The United Kingdom

Dutch payment fintech unicorn Mollie has entered the United Kingdom. Here it will support British merchants who are looking to grow into Europe. The payment service provider has enhanced its services available to UK companies who can incorporate several EU payment methods into their online stores.

Online shoppers in the United Kingdom are sitting on 2.4 billion pounds (2.74 billion euros) of unreturned goods they have purchased through the internet. Returning these items has become harder with the lockdown restrictions in place.

The Treasury, the UK's economic and finance ministry, is exploring options for an online sales tax. With this measure, it wants to shift the balance between spending online and in physical stores. British high streets are currently struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Online fashion retailer Asos has required Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT, all brands from Arcadia, a retail group that fell into administration at the end of last year. Asos will take over the brands as well as the stock, but it won't take on the physical stores.

Storfund, which shortens the cash cycle of online sellers, secured 30 million euros of capital from the Private Debt team of Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) and private investors. This year, the company wants to provide 1 billion dollars (825 million euros) of cash advances to online marketplace merchants.

Cross-border ecommerce sales from the United Kingdom saw a 57 percent year-on-year increase in 2020. Outbound online sales grew substantially from April up to the holiday period, with a significant spike starting in September.

Envolve Tech, a retail tech company from Wales, has entered the US market. The Newport-based company has launched an office in New York. The expansion follows after raising over 800,000 euros last year.

London fintech company Checkout.com has raised 450 million dollars (370 million euros) in a Series C round. The company is now valuated at over 12 billion euros and is looking to expand its business further abroad.

Post Office and other carriers in the United Kingdom are warning  that any parcel containing gifts or goods that are being sent to an EU country must have a customs declaration form attached to it. This is the result of the Brexit, which became fully operational on the first of January.

OnBuy, a major online marketplace from the United Kingdom, has started an aggressive global expansion plan. The company wants to launch into more than 140 countries by the end of 2023. The plans follow after securing 5.5 million euros in a Series A funding round last June.

Thrasio, a large acquirer of Amazon FBA businesses, has announced a commitment of 200 million pounds (220 million euros) to complete acquisitions of ecommerce companies in the United Kingdom. It has also announced the acquisition of Maximo Fitniss, its 11th acquisition in the UK.

Paul Marchant, CEO of Irish fast-fashion retailer Primark, doesn't agree with claims that the coronavirus has made shoppers move permanently to online shopping. He calls people claiming there's an inevitable and permanent shift to ecommerce "wrong and naïve".

Engineering distributor group Troy UK has launched a new B2B2C platform. The platform, called Troy Commerce, allows members to procure products from the Order hub, but also enables them to design their own ecommerce stores.

Heroes, a company from the United Kingdom, has raised 65 million dollars (55 million euros) in a round led by Fuel Ventures and 360 Capital Partners. The company acquires, operates and scales small and medium-sized ecommerce brands that sell on Amazon.

Bookshop.org is a new initiative that wants to support local independent booksellers. After a successful launch in the US earlier this year, the platform has now launched in the United Kingdom.