France

French DIY-marketplace ManoMano has plans to double down on Northern Europe in 2021. The ecommerce platform wants to increase its focus on Germany and the United Kingdom. It also wants to improve the website's experience for both merchants and customers.

Cdiscount has announced it will launch an online marketplace solution that can be used by other retailers. The complete solution, which takes care of technology, offer, and logistics, enables physical and online retailers to develop their own marketplace operations.

The Platform Group, which has been selling fashion and shoes online in Germany for years through its brands Schuhe24 and Outfits24, is expanding to France. It launched shopping portal EnVogue, which is aimed at online fashion shoppers from France.

Cdiscount has launched Cdiscount Occasion, a platform full of second-hand products. Cdiscount Occasion features items from all product categories: from high-tech and DIY to books and toys.

Ankorstore, a wholesale marketplace from France, has raised 29.9 million dollars (25 million euros) in a Series A round. Index Ventures led the round, while existing investors GFC, Alven and Aglaé participated.

Bigblue, a logistics provider from France, has raised 3.6 million dollars (3 million euros) in a seed round. The startup wants to build an end-to-end fulfilment solution in Europe. Bigblue isn't a fulfilment company itself, but it works with several ones to handle post-order processes for online stores.

Carrefour has launched a new initiative in France that is aimed at supporting small and local producers. At the same time, it's answering to a growing demand among shoppers for goods produced nearby.

Dutch department store De Bijenkorf has launched its online shop in France. In February this year, word came out that the omnichannel retailer was looking to expand its business across Europe by opening a French ecommerce website.

Amazon has stopped its advertisements for Black Friday in France. The company has taken this decision after the French government said it was unfair to small shops. The coronavirus lockdown has forced them to close the doors.

Online-only supermarket Picnic is planning to expand to the United Kingdom and France. As a result of the upcoming expansion, Picnic has exchanged its collaboration with purchasing organization Superunie for a deal with German supermarket chain Edeka.

PricingHub, a French pricing solution provider, has raised 2 million euros. With the money, it wants to further develop its price optimization platform.

Ebay will bring its managed payments service to sellers in three new markets in Europe next year. In the first quarter of 2021, eBay will manage payments in France, Italy and Spain.

Fashion retailer Mango will share a part of the turnover generated by ecommerce with its franchisers. Initially, Mango will do this only in the Netherlands, Spain and France, all markets where the company has many franchisers.

France has announced plans to pause the development of warehouses used by ecommerce companies. This would mean a setback for online retail giants such as Amazon. The plan was announced by the newly-appointed Minister of Environment, Barbara Pompili.

TrustProfile is the new service from Dutch trust mark WebwinkelKeur. With this label, online retailers can show several pieces of information, like reviews and verified identification data, to enable trust among customers. Currently, a pilot project is running in France, Spain and Italy.