In the summer of 2026, up to 66.7 percent of retailers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland said that they have a maximum item-related return rate of 10 percent. The amount of retailers with return rates over 20 percent has decreased to 23.6 percent, a slight decrease from 25 percent in 2025.
As of today, Austria has introduced a national levy of 2 euros per parcel for large online sellers. The measure applies to online stores and marketplaces generating more than 100 million euros in annual sales to customers in the country. Thousands of other businesses are affected indirectly. Resistance to the levy is therefore considerable.
Compare Group, which owns several price comparison platforms, will expand to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Austria on 7 September. The expansion brings its platforms to 12 European countries. The expansion follows the launch of Compare Group’s platforms in France, Denmark and Norway in 2025.
Last November, Vinted Go launched a pilot called Rescued Value. Packages that could not be delivered or returned are relisted on the secondhand marketplace through this dedicated account. In an interview with Ecommerce News, the platform reported that more than 100,000 products have already found new owners through this program.
The DACH ecommerce market is expected to continue its steady growth, with annual increases ranging from 3 to 6 percent. The impact of Asian marketplaces is becoming increasingly evident across all three markets. In Austria, their share of ecommerce spending has already surpassed 10 percent.
Online spending in Central Europe is expected to grow by 8 percent this year, with a similar growth rate forecast for next year. The increase is mainly driven by existing online shoppers placing orders more frequently.
Western European online sellers expanding into Central and Eastern Europe often underestimate how different customer expectations are in the region. According to fulfillment provider isklad, payment preferences, delivery expectations and checkout requirements differ significantly from standards in Western Europe.
TikTok Shop is expanding rapidly across Europe. On June 15, the platform will launch in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland. Shortly afterwards, the new 'Sell Across Europe' feature will become available, enabling merchants to sell in multiple countries through a single registration.
Users of Vinted in Germany and Austria can now trade directly with each other. Austrian Post has joined as a new logistics partner of the platform. The second-hand fashion marketplace is valued at 8 billion euros, according to a share sale announced today.
Fifty percent of consumers in Europe say that they use instalment payments or pay-later services. The majority of them do this several times a year. The use of delayed paying is a lot less popular in Switzerland, where only a quarter of respondents said that they use it while shopping online.
Austrian online retailer and ecommerce service provider has increased its revenue by 20 percent in financial year 2025. Sales reached 169 million euros. Compared to a year earlier, this seems to be a comeback for the company.
Return rates of online orders are an issue for many sellers. In the online fashion sector in the DACH countries, 87.7 percent of sellers report return rates of up to 50 percent. Around 80 percent of online sellers in the region do not expect that return rates will improve in the next three years.
Temu has recently entered into a large number of partnerships with logistics service providers for the delivery of products across Europe. This week, deals with the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail and Belgium’s bpost were announced.
Refurbed, the marketplace for refurbished electronics, household, and sports products, has raised 50 million euros for further European expansion. The fast-growing and profitable company seems to be preparing for an entry into the United Kingdom.
One year after launching its marketplace in Poland and Austria, Kaufland has already achieved strong growth. It now has a total of 3,000 online sellers that have joined in Poland. In Austria, it has even more sellers, with a total of 5,000 sellers.