The United Kingdom

Veeqo, a Wales company that offers ecommerce inventory software, has acquired UK parcel delivery startup ParcelBright. The acquisition should help Veeqo with achieving its goal of making selling easier for online sellers. ParcelBright’s service and software will be merged into Veeqo, with a focus on further improving its online sellers' productivity.

Amazon has signed a deal with the major UK supermarket chain Morrisons to deliver fresh and frozen groceries to Amazon's customers who make use of Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Pantry. The supply arrangement is a great deal for Amazon who wants to get fresh foods to customers as quickly as possible.

Android Pay is said to be launched in the United Kingdom at the end of March. With this payment system, Google wants to encourage Android users to use their device for contactless payments. It will need to compete with the contactless payment systems of mobile OS rivals Apple and Samsung, but also with mobile payment solutions like Barclaycard bPay, EE Cash on Tap and V.Me.

For the first time ever smartphones and tablets accounted for over half of online sales in the United Kingdom. During the period November 2015 to January this year, 51 percent of UK online retail sales took place using smartphones and tablets. This is a significant increase on the 45 percent share recorded in the third quarter of last year.

The wheeled drones from Starship Technology have been tested in central London and are set to start being deployed in the UK capital later this month. After 3,000 hours of testing the self-driving boxes will undertake local delivery trails in Greenwich, part of South-east London.

Visa will make its online payment service Visa Checkout available to merchants and consumers in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Poland and Spain this year. With Visa Checkout, users have the security and convenience of the Visa card, but then in the digital world.

Iceland is the UK's top supermarket for online shopping, according to a recent survey of more than 7,000 shoppers. With 77%, the British supermarket chain earned the highest score among online supermarkets for the first time. The relatively new online service outranked more experienced rivals such as Waitrose or Ocado.

Internet Retailing published its UK Top500 list, which consists of the top retailers in the UK's ecommerce and multichannel retail industry. Amazon, Argos, Boots, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Mothercare and Screwfix are the top names of this extensive list.

Amazon is currently testing drones for its Amazon Prime Air delivery service in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as in Canada. This was revealed by Amazon's CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. This is interesting news, as the current legislature in the Netherlands doesn't allow autonomous drones yet.

The British company Fancy Me has received many complaints after one of their costumes went viral. The UK online retailer sells 'wartime refugee' costumes and many customers are now furious. The outfits are said to be insensitive in the light of the ongoing migration crisis in Europe.

Also has finally opened its online store in the United Kingdom. The discount retailer has kicked-off its online shopping store by offering cases of wines for home delivery. The online wine store was announced by Aldi in September last year.

UK fashion retailers are missing out on an annual spend worth almost 12 million euros because they are not engaging with shoppers who are increasingly researching fashion choices before purchasing. Retailers should re-evaluate their marketing content to focus on product attributes over the brand image, a new study suggests.

Multichannel retail management platform Brightpearl announced it has raised 11 million dollars (10.09 million euros). Venture investors, including Eden Ventures, MMC Ventures and Notion Capital funded the British company, who wants to use the money to accelerate growth of its US business.

Four in ten shoppers in the United Kingdom used click-and-collect during the Christmas period last year, but 36 percent of them encountered issues with their click-and-collect orders. It's no surprise more than three-quarters of UK shoppers say they would be likely to switch to shopping with another retailer next Christmas as a result of a poor online shopping experience.

Supermarket chain J Sainsbury disclosed yesterday that a 1 billion pounds bid for Home Retail, owner of retailer Argos, was rejected two months ago. It's now thinking about making a formal offer. With the desired acquisition of Home Retail, which also owns Homebase, Sainsbury's wants to fight the competition of online ecommerce giant Amazon and discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi.