Cross-channel

AliExpress is going offline. The popular Chinese shopping platform has opened a physical store in Madrid, the first of its kind in Europe. The store actually operates more like a showroom, because products still need to be ordered online.

Online optician Mister Spex has raised over 65 million euros in an equity round led by the Büll Family Office. With the fresh funding, the German company wants to accelerate its international growth and expand its retail network.

Online retailer Otto and shopping center operator ECE have formed joint venture Stocksquare to link offline and online shopping. The goal is to boost offline sales at ECE shopping centers and to expand Otto's online assortment.

Tendam, the Spanish fashion retail group that was formerly known as the Cortefiel Group, saw its online sales grow by 29.4 percent last year. Online sales now account for almost 8 percent of the company's total sales in Spain.

About three in four business-to-business companies in Poland sell their products or services online. The majority of those retailers have been involved in ecommerce for over five years now, while half of Polish B2B companies also operate internationally.

Lentiamo, the largest online contact lens retailer in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy, wants to become the European market leader for eye care. The online store generated a turnover of 27.3 million euros in 2018 and wants to grow further, among other things with their own solution Solunate and by selling their own line of contact lenses.

How omnichannel-ready is Switzerland? That's what mail-order association VSV tried to find out with the Omnichannel Readiness Index. It shows the DIY & Home Improvement sector in Switzerland scores best on omnichannel maturity. Jewelry retailers and department stores are strong omnichannel players as well.

Mybudapester.com, an online shop for designer shoes, bags and accessories, is focusing more and more on attracting international stationary retailers to its platform. Up to 15 new German retailers will go online on the fashion platform this year, but international dealers will also be connected towards the end of this year.

LateBird is a German invention that could be a serious competitor to Amazon Go, the checkout-free grocery store of Amazon. LateBird describes itself as an "autonomous digital 4.0 food shopping system", but maybe it can be better described as a portable container module that houses hundreds of products groups, like frozen goods, drinks, fruits and vegetables.

Coolblue, a major omnichannel retailer from the Netherlands, saw its total revenues grow to 1.2 billion euros last year. That's an increase of 38 percent compared to the year before. The company's net profit increased slightly, from 8.9 million euros to 9.1 million euros.

Toy retailers are in a difficult spot. Online shopping keeps growing and offline retailers are suffering because of this. That's why in Denmark, online toy retailer Coolshop joined forces with nine physical toy stores. And now they are all doing well.

British design store Heal's now offers its online customers access to an in-store expert on demand. Advisors who are working in one of six stores in the UK are now able to provide their expertise and advice to customers on heals.com, particularly during busy hours online and quieter hours in-store.

Fnac Darty has launched Darty+, an omnichannel subscription service for delivery, support and after-sales. It provides access to unlimited deliveries and gives subscribers daily support with the Darty Button.

During the first nine months of this year, the German perfume retailer Douglas saw its ecommerce sales increase by 17.8 percent compared to the same period last year. The online segment of Douglas is now worth 303 million euros and it accounts for 14 percent of the company's total sales.

The Nordic menswear and golf brand Oscar Jacobson is investing more in omnichannel retail as it is expanding its business in Europe. The company currently sells its menswear fashion items online in the United Kingdom and Sweden, but it will soon sell both online and through stores in Norway.