The United Kingdom

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK is investigating Amazon on its dominant position in the UK. Amazon could be distorting competition. “Any loss of competition is a loss to consumers”, says Sarah Cardell, general counsel at CMA.

Ecommerce giant Amazon is launching its first ‘micromobility’ hub in London. The launch consists of a fleet of e-cargo bikes and on-foot delivery staff. The hub will carry out around 5 million deliveries a year.

British online supermarket Ocado has raised 670 million euros (578 million pounds). With the money, the company wants to expand further in order to become the top provider for automated grocery fulfilment.

Amazon Fashion Luxury Stores is launching in 5 countries in Europe. The ecommerce giant will offer 8 brands at launch, planning to add more in the future. But the competition for luxury fashion retail in Europe is fierce.

British Frasers Group has bought Missguided, after the online fashion retailer collapsed into administration last Monday. The retail group has acquired Missguided for 23.5 million euros. The fashion retailer is planned to continue operating as a standalone business.

Inditex, the major clothing retail group from Spain, is now charging a fixed fee for online returns. The owner of brands such as Zara, Pull & Bear and Bershka is implementing this change in 30 countries. It wants to motivate customers to return items in brick-and-mortar stores.

Octopia Fulfillment, a logistics service provider from France, has announced that it will open new warehouses in the coming months. The company will launch warehouses in the UK and Germany, as an addition to its warehouses that are currently active in France and Spain. The expansion will further solidify the company's logistics network.

Online furniture retailer from the UK, Made.com, has announced an acquisition of Trouva. This lifestyle marketplace sells products from over 700 independent boutiques and brands. Through the acquisition, Made.com wants to grow its marketplace business.

Dutch fulfillment company Active Ants has announced that it is opening its fifth distribution center in September. After two sites in the Netherlands and an expansion to Belgium and Germany, the company will now take on England. "Coming to Northampton will allow us to increase our presence. Ultimately, we want to become the best fulfillment company in Europe", says co-founder Jeroen Dekker.

British startup Olsam, an ecommerce aggregator, has acquired US-based competitor MarketFleet. It's the second time that the company acquires another aggregator, after its acquisition of Flywheel Commerce in November last year. The company hopes to consolidate the market with this move.

Same-day delivery courier Gophr is integrating with Metapack, a delivery management software company. The partnership offers ecommerce retailers more same-day delivery options across the United Kingdom.

Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, eTail Europe had to be postponed for 18 months. This month it is returning for a two-day in-person event on April 25 and 26. So far, the organizers expect thousands of retailers to attend, visiting the keynote presentations and panel discussions.

This week, Amazon UK announced that it no longer packs products in single-use plastic delivery bags. The company has switched to recyclable paper delivery bags and cardboard envelopes for orders shipped from its own fulfillment centers.

British online shoppers face more identity checks from now on. By subjecting consumers to a two-factor authentications the government wants to reduce fraud. More card payments will probably be declined. It is the biggest change to card payments in 16 years.

Online furniture retailer Made.com has shared its full year results for 2021. The cross-border seller reports a loss before tax of 37.8 million euros. This is a further decline of 18.8 million euros when compared to the year before. According to the company, this is a result of global supply chain challenges and inflation.