Online store

Zara, one of the brands from Spanish multinational clothing company Inditex, still believes in the power of ecommerce and is now preparing the launch of its online store in Romania. The date of launch is April 2, so Romanian fashionistas still have to wait till next Wednesday.

H&M has expanded its online territory by launching an online store in France, which makes it the tenth market for the Swedish retailer to have an online presence. Of course French customers can shop for a wide range of clothing and accessories, but with H&M Home they can also shop online for home goods.

Otto, the second biggest ecommerce player in Europe, is investing some serious money in its own online business in order to keep up with the rapid expansion of Amazon in Europe. A ‘mobile-first’ approach and a new fashion website should help Otto making this ambitious plan happen.

Darty, one of the biggest retailers on the French market, has launched a marketplace based on the SAAS technology of Mirakl. With this marketplace, which is open to third party sellers, Darty joins other French retailers like Rue du Commerce and Pixmania.

Westwing today announced it has grown net revenues to 110 million euros last year. The online furniture retailer is growing rapidly, as this is just its second full year of business. It previously generated net sales of 41 million in 2012 and 0.5 million euros in 2011. So last year it grew nearly three times.

ICA Sweden is making advanced plans opening an online store later this year. The idea is to give franchisees the opportunity to run their own local online ICA store, while ICA Sweden itself will start an centralized online store. "We think now the time is right."

Zalando has gathered three banks to advise the German fashion retailer on what may be Europe's biggest float since the dotcom bubble. Zalando's choice has fallen on Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan en Morgan Stanley, but the shoe and fashion store has yet to formally appoint them.

L'Oréal and eBay have finally reached a settlement in a counterfeit case that has been rumbling on for over six years. Since 2007, the two firms were arguing about the sale of counterfeit L’Oréal goods that were being sold on the online marketplace EBay.

Gap, the American clothing retailer, is active in Europe for quite some time. But while it has seen some steady growth in the United States these last couple of years, its presence in Europe is slightly less positive. Revenues here have come down from €516 million in 2010 to €507 million in 2012, despite continued expansion.

ChannelGrabber, the British multichannel stock, order and listing management software, has announced the addition of Fruugo, a cross-border marketplace operating in 23 countries. The planned integration will go live in the first quarter of 2014 and this partnership will enable retailers to sell their goods to shoppers worldwide.

Godiva is expanding online by opening an online chocolate confectionery store in the United Kingdom. The luxury Belgian chocolatier has chosen eCommera and its cloud base ecommerce platform DynamicCommerce, which is powered by Demandware. The United Kingdom will be the fourth country where it sells its goods online.

German auto maker Daimler has started a pilot project so customers are now able to buy some Mercedes-Benz models. The cars can be ordered via Daimler's own online store and purchases will be executed and handled by Daimler's Hamburg dealership. Will the car industry ever embrace ecommerce as a selling channel?

What a customer wants to buy shouldn't be dictated by where he lives. That's what Nick Robertson, CEO and co-founder at Asos, told the audience at WWD Ceo Summit. He also thinks the high street is no longer the sole arbiter of fashion where choice is limited. "The high street's presence is being democratized. Twentysomethings have better things to do than go to the high street."

Although the retail industry in the United Kingdom is suffering, as more and more empty retail units arise, Amazon is not primarily to blame for this trend. At least, that's the opinion of Amazon's UK managing director Christopher North. “We are still a pretty small part of the total retail environment in the UK.”

Choice in eCommerce has posted online a survey on sales bans in ecommerce. This initiative, founded in April 2013, wants to acts as an intermediary between manufacturers, marketplaces and sellers. With the survey, Choice in eCommerce wants to know how restrictions and bans affect online sellers and consumers.