In the United Kingdom, homeware items, such as toasters and table lamps, account for a quarter of all online retail searches this year. Furniture is also very popular, as about one in five searches is for products belonging to this category.

Lampenwelt.de, a German online lighting shop that also operates local websites in other European countries, has received a major investment of 120 million euros from venture capital firm 3i. With this money, Lampenwelt wants to expand its online lamp-selling business across Europe.

The ecommerce industry in Russia was worth 920 billion rubles, which is about 14.85 billion euros, in 2016. This is an increase of 20 percent when compared to the year before. Estimates are ecommerce in Russia will reach 1 trillion rubles (16.14 billion euros) at the end of this year.

Splitit enables consumers to pay for online purchases with interest-free monthly payments. The fintech startups lets consumers use their existing credit cards and divide the total cost up to 12 payments. Ecommerce News talked to the company, which is now aiming most of the marketing efforts towards Europe.

DHL is said to become the exclusive logistics partner for Amazon Fresh in Germany. Next month, the German logistics company will start with delivering fresh food to Amazon customers in Berlin. After the capital, the rest of the country should follow soon.

Just Cargo, a Dutch startup that calls itself the Uber for courier services, wants to expand in Europe. With franchisees in other countries, the company wants to link companies and drivers across Europe to pick up and deliver parcels.

Linking to the Online Dispute Resolution platform, an EU solution aimed to help online shoppers settling disputes with merchants across Europe, is obliged for all online retailers in Europe. But does this also apply to for sellers on Amazon? The higher regional court in Dresden decided this isn't the case.

Online supermarket shoppers in the United Kingdom may be getting the opportunity to buy local produce more easily, as Members of Parliament are suggesting a "Buy British" button on websites of supermarkets, so foreign products can be filtered out.

Google has launched Google Marketing Solutions for Startups, a new centralized platform for startup companies of all sizes which gets them in touch with Google's marketing experts. Via this platform, the search company wants to help startups in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to find new customers and grow their sales online.

Ecommerce in Belgium was worth 9.1 billion euros in 2016. Last year, consumers spent 10 percent more on products and services online than they did in 2015. The online share of total retail has increased from 14 to 16 percent.

A new study on omnichannel in the European fashion industry shows that social media, online customer loyalty and store localization are the most common omni-channel solutions. The least common features are online order of in-store inventory with in-store pick-up by the customer, same-day delivery and shipping and in-store reservation of inventory for in-store consumer purchases.

The ecommerce industry in the Nordic region was worth 21.9 billion euros in 2016. The biggest share of online retail revenue in this region comes from Sweden, which generated 8.5 billion euros last year. But Norwegians scored the highest monthly amount spent per person.

In May, LVMH will launch an ecommerce website called Le Bon Marché that features all of its brands and those of competitors. With the new online department store, LVMH wants to capitalize on fast-growing online sales of luxury goods.

Packhelp, an online platform which enables retailers to create custom-branded packaging, has launched in Europe. Now online retailers from all across the continent can design and order their custom cardboard boxes without getting in touch with a graphic designer or printer.

Douglas has won an award during the annual Internet World Business Shop Awards show earlier this week. The German perfume and cosmetics retailer went home with an award for being the best multichannel retailer. Other winners are About You, Borussia Dortmund and Winekiki.