Germany

Amazon has reached a settlement with the European Commission. The ecommerce giant says it will not use data from partner sellers for its own products. It will also add a second Buy Box. By doing this, the platform avoids a billion dollar fine.

Fashion Cloud, a B2B data startup, has raised 25 million euros in growth capital. The German company wants to use the new capital injection for product development. In addition, Fashion Cloud wants to accelerate its international expansion.

In the period from October 1^st to November 30^th, which includes Black Friday, German sales of online retailers decreased 16.8 percent when compared to the same period in 2021. It is the first time that this decrease happens, since researchers started measuring in 2014. However, an increase of 13.1 percent remains when compared to 2019.

Beerwulf, the Heineken-owned online beer retailer, has launched its own marketplace in the Netherlands. Now, third party retailers can sell products on its platform. Beerwulf’s new platform will enter the United Kingdom in 2023, followed by Germany, France and Italy.

German antitrust watchdog, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has announced that it is widening its investigation into Amazon’s activities in Germany. The renewed investigation will take into account a reformed German competition law, targeting digital giants. The investigation looks into pricing and instruments applied by Amazon to control marketplace sellers.

Online fashion giant Zalando has exceeded 50 million active customers for the first time. Its active customer base grew with 8 percent when compared to a year ago. Additionally, its loyalty program called Plus almost tripled its membership.

When making a purchase decision, at least 55 percent of Germans find reviews of a shop or product important. However, fake reviews are a common problem in ecommerce. As a result, 74 percent of Germans want reviews to have a label of authenticity.

Shopify is expanding its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program to Europe. The program, which offers Shopify integrations for merchants, first launched last year. The company is working with local ERP software companies from the Netherlands, Germany and Spain for the European launch.

In 2021, Mediamarkt entered the top 3 German online stores with the highest turnover. In doing so, it pushed out Zalando. Amazon is still leading the ranking with 15.68 billion euros.

Momox, a second hand marketplace for media products, is expanding to Italy and Spain. The company is also planning to launch its fashion segment, now only available in Germany, in more European markets.

Furniture and houseware retailer Home24 is expanding its marketplace to more European countries. The platform for third-party sellers launched in Germany this summer. By the end of 2022, it will enter Austria, France and Switzerland.

Last year, one out of four packages were returned in Germany. This comes to an estimate of 530 million parcels, with 1.3 billion items. Returning goods is part of consumer protection. On the other hand, the amount of returns brings high costs for sellers, as well as a large carbon footprint.

In online shops, 16 percent of products are out-of-stock. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have the best product availability. Google Shopping, Facebook Product Ads and Amazon are the top three advertising channels for ecommerce sellers worldwide.

eBay Germany is launching a financing solution with online loan provider Iwoca. The loan service is called eBay Flexi-Kapital by Iwoca. Sellers on the marketplace will get access to funds within 24 hours after their request.

Lisa, a startup from Berlin, raised 2.7 million euros in funding. The company, which offers social shopping solutions, will use the money to accelerate growth and develop its software service. Social shopping is still in its infancy in Europe.