Germany

eBay is launching a new shopping and selling experience in Germany called eBay Lokal. Commercial sellers can gain greater visibility through eBay Lokal and offer consumers the opportunity to buy from them locally online.

Amazon has a massive impact on retail spending in Germany, both online and offline. More than one-third of all purchases in physical stores are preceded by a search for information on Amazon.

eBay sellers in Germany can no longer accept cash payments from customers when they pick up their orders. Click & collect is still available, but payments must be made through the "existing standard payment processing”.

Dutch B2B payments provider Sprinque is announcing its launch in Germany and Spain with new offices in those countries. The company wants to eventually offer its payments platform to the complete European market.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is experiencing significant growth in Germany, especially among young consumers. Schufa has reported a 30 percent increase in BNPL usage in just one year. The credit agency warns about the risks associated with deferred payments.

Online luxury sneaker marketplace Laced is expanding into Europe, with dedicated language websites for several countries. The United Kingdom-based company is first expanding to Germany and France. It is also planning to launch in Italy and the Netherlands at a later stage.

Online-only supermarket Picnic is expanding its product range with the help of Edeka, a German chain of supermarkets. It is adding drugstore items and wants to become a drugstore in Germany. The complete drugstore segment will be up and running by the end of this year.

Lufthansa Cargo has the ambition to establish a ‘European same-day and ecommerce network’, centered around Frankfurt. Frankfurt Airport is set to become one of the world's most significant ecommerce hubs.

German wine retailer, Hawesko Group, is launching an online marketplace. The marketplace will operate in addition to its current online shop. With the marketplace, it wants to offer a one-stop shopping experience for premium wine purchases.

French cosmetics company Yves Rocher is closing all of its branches in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With the company’s current business model, it is no longer possible to operate sustainably and successfully. It will continue operating in those markets, but online only.

Zalando reported an 87 percent surge in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (adjusted EBIT) in the second quarter. On the other hand, the value of the trading volume declined by two percent to 3,7 billion euros. Because of these results, the platform expects the adjusted EBIT in 2023 to be 300 million euros to 350 million euros.

Many online shoppers buy on platforms such as Amazon or Ebay. German price comparison platform Idealo conducted an analysis. The result: about 80 percent of the cases, other online shops offer better prices than leading marketplaces.

DHL Group has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of MNG Kargo, one of the leading parcel service providers in Turkey. According to DHL, the acquisition secures a leading position in the domestic parcel market. “MNG Kargo complements our business portfolio and will help to strengthen our position in this sector”, CEO Tobias Meyer says.

LiBiao Robotics has opened a European headquarters in Frankfurt to bolster its growth ambitions on our continent. The new location offers a showroom and areas for demonstrations of the autonomous sorting robots.

Zalando has partnered with Savrr, a relatively unknown start-up until recently. Together, they offer German Zalando customers a new service: 'save now buy later', the counterpart of 'buy now pay later'.