France

Consumers from the United Kingdom and France are most familiar with purchasing flowers online. In the UK, 37 percent of consumers said they had bought a bouquet online at least once in the past year. In France, this share is 32 percent. In these two countries, as well as Germany and the Netherlands, Fleurop/Interflora is the absolute market leader. The question is for how long, as new initiatives arise.

Solutions provider Twenga announced today its strategic alliance with Google and the fact it's joining the Premier SMB Partner Program. This Google initiative connects small- to medium-sized business owners with established advertising companies who are specialized in AdWords. Twenga is now one of a dozen AdWords Premier SMB Partners in France.

Spartoo, the French online seller of shoes, clothing and accessories, is expanding its offline activities. The retailer will open ten physical stores in France by December this year. Apparently the launch of its first physical store, five months ago, pleased them well.

Second-hand online seller Vestiaire Collective has picked up 33 million euros in a Series D round led by Eurazeo. The investment firm, which is one of Europe's largest, has contributed 20 million euros. Other investors are Conde Nast, Balderton Capital, Ventech and IdInvest. With the money the pre-owned clothes marketplace wants to ramp up global expansion.

Europe is a very complex entity. Similarly, in the area of ecommerce. There are many differences between the nationalities that are spread across the continent. And that's something Zalando, Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, loves to utilize. Now they've shared what they think are the differences between online shoppers in Europe.

A survey among several European countries shows that it's especially the Dutch and Irish consumers who are interested in fashion deals. Italians on the other hand, aren't that keen on such deals. Of all 17 discount categories, coupon codes for women's clothing didn't make into the top 5 of most used discount codes for this country.

According to research by Criteo, mobile will account for 40% of all global ecommerce transactions by the end of this year. In France, mobile purchases represented just more than 20% of all online retail transactions. But many retailers in France are making mobile a priority, the study suggests.

In Europe, more and more consumers like to pay using their smartphone or tablet. In share of mobile device owners who already have experience with mobile payments, Turkey is the absolute leader in Europe. This is apparent from the latest report by yStats.com, called "Europe Online Payment Methods: First Half 2015".

Unmanned aerial vehicles, drones in short, could be the answer to deliver packages cheaper and faster and could give ecommerce the next boost in growth. However due to rules and legal issues ecommerce delivery companies and online retailers still are on hold on really exploiting this opportunity. That doesn't mean that they aren't testing the potential that drones have. DPD for example recently launched special drone terminals in France.

This year, 19.2% of online sales in France will be carried out on a smartphone, still many retailers don't have a mobile strategy in place. But mobile is the top priority for investments in the next 12 to 18 months. eTail France interviewed dozens of retailers to discover what they do to respond to the several big challenges in the market today.

The global online sales of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) increased by 28% last year alone and is expected to hit 118 billion euros globally, by the end of 2025. Although the biggest growth is expected to take place in markets like China and South Korea, still online purchasing will reach at least 10% in the UK and France.

Internet platform StyleLounge, which specializes in online price comparisons for fashion and lifestyle products, is expanding into other European countries. The Hamburg-based search engine is now also offering its services in France and the Netherlands.

Marketing solutions provider Twenga has announced it raised 10 million euros from Idinvest Partners. With the fresh funding the French company wants to develop its ecommerce traffic acquisition solutions on an international scale.

Online sales in France grew by 13.7% during the first three months of 2015. The growth was stronger than a year earlier, when the ecommerce industry grew by 11%. The key drivers for this growth could be the dramatic increase in the number of transactions and the rise of marketplaces and mcommerce.

During the third edition of Lengow Ecommerce Day, which will take place in Paris on June 2 this year, there will be also a competition for startups active in the ecommerce industry. The five finalists of this competition will get an exhibitor stand at the Lengow Ecommerce Day, where 700 merchants and industry experts are expected.