Mobile

Finnish ecommerce platform Wolt has launched an update for its app. With the update, the company wants to take a step towards becoming a multi-category commerce platform. It gives retailers more opportunities to showcase their products to a wide audience.

Online fashion platform Asos has announced that it is introducing a returns transparency tool for its shoppers in the United Kingdom. This will give customers more information over their personal return rate, which influences their return fees. The feature will go live on 6 January.

Traditionally, the sales of trucks, cargo, construction, agricultural and other machinery mostly takes place in physical stores from dealers. Reaching a wider audience is often difficult for these sellers. The Truck1 platform brings the sales of these vehicles to the online market.

Online fashion platform Shein is growing quickly in the United Kingdom. Last year, its revenue reached more than 2.3 billion euros there. Compared to 2023, this was an increase of 32 percent.

Ukrainian company MacPaw, is planning to launch its iOS app subscription service Setapp in Europe next year. By that time, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) will have come into effect in the European Union. This allows users to install third-party apps on iOS, without using Apple’s App Store.

Ecommerce is booming, which has caused mcommerce to become more popular as well. More than one third of Dutch consumers prefer using their mobile phone while shopping. Not only do consumers use their smartphone during online shopping: a mobile search also precedes purchases in brick-and-mortar stores.

Supermarket chain Albert Heijn is the first Dutch supermarket that sells advertising space within the search results of its mobile app. A first public tryout started yesterday. This service is comparable with sponsored products within Google.

The use of mobile payments has further increased in France. The share was 18 percent in 2018, but has now grown significantly to 38 percent. Currently, half of French consumers intend to use their smartphones for in-store payments in the future.

Fashion retailer Chiquelle has launched its augmented reality shopping app. The Swedish company's latest app enables users to customize their own model and style it with fashion items sold by Chiquelle. Users can also add makeup and different hairstyles to the avatar.

Most growth of a European country's ecommerce market can be expected in the Czech Republic, where it's predicted the online retail industry will grow 16 percent between now and 2021. That's more than in other European markets.

Ikea is launching a new app, which enables customers to visualize products in the context of their own homes and then order these items through the app. The new Ikea app will be launched first in France and the Netherlands.

Shoppers from the United Kingdom are planning to spend 25 billion pounds, or 28.3 billion euros, using their smartphones this year. That's an increase of about 66 percent compared to the situation in 2018.

In the United Kingdom, 53 percent of consumers prefer to shop online using a brand's app over its website. This is mostly because they experience complex processes for signing in and setting up accounts on the website. Still, 40 percent get frustrated when shopping or paying on a mobile.

The United Kingdom is the third largest mobile commerce market in the world. Mcommerce in the UK is worth 55.9 billion euros. With this mobile sales figure, the European country ranks third world wide, with only China (652.6 billion euros) and the US (183.2 billion euros) performing better.

Transactions completed on the smartphone continue to rise globally. Especially in Northern Europe and Japan, mobile transaction now represent over half of online transactions. In Europe, Sweden is the absolute leader with 60 percent.