Germany

Picnic, a Dutch supermarket that only operates online, will expands it business to Germany. The company launched a pilot project in the Dusseldorf region several months ago and it with great success. Now, Picnic has decided that starting next month, it will deliver groceries to all consumers in this pilot area.

When it comes to paying, German consumers are rather conservative when they are shopping online. Four in ten Germans prefer to pay on account. The second most popular payment method is PayPal, favored by almost one in three online shoppers in Germany.

Last Monday, it was time for the Shop-Award 2018, an award show organized by Internet World Business. This event praises the best online stores in Germany and other German-speaking countries. This year's edition saw ecommerce companies such as About You and Mymuesli go home with the coveted trophies.

Mobile commerce sales in the three biggest ecommerce markets of Europe – the United Kingdom, France and Germany – will reach over 85 billion euros this year. Almost 57 percent of this amount will come from the UK, while Germany will have bigger mcommerce sales than France.

Intershop, a European provider of ecommerce software, saw its revenue increase by almost 5 percent to reach 35.8 million euros. It's the first time in four years that the German company was able to increase its revenue. Meanwhile, earnings before interest and taxes increased from -2.4 million euros in 2016 to 0.4 million last year.

Hermes Germany wants to expand the number of Hermes PaketShops in Germany from 15,000 to 20,000 during the next two years. The logistics company is betting on delivery to parcel shops and is aiming at a situation where a customer can reach the next collection point within five minutes.

ManoMano, a European online marketplace specialized in DIY & gardening, closed last year with a global turnover of 250 million euros, which is an increase of 180 percent compared to 2016, when the French company generated a turnover of 90 million euros. Its UK turnover doubled year-over-year.

Chinese online retailer JD.com is ready to take on Amazon in Europe. The company will first launchs its ecommerce platform and delivery services in France next year. After that, the United Kingdom and Germany are next.

On average, 1 in every 20 online orders is not delivered on the first attempt. This costs retailers a lot of money, but it also damages the retailer's reputation. Existing customers go away and it's hard to acquire new ones. But what's the main reasons online orders don't arrive on time?

Ecommerce in Germany posted double-digit growth in 2017. The online retail industry in this European country increased by 10.9 percent to reach 58.46 billion euros at the end of 2017. Now, for the first time ever, every eighth of a euro spent in the retail sector comes from ecommerce sales.

Dutch food delivery service company Takeaway.com considers merging with Delivery Hero. Founder Jitse Groen thinks a shakeout is the next logical step, as a consolidation of the market is on its way. "In every major country in the world there can be only one player."

The willingness of German consumers to buy furniture online has grown significantly over time. Now more than one in three Germans, 37 percent to be more precise, have already shopped online for stuff like chairs, beds and tables.

Personalization is key for German retailers. Many of them are looking to invest in personalization solutions during this year, with more than half of them expecting to spend over a million euros to achieve this.

In the future, Amazon wants to open physical stores in Germany, similar to the stores it opened in the United States. According to Ralf Kleber, VP Germany at Amazon.com, it's not a question of whether, but when this will happen.

The German hypermarket chain Kaufland has decided to stop its online grocery service in Germany, just one year after it launched the online shopping initiative. There are concerns about the costs of the operation and the lack of potential for future profitability.