Germany

German consumers will soon be able to place unpackaged returns for Amazon in DHL parcel lockers. Amazon and DHL have been working together on unpackaged returns since October 2022. Now, the service is being expanded.

SellerX, a Berlin-based aggregator of Amazon sellers, has acquired Elevate Brands, its American industry peer. They will operate together as SellerX Group, which aims to become “one of the largest and most profitable global consolidators of e-commerce brands”.

Inflation and subdued consumer confidence are expected to dampen online spending in Germany, according to the latest announcement by Handelsverband Deutschland (HDE).

Katchin, a marketplace for jewelry, watches, and accessories, has launched in Germany and France. This expansion follows its launch in the UK earlier this year. Katchin is a venture by the Fossil Group. It operates on Mirakl's marketplace software.

Most online companies in Germany are located in the Western regions North Rhine Westphalia (22 percent) and Bavaria (17 percent). Only 1.75 percent come from the Eastern regions Thuringia and 1 percent from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

About You has plunged deeper into the red. The fiscal year ended with an operating loss of 137 million euros, more than twice the previous fiscal year's loss, which had already nearly doubled. However, the company refers to these results as "solid performance”. It expects to break even in the current fiscal year.

For years, purchasing on account was the most popular payment method in Germany for online shoppers. However, in 2022, PayPal took over that place. At least 29.6 percent of online purchases were paid for with this payment method.

Amazon fills the top two spots in a new list of leading marketplaces in Europe. The ranking is made by the German Bundesverband Onlinehandel (BVOH). The interest group also made a separate top 50 for Germany. That is also led by Amazon.

The Otto Group is partnering with Covariant, a company specializing in AI-driven warehouse robots. With the partnership, Otto wants to automate its fulfilment activities and increase its operational efficiency. Otto's German fulfilment locations will be robotized first.

Getir is the new manager of the Gorillas app. Users of the app were notified that their customer data will be transferred to the new owner from Turkey. Anyone who does not want this can object.

Fashion platform Zalando is going to launch a fashion assistant powered by ChatGPT on the website and app. It will start with a beta version, which will be available to selected customers in Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Austria by Spring.

Ecommerce aggregator Razor Group has taken over German competitor Stryze Group, another acquisition company. The deal was made with shares only. In addition, Razor Group has raised 80 million euros of funding.

In German ecommerce, online sales of goods fell 15 percent in the first quarter of 2023. This is mostly the case for fashion items. On the other hand, sales of digital services such as holiday bookings increased by over 28 percent. The food segment remained stable.

From now on, fashion e-tailer About You only offers free shipping with a minimum order amount of 30 euros. Customers with smaller orders will have to pay 4,90 euros delivery costs. The new fees are already in effect in Germany, but will eventually be introduced in all markets.

Fashion marketplace Saclàb has raised 1.6 million euros in seed funding. The company wants to use the capital for product development as well as HR and marketing activities. The platform is also planning a launch in the United States.