Google Shopping will soon be more than just a simple price comparison engine. Early 2019, Google will introduce its own marketplace in France. With the new Google Shopping platform, the tech company will compete directly with Amazon.

The Netherlands are the new number one on the annual B2C E-commerce Index from UN conference UNCTAD. The Dutch have surpassed Luxembourg, which now finds itself on a 19^th position. The top three is completed by Singapore and Switzerland.

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.

Swedish furniture and hardware store Clas Ohlson is changing its business model. The retailer becomes online only in the United Kingdom and Germany and thus shuts down all its physical stores. Well, not all, as the store in Reading will remain open.

Rakuten France has launched Club R Everywhere, an extended version of it current loyalty program Rakuten Club. With Club R Everywhere, customers from Rakuten get a 5 percent discount on purchases at partner brands, such as Nike, Expedia and Monoprix.

The new startup Panda.black wants to make way for German retailers and manufacturers in China. The president of ecommerce association Bundesverband Onlinehandel is behind this platform that wants to build a digital bridge between German dealers and the Chinese ecommerce market.

Pricing may be more important than ever before, but in the United Kingdom, many retailers  underestimate the importance of price and simply don't monitor prices at all. And when they do, they are spending too much time on this.

In Europe, Google was forced to open up its shopping service to outside competitors. But now it seems that digital marketing agencies are profiting from the changed auction model instead of the traditional comparison shopping sites: 23 percent of all ads seem to be from marketing agencies.

The European Union has called an end to geoblocking for online shoppers. This means that ecommerce websites in the EU can no longer block visitors from other EU countries. The new law has come into force this week.

Today, the European Parliament has approved rules that put an end to geoblocking on ecommerce websites in Europe. As a result, online shoppers in Europe will have wider cross-border access to products, hotel bookings, car rentals or concert tickets. Consumers may no longer be blocked or re-routed to a local website. But geoblocking in Europe still won't be fully implemented, critics emphasize.

Fiverr.com has launched in Germany. The online marketplace for creative and digital services now has a localized website with country-specific functions for Germans. This launch marks the first European branch of the Israeli tech company.

The Bundeskartellamt, whose task it is to protect competition in Germany, will examine how Amazon operates in Germany. The main concern is that Amazon is an online retailer itself, but it also has opened its German marketplace for external vendors. Is Amazon abusing its market position?

In the United Kingdom, commuters spend a lot while they are on the train. The value of on-train commuter commerce reached 2.9 billion euros last year and is predicted to grow by 75 percent to reach 5.2 billion euros by 2022.

Six logistics companies from the United Kingdom have combined to form a new logistics company, which is said to be the largest privately owned logistics company in the country. The newly created company is called EV Cargo.

The Palletways Group, an express palletized freight network that distribute to 20 countries across Europe, has further expanded its network. Together with independent transport providers, Palletways will launch a new network in Hungary.