The United Kingdom

The British government has issued an urgent plea to Amazon to unfreeze seller funds. Kevin Hollinrake, the enterprise minister, expressed deep concern after a flood of complaints. “I would urge you to look into this issue further as a matter of urgency", he wrote to Amazon.

Many British Amazon merchants are at a loss after the platform froze payments, leading to numerous questions and complaints from traders. Some of them claim to be in financial straits due to the situation.

For the allocation of the Buy Box, Amazon in the United Kingdom promises not to differentiate between online sellers who use or do not use Prime-related fulfillment services. “Eligibility for Prime and the Prime badge will not be a criterion when determining the Featured Offer.”

Online retailers are grappling with 'the biggest-ever wave of January returns', according to returns provider ZigZag. The percentages are much higher than a year ago, even though shoppers have to pay for returns more often.

Luxury online fashion retailer Matches Fashion has been acquired by Frasers Group. The deal was worth around 60 million euros. With this acquisition, the Group wants to strengthen its luxury offering.

Wholesale marketplace Qogita has raised 80 million euros in a funding round. The platform wants to use the capital injection for product development and category expansion. The company has now raised a total of 119 million euros.

Ecommerce fulfillment company Huboo has raised 33.7 million euros (29 million British pounds) in a new funding round. This brings the company’s total amount raised to 141.8 million euros (122 million British pounds).

Demand from European customers has propelled second-hand shopping on Amazon into a billion euros business. The trend is likely to persist as shoppers seek to save money and make more sustainable choices.

Chinese online fashion store Shein has recently strengthened its portfolio by acquiring the British fashion brand Missguided. The exact financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed. The label will be added to Shein's own online platform.

Amazon announced plans to use drones while delivering packages to customers in the United Kingdom and Italy starting next year, with services set to commence at undisclosed locations before the end of 2024. Selected customers will be able to have items weighing up to approximately 2 kilograms delivered to their gardens by a drone.

Boohoo Group reflects on a meager half-year in which revenue declined by 17 percent. Particularly in the United Kingdom, which accounts for most of its revenue, the company suffered significantly. The group's loss (adjusted EBIT) amounted to 3.9 million pounds.

British fashion retailer JD Sports has reached an agreement to take over Courir. The company will pay 520 million euros for the French retail chain. Courir has more than 300 stores and is active in several countries.

Software provider for ecommerce brands, Shop Circle, has raised 120 million dollars (111.8 million euros) in a funding round. The startup will use the capital injection to expand its suite of products. It wants to become a one-stop shop software provider for online sellers.

European ecommerce fulfillment company Huboo has grown more than 130 percent in the last year. According to the company, it raked in over 23.4 million euros (20 million British pounds) in new business.

TikTok will cease TikTok Storefront and its associated Shopify integration within the next two weeks. European merchants will need to sell directly on TikTok Shop in the future to attract customers on the rapidly growing platform.