Launch

DHL has launched DHL Parcel in Belgium. With this service, the parcel company wants to mature its B2C network in Belgium. The goal is to have a network of about 1,600 pick up points in stores all over the country and to compete with Bpost, Belgiums biggest parcel company.

AO, the British online retailer of domestic appliances, has launched its German website, but that’s not the only expansion it has planned. AO World is also looking at starting businesses in the Netherlands and Belgium. Austria, Switzerland and France are also potential targets for the retailer that reported some strong growth in revenue for the first half of the year.

Gap and Zalando have today announced a pan-European partnership, which means Gap's clothing and accessories will be available within Europe's largest online fashion website beginning next summer. The partnership will be Gap's first foray into multi-brand retailing in Europe.

Conrad Electronic has started its online own community. On a subdomain of its online shop consumers and other interested people can get in touch with others. Conrad’s goal with the community is to become the preferred point of contact for tech fans online. By writing blog posts and making how-to videos people can share their wisdoms.

H&M will launch online stores in eight different countries in Europe during 2015. The new online markets will be Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia. H&M’s online stores are already available in eleven European countries.

Online furniture store Home24 will launch a shop in Italy. This marks the seventh shop in Europe and is already the third one this year. Together with this expansion news, Home24 also presented its half-year figures for the first half of 2014. Things look well for the online furniture shop.

Amazon has launched its Dutch ecommerce site. Starting tomorrow morning 8 AM, customers can order ebooks and Amazon's Kindle ereaders online on Amazon.nl. The site offers more than 20,000 Dutch ebooks, as well as 3 million ebooks in other languages. As a result of the launch of Amazon in the Netherlands, the apps and ereaders from the American retailer are now also available in the Dutch language.

ICA Gruppen, one of the leading retail companies in Scandinavia, is testing its own ecommerce platform. The company has several online stores running in Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but they all run on different ecommerce platforms. The newly designed platform is now being tested in four ICA branded stores.

French online pharmacist Doctipharma has opened its service platform where it sells non-prescription drugs, after it obtained the approval of health authorities. Doctipharma.fr allows patients to securely access these products in strict compliance with the recommendations of health authorities and benefit from the advice of pharmacists gathered on this platform.

When you think about products that are made in Italy, at first you will probably think of brands like Gucci, Ferrari, Versace and Prada. But there's much, much more. That's why a new ecommerce site has launched. Storytalia wants to promote quality goods from selected brands, so its visitors get to know "the unexpected made in Italy".

The American toy retailer Toys"R"Us has announced the launch of an ecommerce site in Poland, adding to its growing portfolio of online stores all over the world. Toys"R"Us already has eight physical stores and the web store will extends the brand’s reach to more Polish consumers.

The German perfume retailer Douglas will add erotic items to its product range in the near future. With various scented waters, cleansing elixirs, nourishing creams and a high quality makeup line the company is an import place for shoppers looking for beauty products. And soon these shoppers can also shop at Douglas for vibrators and other adult toys.

Rocket Internet has done it again. It launched a service that bears a striking resemblance to another hot startup. This time it copied the fast-growing grocery ordering and delivery service Instacart, that closed a €35 million round four months ago. ShopWings has launched today and is also an online supermarket that delivers daily goods from local grocery stores.

C&A has expanded its multichannel strategy and integration of online and offline sales channel by launching an online store in Switzerland. Good news for local consumers who want to order something from the Dutch fashion retailer online. A broad campaign has started in Switzerland to promote C&A’s latest expansion. Switzerland is the ninth market where C&A runs an online store.

Fab.com announced today it has officially launched Hem, an online retailer selling Scandinavian-style furniture. The European design company goes live in 40 markets. It ships to 30 countries, including the US, and a further ten countries will have Hem's furniture thanks to resale partnerships with physical stores.