Offline store

Last year, the top 5 of online stores in Switzerland has generated more revenue than the five largest Swiss shopping centers. And all this with a fraction of the space being used and with a fraction of the staff costs.

A new year is around the corner and we might see some new things in 2017. Four CEOs of leading Nordic ecommerce companies share their thoughts on what they think will be the key ecommerce trends in 2017.

Zalando gives small local retailers the opportunity to sell their products through its Fashion Platform. According to the German fashion giant, the future of commerce will be a seamless shopping experience for customers, whether products are available online or in local stores.

Dutch lingerie retail chain Lincherie has opened a physical store in Amsterdam where customers won't be able to take some bras or bikinis with them. They can however get in a fitting room with a digital mirror where they can discover the correct bra size. Ordering products happens via a tablet, after which the products will be sent to the customer within 48 hours.

Amazon was voted as the best online retailer in Germany. Perfumery Douglas and shoe retailer Deichmann ranked second and third respectively. There are no pure online retailers to be found in the top ten, which is filled with the online stores of large retail chains.

Bata, a global operating footwear manufacturer and retailer from the Czech Republic, has decided to shut down all its stores in Switzerland where it's headquartered. With customers buying footwear and accessories more and more through multi-brand retailers and ecommerce websites, Bata has been trying to restructure its operations for years. Now it came to the conclusion maintaining the Bata stores in Switzerland wasn't an option anymore.

Renting clothes instead of buying them could become part of the British high street. One in five people in the United Kingdom are interested in renting items from their favorite store, a figure that rises to one in three within London. Could a 'Netflix for clothes' service become the future of fashion retail?

Komplett, an all-round ecommerce company from Norway, wants to further increase its footprint in Scandinavia. After recently opening an online pharmacy, the ecommerce company has now revealed plans of investments in online groceries, as well as a marketplace for other retailers to sell their products on.

Dutch pick up service De Buren will work together with bookstore chain Bruna. As a result, consumers will be able to pick up, deliver and return parcels at the branches of Bruna 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Spartoo, the French online seller of shoes, clothing and accessories, is expanding its offline activities. The retailer will open ten physical stores in France by December this year. Apparently the launch of its first physical store, five months ago, pleased them well.

After opening several physical stores in the United Kingdom last year, American Eagle Outfitters is ready to launch its first localized ecommerce website in the UK. Within the next month the online store will open its doors for British consumers.

Karstadt is in dire straits. The online product range will be significantly reduced in size, while many employees have to look for another job. The German department store chain has quit the classical omnichannel concept, although it still bets on the combination of ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores.

Whisbi has found a way to bridge the worlds of ecommerce and retail shopping cultures. By using Google Glass the Spanish company is hoping to open a new chapter in the omnichannel retail revolution. By combining phone and online communications with a presence on the retail floor, customers can see products without leaving the house.

It’s still two months, but 2015 is near. And this may be a year of other trends than we saw in 2014. Three CEOs of leading ecommerce companies in Europe told us their predictions of what might happen in online shopping next year. They believe the next trends will have the strongest impact on the online retail industry.

Shopping app Shopkick has expanded into its first international market by launching the app in Germany. From day one it has partnered up with major retailers like Douglas, Media Markt and Saturn, OBI and Karstadt and brands including P&G, Henkel and GSK.