Germany

When an online basket was filled with 39 popular summer products in six countries across Europe, the ecommerce industry in France happened to have the highest prices. This 'summer basket' however is most expensive for consumers in Spain, as they have the lowest gross domestic product per capita among these countries.

Aldi has further expanded its online offer. The German discounter already sold e-books and music online, but now it also sells video games, which can be played on PC, Mac, PlayStation or Xbox, via its online store in Germany.

Deutsche Post DHL Group saw its revenue increase by 4.4 percent to 14.8 billion euros during the second quarter of this year. It's mostly the company's international parcel and ecommerce business that drove this strong growth.

Last year, German consumers spent 3.7 billion euros on furniture and houseware online. This is an increase of 9.6 percent compared to the situation in 2015. Germany is one of the largest online furniture markets in the world and is expected to grow 10 percent annually for the next five years. The largest online furniture retailers in Germany have a total turnover of over 1.4 billion euros.

German online marketplace Crowdfox announced yesterday the figures of its growth in the business-to-business industry. Sales of its B2B platform have doubled in the last quarter. This confirms the company's high ambitions at the beginning of this year as well as the strategic decision to further expand its B2B business.

Penny, a German discount supermarket chain, has launched its first online store. The discount grocery store enables consumers to order select non-food items online, as well as 30 different types of wine, sparkling wine and other spirits.

Only one week after Ikea announced it has plans to sell its products through third-party websites, the Swedish retailer is now offering select Ikea products through Amazon. Thousands of products are available in all countries where Amazon has a dedicated online store.

The German online food startup Delivery Hero confirms it has plans for an initial public offering later this year. It will issue new shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, in hopes to raise about 450 million euros.

Some online stores tend to adjust their prices, so consumers won't go ordering something at a competitor's website. For Ecommerce News Europe, price tracking software provider Prisync looked at how many ecommerce websites in Europe change their prices daily and how high the stock-out ratio is in these countries.

The Otto Group saw its revenue increase by 3.4 percent during the 2016/2017 financial year. The turnover is now worth 12.5 billion euros, while the German retailer saw its EBITDA increase to 730 million euros, the highest level for many years.

It looks like mcommerce in Germany is finally catching up. Although the usage of mobile devices for buying online and paying in-store in Germany is still lagging behind other big ecommerce countries, predictions look hopeful. In Germany, 29 million mobile users will buy online via a mobile device at least once this year, up nearly 15 percent from last year.

German consumers still like to pay for their online purchases only after they have received the goods. Most online retailers adapt to this, even when they offer payment by e-wallet or credit card in the first place. Purchase on account has further strengthened its leading position as the most revenue-intensive payment method in the German ecommerce industry. It's followed by direct debit and PayPal.

Ecommerce automation platform Lengow has opened its door to the business-to-business market with its integration of Amazon Business in the UK and Germany and Cdiscount Pro in France. With the integration, business sellers now have access to the three largest ecommerce markets in Europe.

Next year, it will be possible to follow a training course in Germany in order to become an online retailer. The Otto Group, with companies such as Baur, Bonprix and Otto, is behind the initiative that should lead to more professional German online retailers in the coming years.

Otto, the major German ecommerce company, is using artificial intelligence, with an algorithm originally designed for experiments at the CERN laboratory, to improve its online activities. Thanks to the technology, Otto has managed to drastically decline its returns.