Launch

Fashion Digital Lab, a new center for technology, has launched today in Lugano. The goal is to give a physical form to the digital ecosystem supporting fashion companies. Fashion Digital Lab is powered by ecommerce association NetComm Suisse and investments from public and private operators.

WeMarket has today officially launched its B2B marketplace. International buyers and sellers can do business with each other on this online platform, without having to deal with private customers. The Dutch website is an initiative of one of the founders of file transfer website WeTransfer.

The Internet of Things is wildly popular among consumers. UK department store chain John Lewis has now launched a new smart home department to showcase all kinds of gadgets that should make the consumer's life at home more convenient.

Ecommerce News is the website you must read if you want to stay up-to-date on the European ecommerce sphere. But what if you have a question about your cross-border sales? What if you want to brainstorm with international retailers? At the new Ecommerce News Community you can discuss all things ecommerce.

Lidl has opened a dedicated ecommerce website in Belgium, which currently lists about 350 non-food items. Belgium is now the first country, aside from its home country Germany, where Lidl has launched an online store. The supermarket discounter is slowly stepping up its game with regards to ecommerce. The Netherlands could be next.

Zalando has launched yet another mobile shopping app. With the app Fleek, the German fashion retailer wants to inspire users with fashion items and offer them effortless shopping. Its dream is to offer one of the broadest in-app lifestyle assortments in Europe.

On Demand Solutions, a UK company that already has ecommerce software for B2B retailers, has now launched an ecommerce software solution for B2C retailers. It focuses especially on small and medium-sized companies. The B2C version of ecommerce solution ODSnet has omni-channel functionality.

The British online retailer AO World has opened its online store in the Netherlands. After launching in Germany last year, AO now wants to sell household appliances like washing machines and refrigerators to Dutch consumers. It will try to beat the local competition with a best price guarantee, free delivery and trade-in of old products.

Adlibris, the leading online bookstore in the Nordics, is partnering with CDON to sell books via the CDON Marketplace. As a result of this partnership, CDON will phase out its own assortment of books. Its current sales volume of books is in the range 21-27 million euros on an annual basis.

Amazon has started selling fresh fruit and vegetables in Italy through its Prime Now service. For now, the fresh produce can only be ordered online by people living in the city of Milan and 34 municipalities in the back country, but if it happens to be a big success, more cities will probably follow.

Online fashion and lifestyle retailer Lesara has expanded to France. By opening a dedicated website here, Lesara could potentially reach more than 66 million new customers. In just two years' time, the German discounter is now active in 22 countries across Europe.

PrivatBank, the largest commercial bank in Ukraine, has launched its own online marketplace, called PrivatMarket. Buyers and suppliers come together on this platform that was been in the works for quite some time. PrivatMarket is aimed both at private and business clients from the Ukrainian bank.

Also has finally opened its online store in the United Kingdom. The discount retailer has kicked-off its online shopping store by offering cases of wines for home delivery. The online wine store was announced by Aldi in September last year.

Several Dutch organizations have launched EcommerceWiki, an English-written platform where experts from all over the world can collect and share all knowledge about ecommerce topics such as merchandising, performance advertising, selecting an ecommerce platform and managing social media.

Online shop software provider ePages has launched an app & theme store for its online retailers. The app section offers applications from third party providers that deliver extra functionalities to a merchant, while the themes section offers premium shop templates so merchants can redesign their online stores.