Europe

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group wants to expand its marketplace Lazada into Europe. Lazada will focus on local merchants instead of cross-border sales like AliExpress. Only recently, Alibaba’s logistics company Cainiao set foot in Belgium.

Globally, ecommerce revenues have dropped 3 percent in the first quarter of this year, when compared to that same period in 2021. That decline was seen in Europe as well (-13 percent). However, online sales in Spain reached a 6 percent year-on-year growth. It's the only country in Europe where digital revenues grew in this time frame.

Leading ecommerce software company BigCommerce is integrating with dropshipping marketplace Avasam to launch its new dropshipping service: ‘Click2Launch’. It will make BigCommerce an even bigger competitor for Shopify.

The large amount of returns in ecommerce is a cause of worries for many online sellers. However, 71 percent of consumers say that online sellers don't offer any sizing tools, which could reduce returns.

Leading ecommerce platform Shopify has acquired Dovetale, an influencer marketing startup from New York. It is part of Shopify's move into the influencer market. Creator marketing is on the rise in Europe, one of the software platform's biggest growth markets.

Currently, only 10 percent of manufacturer revenue comes from digital sales. While a large majority knows the importance of digitalization, challenges to implement digital sales channels hold them back to implement a complete ecommerce strategy in their business.

Ecommerce giant Amazon has launched the second edition of the Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards. The competition supports European innovative startups. The winner will receive the 'Startup of the year' prize of 100,000 euros.

Cross-border ecommerce in Europe was worth 171.2 billion euros in 2021. This is a growth of 17 percent when compared to the year before. European online businesses generated a cross-border revenue of 100 billion euros.

Just about 30 percent of European online retailers offer information on sustainability, human rights and animal welfare. German, French and Swedish shops offer the most insight into their activities. International sellers and marketplaces also score higher than national retailers.

Customer support was busier in 2021: ticket volumes increased for all channels compared to the year before. Consumers also have higher expectations of customer service.

With ecommerce growing strongly, the market is becoming more and more competitive. Many consumers start their online search on marketplaces, meaning that online sellers need to make sure their products are easy to find, but approximately 30 percent of products online have findability issues. This can lead to revenue loss.

Online furniture and home goods retailer Wayfair has reported a net revenue of 12.2 billion euros in 2021. In 2020, the platform made a revenue of 12.6 billion euros, illustrating that sales have decreased slightly. However, it expects to grow strongly in the coming years. It wants to surpass the 100 billion euro revenue mark by 2030.

In order to meet expectations of customers, B2B manufacturers are planning to accelerate their digital transformation this year. At least 83 percent of them will increase their budget for investments into digital business strategies. In doing so, they hope to tap into new revenue streams.

Last year, Germany, the UK, France and Italy generated 60 percent of the total European ecommerce revenue. The UK is currently the leader in ecommerce in Europe, even after Brexit. However, Germany is expected to take over that place by 2025.

Ecommerce fashion giant Zalando is now selling products from Apple and Beats. The brands will be sold in five European countries. It is part of Zalando’s strategy to become a lifestyle platform.