Europe

One in three (34 percent) of online purchases in the first half of this year in Spain were placed on Chinese platforms, such as Alibaba, Temu or Shein. The market share (in terms of order frequency) of these platforms is far higher in Spain than in other European countries. However, Spanish consumers spent a lot less on these platforms than consumers from other countries.

No country in the world has as many internet users shopping online as the Netherlands, according to a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The ecommerce penetration rate is 84 percent. At least four out of five internet users in the UK, Sweden, and Denmark also shop online.

Temu and Shein have ten days left to provide detailed information on various aspects of their services to European shoppers. The European Commission has requested this after complaints from several consumer organizations.

The European online consumer electronics market is valued at 90 billion euros in 2023. It is expected to increase 19 percent by 2025, reaching 107 billion euros. Retailers and C2C marketplaces selling used and refurbished electronics are driving this growth.

Hole19 has launched a new online store in its home market of the United Kingdom. The golf technology company has opened the site to brand partners. It plans to extend the marketplace to shoppers in continental Europe later this year.

In an open letter, Ecommerce Europe and many of its national association members are calling for a level playing field for all ecommerce players active in the European market. They explicitly advocate for better enforcement of existing regulations.

Germany’s Ministry of Finance has expressed support for the abolition of the current customs exemption that benefits Asian marketplaces. AliExpress, Shein, Temu, and other platforms currently enjoy a tax exemption on import packages valued up to 150 euros.

At least 95.8 percent of European consumers shopped online in the first quarter of this year. In the United Kingdom, that percentage was 93 percent. And in the Netherland, 96 percent of consumers shopped online.

The online European cross-border market reached a turnover of 237 billion euros in 2023. This is an increase of 32 percent compared to the year before. European online stores generated 107 billion euros in cross-border turnover.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe has published its measurement standards for retail media in Europe. This gives brands a framework to measure the effectiveness of their digital advertising campaigns. It is a first step in IAB Europe’s plans to create industry standards for retail media.

The European Parliament has agreed on new rules to reduce, reuse, and recycle packaging. In the future, only up to half of the packaging used by ecommerce companies within the European Union may be empty.

Ecommerce fulfillment and customer service provider Salesupply is launching a hybrid AI chatbot. It is meant to reduce customer service costs for online sellers, while also improving customer experience. Soon, the company wants to implement the technology in mail and telephone customer service inquiries as well.

Asos has suffered a significant loss in turnover, down by 18 percent in the first half of its fiscal year. The British pure online player has taken drastic measures and believes that, partly due to faster production processes, it will be able to return to profitability in the next fiscal year.

German online platform Kaufland is changing its seller fees by the end of this month. In most product categories, the fees either increase of decrease one percent. However, fees for small household appliances will increase more.

Alibaba.com has announced the launch of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in Europe. With the initiative, Alibaba’s B2B platform aims to promote gender equality in business and support female entrepreneurship.