The United Kingdom

Customers in the UK increasingly expect it won't cost them anything to return the goods they ordered online. But this could lead to over 200 smaller ecommerce companies failing, a new study by ParcelHero shows. Many smaller online retailers feel the pressure to pay for the cost of returns, as want to maintain high customer service ratings.

For the first time in the United Kingdom, ecommerce purchases made via smartphone will overtake that of tablets. This year, online sales that happened via smartphones represent 49.7 percent of all mcommerce sales. Mcommerce via smartphones will be worth about 20 billion euros in the UK this year.

So far this year, 363.439 new sellers joined Amazon marketplaces in Europe. Among new sellers on all marketplaces that Amazon has worldwide, 36.3 percent registered on Amazon in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France or Spain.

British design store Heal's now offers its online customers access to an in-store expert on demand. Advisors who are working in one of six stores in the UK are now able to provide their expertise and advice to customers on heals.com, particularly during busy hours online and quieter hours in-store.

42 percent of consumers from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden have used click & collect in the past twelve months. And one in four Europeans who used click & collect bought another product in-store while they were picking up their online order.

The majority of consumers in Ireland also turn to the United Kingdom for online shopping. The fact that the ecommerce industry in the UK offers more choice, is the main advantage to shopping from the UK, nearly half of those who shop with UK retailers say.

LogistCompare will launch in the United Kingdom. It's an online marketplace for retail and ecommerce customers who are looking for warehouse space. It seems like a great timing, considering the busy holiday season is near and retailers might be looking for extra space for inventory.

Online consumers from the United Kingdom aren't unenthusiastic about paying for delivery, if the fee isn't too high. Two thirds of UK shoppers normally don't expect free delivery when placing orders online, but when orders go over 10 pounds they begin to expect free delivery options.

Sloggi, the underwear brand from Triumph, is now presenting itself completely independently online and has launched an online shop in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria and France. By the end of the year, Sloggi also wants to have online stores in seven more countries throughout Europe.

There has been a serious drop in the number of European retailers that offer free returns to their customers. It went from 55 percent in the first quarter of this year to 28 percent now. In the UK, half of brands offer free returns, while 23 percent in Germany and 21 percent in Ireland do this.

The eCommerce Expo, held on 27 and 28 September in London, has a new owner. Today, CloserStill Media, Justin Opie and Graeme Howe have announced that they are acquiring eCommerce Expo from UBM. Howe and Opie are the former owners of IMP Events, from where they launched eCommerce Expo in 2006.

The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union isn't making things easier for British ecommerce companies. After last year's Brexit vote, some online retailers say it's now harder to hire staff for their warehouses.

French consumers are more open to new delivery methods than consumers from the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. For example, 58 percent of the French would give couriers temporary access to their homes to let them deliver parcels. In the UK and the Netherlands, it's respectively only 36 and 25 percent of consumers who would do this.

Ocado, the online-only grocery retailer from the United Kingdom, has launched a mobile app for Alexa, the voice-controlled assistant from Amazon. Customers are now able to add a product to their basket, receive inspiration and keep track of orders by using solely their voice.

International returns platform ReBound has introduced its return services to the ecommerce market in the United Kingdom. With ReBound, online retailers can manage both international and domestic returns using one multi-carrier returns solutions.