Marketplaces

SellerX, a Berlin-based aggregator of Amazon sellers, has acquired Elevate Brands, its American industry peer. They will operate together as SellerX Group, which aims to become “one of the largest and most profitable global consolidators of e-commerce brands”.

Secondhand fashion marketplace Vinted says that it is technically ready for an IPO. However, the company currently has no plans of going public. The CEO envisions a different type of growth for the company, to become a stronger tech company that will last for decades.

Katchin, a marketplace for jewelry, watches, and accessories, has launched in Germany and France. This expansion follows its launch in the UK earlier this year. Katchin is a venture by the Fossil Group. It operates on Mirakl's marketplace software.

Fashion retailer Zara is planning to expand its pre-owned clothing marketplace Zara Pre-Owned across European markets in the second half of this year. One of the selected markets is the Netherlands. The platform is currently available in the United Kingdom.

Most online companies in Germany are located in the Western regions North Rhine Westphalia (22 percent) and Bavaria (17 percent). Only 1.75 percent come from the Eastern regions Thuringia and 1 percent from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

About You has plunged deeper into the red. The fiscal year ended with an operating loss of 137 million euros, more than twice the previous fiscal year's loss, which had already nearly doubled. However, the company refers to these results as "solid performance”. It expects to break even in the current fiscal year.

Bol.com, the leading marketplace in the Netherlands and Belgium, had a gross merchandise volume of 1.3 billion euros in Q1. As much as 65 percent comes from third party merchants on the platform. Bol.com currently has 52,000 partners.

Amazon fills the top two spots in a new list of leading marketplaces in Europe. The ranking is made by the German Bundesverband Onlinehandel (BVOH). The interest group also made a separate top 50 for Germany. That is also led by Amazon.

Online fashion marketplace Secret Sales has secured 10 million dollars in a Series B funding round. The capital injection will be used to accelerate expansion into Europe, with 12 new markets. By 2025, the platform wants to be the go-to destination for non-full price retail in all main European markets.

Ecommerce giant Amazon is planning to expand its b2b division, Amazon Business, in Europe. It is unclear which countries it will target. The company is currently investing in its logistics, to supply European businesses with office supplies in bulk.

Fashion platform Zalando is going to launch a fashion assistant powered by ChatGPT on the website and app. It will start with a beta version, which will be available to selected customers in Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Austria by Spring.

Ecommerce giant Amazon has launched a new offering called the European Expansion Accelerator (EEA). With the new feature, sellers can easily expand to nine Amazon marketplaces across Europe and the United Kingdom.

Ecommerce giant Zalando is streamlining its range. As a result, it will remove products of brands on June 30. After that, the brand will be completely deleted from the platform’s data.

Amazon increased the costs of its multi-channel fulfilment service. The new fees will be in effect for European sellers starting next month. According to the ecommerce giant, the increase is due to rising operational costs due to inflation.

Fashion marketplace Saclàb has raised 1.6 million euros in seed funding. The company wants to use the capital for product development as well as HR and marketing activities. The platform is also planning a launch in the United States.