europe. The retail chain currently has an online store in the Netherlands and Belgium, but will now also launch an ecommerce website in France and in an yet unknown market.

Delivery Hero has launched its delivery app in Germany. Under the brand Foondpanda, the app now covers four districts of the German capital of Berlin. The launch follows after testing the service and scaling it up gradually.

Eurora, which offers compliance solutions for cross-border ecommerce companies, has raised 3 million dollars (2.54 million euros). With the money, the Estonian company wants to bring its tool to a million Chinese merchants.

Dutch omnichannel retailer Coolblue will open its first physical store in Germany at the end of this year. The white goods and electronics retailer will also open five more stores in the Netherlands and Belgium this year.

ManoMano, an online do-it-yourself marketplace from France, has raised 300 million euros in a Series F funding round. The DIY platform wants to use this money to continue its expansion in Europe, particularly in Germany and the United Kingdom.

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.