Germany

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'.

From 1 August, Hermes Fulfilment will take over a dispatch center in Valdengo, Northern Italy. The center specialises in the logistical processing of low-volume product ranges. ‘By taking over the site in Valdengo, we can establish ourselves on the European market’, says CEO Kevin Kufs.

Zalando launches a body measurement feature to assist customers in the DACH region in finding their right size. They receive size advice based on their measurement by taking two pictures of themselves. With this tool, size-related returns should be reduced.

PayPal is offering passkeys outside of its US home market for the first time. The user-friendly login feature becomes available in Germany and the United Kingdom.

The courier, express, and parcel sector in Germany, known as KEP for short, faced turbulent times in 2022. There were 360 million fewer packages delivered than in the peak year of 2021. This translates to a 7.9 percent decline in package volume in Germany.

German fashion platform About You has removed all products of secondhand platform Mädchenflohmarkt from its ‘Second Love’ category. The move follows strong accusations made against the secondhand platform. The cooperation started three years ago.

Berlin-based startup Wonnda has raised 1 million euros in a pre-seed round. The product sourcing platform will use the capital injection to expand its network of manufacturers. It is also planning to incorporate more partners.